Earth Quake Program a Hit!

The Natural Science Collaborative hosted SAFE-T-PROOF an Earthquake Preparedness company on June 1, 2006 at the Palm Desert Library. Our guest speaker was Michael Essrig, president and founder of SAFE-T-PROOF who demonstrated the sensation of an 8.0 earthquake in his specially designed "Quake Cottage". The Quake Cottage™ interior is designed to demonstrate the after effects of household and office items that are thrown from their locations and the damage that can occur when not properly fastened. Often replacement costs for personal possessions and equipment damaged during a quake can cost more than structural building repairs. Personal safety is priceless.

Michael Essrig and SAFE-T-PROOF's quake cottage was featured on DATELINE as they reported on the damage and consequences of being under prepared when we are hit by the inevitable California earthquake.

For more information sign on to  Welcome to Safe-T-Proof .


Wildfires of the High Desert Summer 2006

We are happy to report that our NSC members in the High Desert are safe. I would like to share some of the messages that came in during the course of the last few days:

From Caroline Conway - Pipes Canyon Preserve on July 12th:

We went into Pioneertown and Pipes Canyon this morning with an escort from the fire dept. It is a moonscape--the worst and largest fire I have ever seen. We evacuated the preserve as flames were coming down the canyon, over the slope to the south and around our property to the east. I watched in horror as our eccentric neighbor, an 80-something woman who wanders the desert in bare feet, stood guard on her roof silhouetted by 20 ft. flames. She would not leave and we almost had to drag her. Today a woman begged us to bury her horse. Charred rabbits and squirrels were everywhere, but once in a while, we saw living wildlife. There is no food or water for them, so they may have survived only to succumb later.

Amazingly our station did not burn, but all of the land and almost every plant on it is gone. Only washes and the bottom of the canyon were spared. Fortunately, the fire burned so fast in some areas that it skipped over spots. But this place will not be the same for at least 100 years or so.

From Tracy Albrecht - Santa Rosa San Jacinto Mountains National Monument/BLM

Here is a link to an interactive wildfire map that is updated every few hours. Perimeters are generated using the MODIS thermal satellite imagery, and the web viewer runs on ArcIMS. http://geomac.usgs.gov/ Click on the wildfire mapping link, then use the "Jump to Wildfire" pull down menu to select the SAWTOOTH_COMPLEX. Click on the green markers to zoom in and enlarge the map. There are lots of other widgets to fiddle with as well. Another link for current fire maps... http://www.esri.com/disaster_response/journalistmaps.html

And from Dee and Betty Zeller, Big Morongo Canyon Preserve, a phone message: "We are fine and the Preserve is fine too. There is a crew of fire fighters camping out in our parking lot so we feel pretty safe!"

We remember that one life was lost, there were several injuries and many home and property destroyed and friends and neighbors are struggling to recover. Today's worries of thunderstorms that may result in mudslides and lightening with the threat of new fires that might star. We pray for everyone's continued safety. We also express deep gratitude to those heroic men and women who have fought these fires in a climate of already high temperatures.

These words of wisdom from Michelle Hedgecock, Caliso Learning “We go on......”
When wildfires are successfully confined to unpopulated, natural areas, it might help to consider, that with natural events such as wildfires, comes the opportunity for environmental study and the knowledge gained from the fire recovery process. In some areas, this has already begun. ....... information collected at the staging stations can only add to the preparedness for future wildfires.