Issue link: https://imageup.uberflip.com/i/1526908
| LIFE IN SOLERA | OCTOBER 2024 | 7 Solera CERT Cadre As I sit at my desk in my home on Sept. 8, the "Line Fire" continues to burn out of control about 15 to 20 miles northwest from Beaumont as the crow f lies from the Solera community. Large plumes of smoke can be seen from our community to the mountains and hills behind us. Mandatory evacuations have been ordered for Running Springs, Arrowbear and large parts of Highland. The mountain communities of Cedar Glen, Lake Arrowhead, Crestline and Valley of Enchantment have been issued evacuation warnings. A little closer to our Solera community, the communities of Angelus Oaks, Seven Oaks and Mountain Home Village have also been issued evacuation warnings. Even closer to home, the fire camp for the Line Fire has been established at nearby Noble Creek Regional Park to provide food, showers and rehabilitation for our hero firefighters and police officers who have put their lives on the line to help save our local communities. I wonder how these involved communities prepared to evacuate. Did the residents have a personal evacuation plan? Did they have their evacuation kits ready to go? Did they have a place to evacuate to? Did they have an evacuation plan for their pets? More questions …. Did the residents of the evacuated communities know which roads to use to escape the oncoming fire? Many roads were blocked. As night time falls, were the residents able to safely evacuate during the darkness of the night? If the winds had shifted to the southeast towards the Yucaipa/ Cherry Valley/Beaumont area, our community could have been in harms way. Ask yourself, are you ready to evacuate at moment's notice? Do you have a personal evacuation plan? Do you have a place to go to when ordered to evacuate? Do you know what it means to "Shelter in Place?" On Fri., Oct. 18 at 9 am, the Solera Radio/CERT Club will be teaching in the Arts and Crafts room a two-part class titled "Make a Plan/Shelter in Place." The class is open to all Solera residents and their guests. Solera HOA staff and Board members are strongly urged to attend. The Power Point presentation will last about an hour and a half. There will be guest speakers from within the Solera community who will talk to us about their previous personal disaster evacuation experiences. I will be teaching the class and addressing several concerns that I mentioned earlier in this article. Everyone in attendance will receive a free gift. Refreshments will be served. Seating is limited to 30 people. There will be several handouts in the back of the Arts & Crafts Room for residents to take home. Please remember the date and plan to attend the class. If any resident would like to speak about their own evacuation experience at the class, please contact me as soon as possible. I would love to include you into a five-minute speaking session during the class. Your testimony is vital and important to our Solera community. In the November Life in Solera the Accidental Prepper Part 3 (How to Survive Flooding Emergencies) returns. Raining season will soon be here and we'll be discussing some tips on how Solera residents can prepare their homes for the winter. In the meantime, stay safe, be informed and be prepared. ~ Ron Monroe, Solera CERT Cadre, (909) 732-6139, ronoap@aol.com, www.solera-cert.info IN THE LINE OF FIRE