No amount of appreciation can express the community's gratitude to hundreds of firefighters, law enforcement personnel and civic volunteers who have rallied to fight the wily Castle Rock Fire and provide support services during these tense days when flames threaten to leap from isolated woodlands to housing areas.
Over the weekend hundreds of families that evacuated homes or faced evacuation lived the anxiety of abandoning their life's possessions.
Apprehension and anxiety were common. But panic? Not on your life.
Evacuations and preparations in other affected neighborhoods have been orderly, assistance generous. People have taken the fire in stride and with good humor—with few exceptions.
The fire is bringing out the best in the valley's communities and others. Fire departments from around the state answered the distress call for engines over the weekend to protect structures and lives.
Thanks to good internal communications by emergency services, no structure or life has yet been lost. With great effort, favorable weather and a little luck, all homes and families will emerge unscathed from the worst fire season in living memory.
Fire planners, with the aid of computer models, say the best chance to control the fire is to back burn large swaths of ground to keep the north-running fire from running into homes or Bald Mountain, the heart of the valley's economy.
The valley is going to have to live with smoky conditions and uncertainty for some time to come. At press time, infrared photos on inciweb.org showed the fire progressing slowly both north—and south.
Valley residents will need to be patient. Blaine County and the U.S. Forest Service will provide fire information as soon as humanly possible. Residents will need to heed official advice issued for neighborhood protection.
Reporters at the Mountain Express are updating news online as they get it. It may be found at www.mtexpress.com and www.sunvalleycentral.com. Other links to emergency information sites are posted as well. Web users can also submit their own fire stories there.
As for other media, TV crawls are running, and KECH radio at 95.3 is broadcasting live fire updates three times a day at 9 a.m., noon and 4 p.m.
For those without web access, the Express is planning to publish a daily hardcopy update during the week until the threat subsides. Copies will be available at most major outlets.
When the fire finally dies, valley leaders will need to reassess local communications with the public, which could have been much better over the weekend and were still less than ideal on Tuesday.
Plenty of models are available for developing a local emergency information system. Hurricane prone areas of the East Coast and Gulf areas have systems perfected over years. Ditto for Midwest tornado and flood areas. California areas plagued by Santa Ana winds and fires can offer advice.
Another fire as threatening as Castle Rock may occur only once in a blue moon. Being prepared to communicate, however, costs nothing and may save plenty.
In the meantime, neighbors should keep helping neighbors, while dedicated firefighters do what they do best.
