The Cambria CSD, fire department and other local agencies have been holding several meetings this week to inform people in the community about how to prepare for emergencies before they happen.
“After leaving, we really want them not to look back and say, 'I wish I would have',” said Bob Putney, Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program manager.
Putney says it’s not just wildfires that are a concern.
“Everybody thinks about wildfires, but in California, we are the Disneyland of any kind of emergency that can happen,” Putney said.
“When I say first responders can’t be everywhere at once, that is exactly what I mean. We are going to be attacking the fire and putting all our resources into preventing that emergency from getting worse,” said Cambria Fire Chief Michael Burkey during Tuesday morning's session.
Dozens of residents shared various concerns including on evacuation routes.
“We are limited on evacuation routes. You can only go north so far, and then you have south and Highway 46,” said Randy Negrett of Cambria.
“Many neighborhoods only have one or two ways in. With the number of trees and above-ground powerlines, if a tree knocks a powerline pole down and blocks the road, people aren’t going to be able to drive past that, so it plays a big risk in people’s minds here,” Putney said.
Cambria Fire Chief Michael Burkey says knowing what to do and evacuating early is key.
“What that does is eliminate that flood of cars all coming out at the same time,” Chief Burkey said.
He encourages making plans with neighbors ahead of time.
“One car is better than four or five cars. We don’t want to have a gridlock situation happening. We don’t want panic to set in,” Burkey said.
“Emergency responders are going to be coming in, so you won’t have all of Highway 1 to evacuate on,” Putney said.
While this week’s five community meetings have wrapped up, Chief Burkey says there will be more in the future.
“Which will help a lot,” Negrette said.
“I want to go to another one,” said Jan Greer of Cambria.
For more information on evacuation routes and how you can be prepared, you can visit the CSD website.
