After reading an article online this morning, a few things came to my mind. The article discusses the three most dangerous places for women.
http://www.news9.com/story/14529766/three-most-dangerous-places-for-women
One thing I think about all the time is my safety when I go shopping. Whether it is pumping gas, going to Wal-Mart, or getting my truck washed, I am always aware of my surroundings. I never take chances. I very seldom talk on my phone while driving. If I know I will be engaged in a long conversation, I will pull over in a parking lot and finish my conversation. I am also very picky at which parking lot I pull in to. I do not take any chances.
Even though it may be during the daytime, it is amazing how many crimes actually happen in the middle of the day when people are not paying attention. Anytime I am doing some paperwork in my truck, or talking on my cell phone, I make sure my windows are rolled up when I park in a parking lot…and my doors are locked. There is no reason to invite trouble.
Here is a little more advice……for men and women, but especially for woman. Anytime you are going to a department store, mall, or Wal-Mart, never, ever, talk on your phone while you are getting out of your car, or while you are walking up to the store. Always check your surroundings before you get out of your car. You never know when someone may be watching you and waiting for the window of opportunity. The same thing goes when you are walking out to your car after shopping. Do not get on your cell phones until you have gotten in your car and locked your doors. Never leave a store talking on your cell phone. Your mind is elsewhere and you are not paying attention to your surroundings.
When you go to wash your car at a car wash, always check your surroundings. If you need change, go to the change machine, but stand to the side when putting your money in. Never stand with your back to others….it’s a good way to get mugged. Once you start washing your vehicle, continue to look around constantly, especially if you wash your car after dark. I would highly suggest if you wash your car after dark, you bring someone with you. As a matter of fact, if you go to a car wash to vacuum out your vehicle, never, ever, do it after dark. Even if someone is with you, vacuuming your car at a car wash after dark is not a good idea. I very seldom vacuum my car in the daylight at a car wash….it’s too dangerous because your back is always to the general public and you are always at a disadvantage.
If you are pumping gas, stay off your cell phone and check your surroundings before you get out of your vehicle. Never leave your purse exposed in the front seat. If you are paying at the pump, use your card and immediately put it back in your purse or billfold. If you have to go into a convenience store, always turn your engine off and lock your doors before entering the store. Never leave your car running and unlocked and NEVER leave a child unattended in your car. That is just plain stupidity.
As you will notice, most of this advice centers around the use of cell phones. Even though cell phones are a great thing to use, they can also be a bad thing. When a person is engaged in a conversation, they are not paying attention to what is going on around them. Always be on the alert and always check your surroundings. Don’t be paranoid, just be safety conscious
http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/OCFD_Citizens_Fire_Academy_Alumni_Association
http://www.okcentralreact.org/
CERT Training
Friday, April 29, 2011
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Devastation in Alabama!
It has been a terrible week for folks living in Alabama. For the past week, they have been hammered with lots of tornadoes. Just yesterday, Tuscaloosa and several small towns around the City got slammed by either EF-4 or EF-5 tornadoes. They showed video of these tornadoes on TV and they were very huge. So far, these storms have taken 162 + lives. I am not really sure why there were so many deaths, except that the tornado was massive and about the only way to escape it was to be underground. If people were above ground, they did not have much of a chance….however, reports are that the people in these communities had plenty of warnings…up to an hour in advance. Why don’t people pay attention? Sometimes, even when there are warnings given out ahead of time, people don’t really heed them. They think it won’t hit them…and then it does and they aren’t prepared.
These tornadoes were huge and covering a large area. Everything it hit, it destroyed. I have probably seen around 10 videos of this tornado and it was a monster. The problem is, the tornado hit some of the most populated areas…..homes in neighborhoods and the downtown area. Plus, the storms hit at around 5 pm, when most of the work force was heading home. I just can’t imagine someone driving through the storm, knowing there is an imminent threat of a tornado.
We have been very blessed in Oklahoma. The same storm system that hit Alabama, also went through Oklahoma, but the tornadoes weren’t that big. We did have our share when the tornados hit some of our towns, but our tornadoes were F-2’s and F-3’s, which still do lots of damage, but they aren’t killers…as long as people heed the warnings and take cover. Unfortunately, the storm system stalled out in SE Oklahoma, so while they…and the states east of us were getting tornadoes, we were getting the nice weather. The front stalled for several days, so the severe weather stayed around for a while. Our team has not had to go storm spotting yet because we haven’t had hardly any severe weather…..but, I have been advised by our REACT Weather Specialist, we are in for some severe weather next week, similar to what they received in Alabama. The way our weather is, anything can change.
