Power Dam fire too close for comfort

Now that one was just a bit too close for comfort, don't you agree? I am referring to the Power Dam fire that occurred on Tuesday afternoon. We were lucky this time but it sure was a wake-up call for how prepared we are for a major fire or flood in our neighborhood. I found myself wondering what I would take if I had to make a quick getaway.

Of course, the horses and pets were first on my list followed closely by the negatives of family pictures along with the box of important papers. With more than 30 years of family pictures, I felt like taking the negatives was a better choice than lugging the multiple boxes and grabbing those that are in frames or in albums.

What would you take if you had 10 or 15 minutes to evacuate? When I think of this type of question, I always remember the final scene in the movie "The Time Machine" when the star returns to the future with only three books from his library. His friend asks the housekeeper, "What three books would you take to start a new civilization?"

Now is a good time to look at our priorities.

We can take this opportunity to better organize our priorities and our important possessions so that the next time we are better prepared. We need to remember also that the emergency evacuation may come when we are not at home. I will be getting one of those fire safes for our negatives and important papers. I suppose safe deposit boxes are a good choice for some items. I wonder if a good neighbor plan - sort of like a neighborhood watch program - might work for some of us. What I mean is a friend that you can designate to get things out of your home and vice versa in the case of an emergency. I suppose this may or may not work depending on the amount of time given.

Our problem is that there is only one major road in and out of the neighborhood, although the Mustang Road extension to Dump Road is certainly an option in a situation like Tuesday afternoon. Our fire department has been trying to get that road graded and covered with grindings so that emergency response can be shortened to those areas out Pinenut Road.

There was supposed to be another meeting of our Ruhenstroth Water Resource Planning Committee on Aug. 14 but it had to be rescheduled due to the fire. At the previous meeting Aug. 7, Ed James of the Carson Water Subconservancy District was on hand to suggest options for recharging our aquifer instead of hooking up to a public source.

Our committee is working very hard to tabulate the more than 150 responses from the survey previously mailed out and they may need to send out additional surveys in the future once they have the final tabulations. They are doing water level testing to get a more accurate picture on the actual levels in our underground water table.

Please continue to refer to our neighborhood Web site www.geocities.com/ruhenstrothwater for more information on the meetings and progress.

A very big thank you to all who worked on the fire - from the first person to call it in to the quick response by emergency equipment and personnel on the ground as well as in the air for keeping the fire small in the face of the afternoon winds as well as getting it under control in such a short time. Bravo!

-- To reach Gail Davis, e-mail RuhenstrothRamblings@yahoo.com or call 265-1947.