Bonsall residents pose questions about evacuation

On November 20, the Bonsall Sponsor Group hosted a Fire Forum at the Bonsall Community Center allowing local residents to ask a chosen panel of experts a wide variety of questions in regards to the recent Fallbrook (Rice Canyon) Fire. The majority of the discussion leaned toward the evacuation process.

Members of the panel included Ron Lane, director, County Office of Emergency Services; Commander Kim Quaco, San Diego County Sheriff’s Department; Chief Bill Metcalf, North County Fire Protection District; Lieutenant Alex Dominguez, Fallbrook Sheriff’s Substation Commander; and Lee Shimmin, Associate Insurance Compliance Officer for the Insurance Commissioners Office.

Margarette Morgan, Bonsall Community Sponsor Group Chair, started off the meeting by asking the panel how the community was supposed to follow the fire mandatory evacuation orders when the Interstate 5, Interstate 15, Highway 78 and Highway 76 were closed.

“Where were we supposed to go?” asked Morgan. “[Community members’] concerns were very real to them, as they were sitting in their cars, frustrated.”

“No matter what you do, it takes a long time to move a lot of people,” replied Metcalf. The lack of roads available and the number of people needing to be evacuated was a clear challenge. “That was the reason the decision was made early to evacuate; I know we had more cars than asphalt.”

The evacuations weren’t done in one mass notification, Metcalf explained. “We

the town and areas into quadrants and grids.” The evacuations were staggered so 50,000 residents were not on the road at once.

Quaco mentioned a recent discussion with Captain Webb of the California Highway Patrol. They discussed the challenges they had evacuating 50,000 people from Fallbrook and Bonsall.

“I don’t know if you could have picked a worse scenario,” Quaco said. “It was very tough having the entire east section closed off.”

In retrospect, Quaco wondered if it would have been better to clear another lane for the evacuees. However, concern was evident in providing enough road access for emergency vehicles to get in. “We had patrol cars coming from Vista, Encinitas and Oceanside; we had fire trucks coming from all over.”

Lane reminded everyone that there was a two-hour warning that the Rice Canyon Fire was headed toward Fallbrook. Speedy plans were made to evacuate Fallbrook Hospital and the Skilled Nursing Facility, assisted living facilities and other points of interest needing special attention.

“What was playing out in Bonsall and Fallbrook was going on in dozens of other San Diego communities,” Lane said.

Morgan then asked the panel if there was a way to have volunteers or a certified group of people handling evacuation traffic to assist evacuees. “Would this be useful?” she asked.

“This fire was leaping a mile and a half at a time; that’s not the place I am going to send a volunteer,” answered Metcalf. He went on to say that it was hard enough to send in his own firefighters, who were geared, trained and equipped to battle a firestorm. The thought of sending in a well-intentioned volunteer was out of the question.

“We never put our volunteers in a dangerous situation; this fire was moving so quick,” confirmed Quaco. Volunteers could have been quickly overcome by the flames because of the nature of this particular fire.

Lane pointed out that, in all, 515,000 San Diego residents were evacuated. It was the largest fire evacuation in the United States of America.

“We take much solace in the fact that no one got caught in the fire,” said Lane.

Quaco said the reverse 9-1-1 notification system provided a major advantage. “In the past, we would have had to go door to door for evacuation notices,” he said.

Rumor has it that after some people returned home after the evacuation, they vowed not to obey any future mandatory evacuations. Some said they felt the evacuation order was a waste of time when they returned home to see blue skies.

Metcalf hopes this is just “talk,” saying a decision like this could be devastating.

“They don’t know what it’s like to stand in a firestorm when the fire is blowing down on them,” Metcalf warned.

He continued, “People have to use good judgment, because they don’t want a firestorm bearing down on them – it’s not the place you want to be.”

Professional firefighters with proper equipment and breathing apparatus die in these nightmarish scenarios, he said.

“The idea that people want to stand in their t-shirts and blue jeans and fight the fire with their garden hose is just amazing to me,” said Metcalf. “What concerns me is every one of those folks who decides to stay home becomes someone that we are going to go and have to rescue.”

Concern is that the firefighters won’t be able to put out fires if they have to spend all their time rescuing people who refuse to evacuate.