Not much has been happening this week for me. Several of my REACT team members met with the coordinators of the Memorial Marathon last Tuesday evening. Since our team is providing traffic control and crowd control for the marathon (which is this Sunday), we had to get with the coordinators to see exactly what we needed to do and find out how many of our team members would be needed. This evening, those members that are working this event are having a meeting to go over the final arrangements and schedule for the marathon. The only thing I know is I have to be at the downtown bus station at 4:30 am and will be there throughout the marathon. Geesh, that is early!
http://www.okcentralreact.org/
http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/OCFD_Citizens_Fire_Academy_Alumni_Association
These tornadoes were huge and covering a large area. Everything it hit, it destroyed. I have probably seen around 10 videos of this tornado and it was a monster. The problem is, the tornado hit some of the most populated areas…..homes in neighborhoods and the downtown area. Plus, the storms hit at around 5 pm, when most of the work force was heading home. I just can’t imagine someone driving through the storm, knowing there is an imminent threat of a tornado.
We have been very blessed in Oklahoma. The same storm system that hit Alabama, also went through Oklahoma, but the tornadoes weren’t that big. We did have our share when the tornados hit some of our towns, but our tornadoes were F-2’s and F-3’s, which still do lots of damage, but they aren’t killers…as long as people heed the warnings and take cover. Unfortunately, the storm system stalled out in SE Oklahoma, so while they…and the states east of us were getting tornadoes, we were getting the nice weather. The front stalled for several days, so the severe weather stayed around for a while. Our team has not had to go storm spotting yet because we haven’t had hardly any severe weather…..but, I have been advised by our REACT Weather Specialist, we are in for some severe weather next week, similar to what they received in Alabama. The way our weather is, anything can change.
Not much has been happening this week for me. Several of my REACT team members met with the coordinators of the Memorial Marathon last Tuesday evening. Since our team is providing traffic control and crowd control for the marathon (which is this Sunday), we had to get with the coordinators to see exactly what we needed to do and find out how many of our team members would be needed. This evening, those members that are working this event are having a meeting to go over the final arrangements and schedule for the marathon. The only thing I know is I have to be at the downtown bus station at 4:30 am and will be there throughout the marathon. Geesh, that is early!
http://www.okcentralreact.org/
http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/OCFD_Citizens_Fire_Academy_Alumni_Association
Monday, April 25, 2011
Monday Already!
Last week was a very emotional week with the death of Zackery Wells, the son of Mike Weiss, one of our REACT team members. Since they had the funeral at my church, I was the liaison between the REACT members and Mike’s family. The funeral was very nice and Zack got the recognition he deserved. The Patriot Guard Riders met with us at Mike’s house and then escorted us to the church for the funeral. Upon arrival at the church, Mike’s family immediately went to the fellowship hall to enjoy a hot lunch prepared by some of our church members. Then, it was time for the funeral. There were lots of tears shed during the funeral, especially when the video of Zack’s life was shown…it was very moving. It was a full military funeral, so the place was packed with men and women from various branches of the military. During funeral, an award was presented to Zack’s mom….an award he was due to receive before he died.
After the funeral, we were escorted by OCPD to the funeral. Once we reached SE 29 & Bryant, Del City Police joined in on the escort. When we arrived at the cemetery, Del City Fire had the road blocked off for us and the firefighters stood at attention as we passed them by. It was a great tribute to Mike and his family. The graveside service was awesome and God held off the rain for us. The military presented an American Flag to Zack’s mom and one to Mike, Zack’s dad. A man played Amazing Grace on some bagpipes and did an outstanding job. Once the graveside service was over, we passed out DVD’s of the video that had been shown during the funeral service….then, we all headed to Mike’s house for fellowship and food. I was so drained and exhausted, I chose not to attend the monthly CFAAA meeting that night. I let our vice-president preside over the meeting.
I made it to work Friday and took off early so I could attend an awards presentation for Gayla at her school. She was so happy to see me and my mom and dad there. Afterwards, I went by Hibdons, had some shocks put on my truck, drove to Norman to buy some ribs and then spent the rest of the evening at home.
