David Monk: After seeing what happened in Talent and Phoenix, we had a firsthand view of a wildfire in an urban setting and realized that we needed to start organizing in our community to prepare residents for the possibility of a wildfire burning in the metro area.
Presenter: And now, let’s listen once again to voices from the past. Five years ago at KEPW Whole Community News, we supported early recovery efforts after the devastating Holiday Farm Fire.
In the following months, neighborhood leaders organized information meetings, and prepared evacuation discussion exercises known as tabletops. Today, many neighborhoods are conducting regular radio drills, and Northeast Neighbor Andy Davis and Community Emergency Response Teams, the CERTs, are preparing for their fifth annual citywide communications exercise, coming in October.
The first to speak with the community was then-Fire Chief Chris Heppel:…