Saturday morning was prayer breakfast at the church and then rehearsal for our Easter musical. During the afternoon, I spent about three hours at Gayla’s school, doing some mowing, weed eating and edging. It was not a parent work day, but since I had missed the last two, I needed to make up for it. Once I finished with the yard work, I went home and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening there.
I was up early Sunday morning…it was Easter. I told Stephen if he would come to church with us, I would pick him up at his apartment. So, I left the house (in the pouring rain) and went to his apartment. I picked him up and we headed to church. My whole family was there…Karla, Gayla and Stephen. Karla sang in the choir during the Easter musical, while I sat upstairs in the balcony doing the PowerPoint. I had the PowerPoint on the church’s laptop and live radar on mine. During the musical, one of my co-workers sent me a text message and advised me that the Draper Treatment Plant lost power, so much of south OKC was either out of water, or experiencing low water pressure. The boss had him call me because I have the code to change our recording on our phones. We have this recording to inform our customers when there is an outage in their area.
I went to the church office, changed the recording and then headed to the office to assist John with the phones. Amazingly enough, changing the recording helped us get rid of some of the phone calls. I stayed for 45 minutes and then left and headed up to mom and dad’s house for lunch. I had a very relaxing afternoon and had a great time with my parents and my sister and her family. I was still pretty tired and standing by in case the office called me again, so I headed on home and relaxed for the rest of the evening.
http://www.okcentralreact.org/
http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/OCFD_Citizens_Fire_Academy_Alumni_Association
After the funeral, we were escorted by OCPD to the funeral. Once we reached SE 29 & Bryant, Del City Police joined in on the escort. When we arrived at the cemetery, Del City Fire had the road blocked off for us and the firefighters stood at attention as we passed them by. It was a great tribute to Mike and his family. The graveside service was awesome and God held off the rain for us. The military presented an American Flag to Zack’s mom and one to Mike, Zack’s dad. A man played Amazing Grace on some bagpipes and did an outstanding job. Once the graveside service was over, we passed out DVD’s of the video that had been shown during the funeral service….then, we all headed to Mike’s house for fellowship and food. I was so drained and exhausted, I chose not to attend the monthly CFAAA meeting that night. I let our vice-president preside over the meeting.
I made it to work Friday and took off early so I could attend an awards presentation for Gayla at her school. She was so happy to see me and my mom and dad there. Afterwards, I went by Hibdons, had some shocks put on my truck, drove to Norman to buy some ribs and then spent the rest of the evening at home.
Saturday morning was prayer breakfast at the church and then rehearsal for our Easter musical. During the afternoon, I spent about three hours at Gayla’s school, doing some mowing, weed eating and edging. It was not a parent work day, but since I had missed the last two, I needed to make up for it. Once I finished with the yard work, I went home and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening there.
I was up early Sunday morning…it was Easter. I told Stephen if he would come to church with us, I would pick him up at his apartment. So, I left the house (in the pouring rain) and went to his apartment. I picked him up and we headed to church. My whole family was there…Karla, Gayla and Stephen. Karla sang in the choir during the Easter musical, while I sat upstairs in the balcony doing the PowerPoint. I had the PowerPoint on the church’s laptop and live radar on mine. During the musical, one of my co-workers sent me a text message and advised me that the Draper Treatment Plant lost power, so much of south OKC was either out of water, or experiencing low water pressure. The boss had him call me because I have the code to change our recording on our phones. We have this recording to inform our customers when there is an outage in their area.
I went to the church office, changed the recording and then headed to the office to assist John with the phones. Amazingly enough, changing the recording helped us get rid of some of the phone calls. I stayed for 45 minutes and then left and headed up to mom and dad’s house for lunch. I had a very relaxing afternoon and had a great time with my parents and my sister and her family. I was still pretty tired and standing by in case the office called me again, so I headed on home and relaxed for the rest of the evening.
http://www.okcentralreact.org/
http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/OCFD_Citizens_Fire_Academy_Alumni_Association
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
In Memory of Zackery Wells
It has been a long week already and it is only Wednesday.
I noticed the last time I blogged was last Friday….there was a reason for that. Last Saturday, I received some very bad news from a very good friend. My friend and fellow REACT member, Mike Weiss, lost his son early Saturday morning to a tragic shooting. His 19 year-old son, Zackery Wells, was at a party, celebrating the fact that he had just been accepted into the ROTC program at UCO and was actually leaving the party when a disturbance began. A young lady on the front porch was being groped by a 15 year-old boy. Zack approached the boy and told him to leave the girl alone. Then, he turned and started walking to his car to leave, when he heard the boy start to harass the girl again. He turned back around, walked up to the porch, got in between the girl and the boy and told him once again to leave her alone. The 15 year-old then took out a hand gun and shot Zack in the neck, killing him instantly. Click on the link below for the entire story.
http://www.newsok.com/west-point-appointee-national-guard-private-killed-in-saturday-shooting/article/3559749?custom_click=lead_story_title
Since Sunday, myself and many members of the Central Oklahoma REACT team have been working non-stop, trying to assist Mike and his family with funeral arrangements. Mike and his family did not have a church home, so the funeral will be taking place at my church and our interim pastor will be conducting the service. Since Zack was in the National Guard, this will be a big-time military funeral. Zack had completed 1 year at West Point Military Academy and had returned home to be closer to his family. Just last week, he received his letter, informing him he had been accepted into the UCO ROTC program. He was excited because the military was going to be his life.
So, why did Zack intervene in this situation, which caused him to lose his life? He, like his dad, has a servants heart. He liked to help other people. It did not matter what it was, he liked to help people. He did the right thing by trying to protect this young lady and gave his life in doing it. This scripture was tattood to his chest, John 15:13….” Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” He lived by this scripture…and he died by this scripture.
Since the funeral is being held at my church, then I have been the one assisting the family with the funeral arrangements. Monday evening, our interim pastor and myself, spent about an hour with Mike and his family, going over the order of service for the funeral. After the pastor left, I stayed, along with a few other REACT members and spent time with the family, talking about Zack and the impact he made on others.
Yesterday evening, I went back by Mike’s house and spent more time with the family, going over the final plans for the funeral. Around 7 other REACT members showed up as well and we all sat and had a good time of fellowship with each other. Friends and family are very important to Mike and his family right now and we want to be there as a support for the family.
Today, Zack’s body is available for viewing at the Sunny Lane Funeral Home. I am going by to see his body once I get off work. Then, I am going back to Mike’s house for a while before I have to be at church. This week, all the focus in my life has been Mike’s family. Mainly because he lost his son in a tragic shooting and his family is looking for a church home. I am here to minister to the family anyway that I need to.
Tomorrow, the funeral is at 2 pm. It will be a very tough and emotional day for all of us. That evening, I have my CFAAA meeting. I pray God will help me through the day.
I noticed the last time I blogged was last Friday….there was a reason for that. Last Saturday, I received some very bad news from a very good friend. My friend and fellow REACT member, Mike Weiss, lost his son early Saturday morning to a tragic shooting. His 19 year-old son, Zackery Wells, was at a party, celebrating the fact that he had just been accepted into the ROTC program at UCO and was actually leaving the party when a disturbance began. A young lady on the front porch was being groped by a 15 year-old boy. Zack approached the boy and told him to leave the girl alone. Then, he turned and started walking to his car to leave, when he heard the boy start to harass the girl again. He turned back around, walked up to the porch, got in between the girl and the boy and told him once again to leave her alone. The 15 year-old then took out a hand gun and shot Zack in the neck, killing him instantly. Click on the link below for the entire story.
http://www.newsok.com/west-point-appointee-national-guard-private-killed-in-saturday-shooting/article/3559749?custom_click=lead_story_title
Since Sunday, myself and many members of the Central Oklahoma REACT team have been working non-stop, trying to assist Mike and his family with funeral arrangements. Mike and his family did not have a church home, so the funeral will be taking place at my church and our interim pastor will be conducting the service. Since Zack was in the National Guard, this will be a big-time military funeral. Zack had completed 1 year at West Point Military Academy and had returned home to be closer to his family. Just last week, he received his letter, informing him he had been accepted into the UCO ROTC program. He was excited because the military was going to be his life.
So, why did Zack intervene in this situation, which caused him to lose his life? He, like his dad, has a servants heart. He liked to help other people. It did not matter what it was, he liked to help people. He did the right thing by trying to protect this young lady and gave his life in doing it. This scripture was tattood to his chest, John 15:13….” Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” He lived by this scripture…and he died by this scripture.
Since the funeral is being held at my church, then I have been the one assisting the family with the funeral arrangements. Monday evening, our interim pastor and myself, spent about an hour with Mike and his family, going over the order of service for the funeral. After the pastor left, I stayed, along with a few other REACT members and spent time with the family, talking about Zack and the impact he made on others.
Yesterday evening, I went back by Mike’s house and spent more time with the family, going over the final plans for the funeral. Around 7 other REACT members showed up as well and we all sat and had a good time of fellowship with each other. Friends and family are very important to Mike and his family right now and we want to be there as a support for the family.
Today, Zack’s body is available for viewing at the Sunny Lane Funeral Home. I am going by to see his body once I get off work. Then, I am going back to Mike’s house for a while before I have to be at church. This week, all the focus in my life has been Mike’s family. Mainly because he lost his son in a tragic shooting and his family is looking for a church home. I am here to minister to the family anyway that I need to.
Tomorrow, the funeral is at 2 pm. It will be a very tough and emotional day for all of us. That evening, I have my CFAAA meeting. I pray God will help me through the day.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Storm Chasing in Eastern Oklahoma
It has been a full week since I have posted anything……mainly because I have been swamped.
The highlight of my week came last night. The weather forecasters called for severe weather for eastern Oklahoma yesterday afternoon and evening (east of I-35), so I knew we would miss the severe weather in OKC, but there would be a lot of it east of us. Since I really did not have anything planned last night, I decided at around 11 am that I wanted to go storm chasing with one of my REACT team, members. He does this on the side as a hobby and he is a professional at it. Since we weren’t going to have to storm spot for our REACT team, I figured I would go with him and see some action.
I left the office at 14:30 and met up with the guys. We headed east on I-40 at 15:00 pm and made our way to eastern Oklahoma. Our target were some storms that were developing south of Ardmore and Ada. The chasers I was with, had a laptop with live radar images and a GPS system to show where they were and where the storms were. There were many storms developing along the dry line, but it seemed as if the south storms were more potent, so we chose to follow them. During the time we chased storms, I witnessed two tornado touchdowns, several funnels that never made it to the ground, several rotating wall clouds and many rotating clouds. Most of the storms we followed were rotating, which meant they could put a tornado down anytime. We stopped at several vantage points, watched the tornadoes develop and took some pictures.
I sat in the back seat of the truck, so I did not see as much. The chasers I was with saw a few more tornadoes than I did because the tornadoes were to the left of us and they had a better view than I did. As it started getting darker, I knew that I would not be able to take any more pictures. The pictures I did take were not very good. At one time, while we were driving to the storm, we got pounded with quarter-sized hail. I don’t believe it damaged the truck any, but it was loud. When it got dark, we had to rely solely on the radar, the weather radio and the GPS. The only way to chase at night is to look for tornadoes when you see lightning strikes. Since severe thunderstorms can drop tornadoes at any time, you really have to be on the look-out. Fortunately, we had another vehicle with chasers in it that we were following. At one point, we kept losing radar connection, so we had to rely on the other team to steer us in the right direction. We kept in contact with them via ham radio.
As it got a little later, the storms we were chasing were starting to lose their intensity and the tornado threat was very low. At around 21:30, we stopped at a McDonalds in Atoka and had a small bite to eat. At that time, we decided that it was time to call it a night, so we all headed back to the city. I arrived home at 00:30 this morning. I didn’t get much sleep and I feel like a zombie.
Today is tax day, however, I was told it was an official holiday for Washington D.C., so our taxes aren’t actually due until Monday. It doesn’t matter to me…..for the first time in 30 years, we owe both state and federal. I am not in any hurry to pay. This weekend I have two lawns to mow and some things to get done around the house.
http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/OCFD_Citizens_Fire_Academy_Alumni_Association
http://www.okcentralreact.org/
The highlight of my week came last night. The weather forecasters called for severe weather for eastern Oklahoma yesterday afternoon and evening (east of I-35), so I knew we would miss the severe weather in OKC, but there would be a lot of it east of us. Since I really did not have anything planned last night, I decided at around 11 am that I wanted to go storm chasing with one of my REACT team, members. He does this on the side as a hobby and he is a professional at it. Since we weren’t going to have to storm spot for our REACT team, I figured I would go with him and see some action.
I left the office at 14:30 and met up with the guys. We headed east on I-40 at 15:00 pm and made our way to eastern Oklahoma. Our target were some storms that were developing south of Ardmore and Ada. The chasers I was with, had a laptop with live radar images and a GPS system to show where they were and where the storms were. There were many storms developing along the dry line, but it seemed as if the south storms were more potent, so we chose to follow them. During the time we chased storms, I witnessed two tornado touchdowns, several funnels that never made it to the ground, several rotating wall clouds and many rotating clouds. Most of the storms we followed were rotating, which meant they could put a tornado down anytime. We stopped at several vantage points, watched the tornadoes develop and took some pictures.
I sat in the back seat of the truck, so I did not see as much. The chasers I was with saw a few more tornadoes than I did because the tornadoes were to the left of us and they had a better view than I did. As it started getting darker, I knew that I would not be able to take any more pictures. The pictures I did take were not very good. At one time, while we were driving to the storm, we got pounded with quarter-sized hail. I don’t believe it damaged the truck any, but it was loud. When it got dark, we had to rely solely on the radar, the weather radio and the GPS. The only way to chase at night is to look for tornadoes when you see lightning strikes. Since severe thunderstorms can drop tornadoes at any time, you really have to be on the look-out. Fortunately, we had another vehicle with chasers in it that we were following. At one point, we kept losing radar connection, so we had to rely on the other team to steer us in the right direction. We kept in contact with them via ham radio.
As it got a little later, the storms we were chasing were starting to lose their intensity and the tornado threat was very low. At around 21:30, we stopped at a McDonalds in Atoka and had a small bite to eat. At that time, we decided that it was time to call it a night, so we all headed back to the city. I arrived home at 00:30 this morning. I didn’t get much sleep and I feel like a zombie.
Today is tax day, however, I was told it was an official holiday for Washington D.C., so our taxes aren’t actually due until Monday. It doesn’t matter to me…..for the first time in 30 years, we owe both state and federal. I am not in any hurry to pay. This weekend I have two lawns to mow and some things to get done around the house.
http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/OCFD_Citizens_Fire_Academy_Alumni_Association
http://www.okcentralreact.org/
Friday, April 8, 2011
The Weekend is ALMOST here!
It has been a very busy week for me.
It all started on Wednesday afternoon. Due to low humidity and high southerly winds, many wildfires broke out in Oklahoma. One in particular, in the Jones-Spencer area, was huge and was causing authorities to start evacuation procedures. The area was not highly populated, but there were still several homes in the area that were being threatened. Plus, there were lots of tall cedar trees that were catching on fire and embers were blowing to other areas and catching them on fire.
Several of our REACT members were monitoring the situation and, as the afternoon went on, the fires got bigger and bigger and more fire equipment was being called in. Because of the seriousness of the situation and the fact they were calling in more resources, our REACT team was activated and every available unit was sent to the fire scene. I arrived first at 16:30 and other REACT units arrived shortly thereafter. For the rest of the evening (a total of 5 hours), our team provided traffic control, crowd control and assisted in evacuations. I personally assisted in one evacuation, in which a man was in his home with no transportation and fire was all the way around his house. Myself, and an officer with the Oklahoma City Police Department, worked together and got the man out. I also assisted in another evacuation, however, the man we were trying to evacuate refused to leave.
At one point, the fire threatened a resident that had a pasture behind it. The fire had reached some cedar trees and flames were shooting in the air. There was no fire trucks anywhere, so I tried to make contact with someone in order to get some brush pumpers to fight this fire….before it got to the house. Plus, the resident had around 5 horses sheltered in a fenced in area, so we had to try to get the horses in a horse trailer to get them out of the fire’s way. Myself and another REACT member spent almost an hour helping the residents evacuate. Fortunately, the brush pumpers were able to extinguish the fire before it got to the pasture. As the evening went on, we were doing less evacuations and more traffic and crowd control. At around 21:30, our president DE-activated us and we met for a small DE-briefing. I made it home by around 22:30 and was exhausted. I never got a chance to eat dinner, so all I had were two small bags of peanuts.
The next day, we were still under a high fire risk because of the low humidity and high winds. I knew the morning would be slow, but I kind of figured something would happen during the afternoon….and it did. At around 15:00, one of my co-workers informed me that there was another grass fire in the Jones/Spencer area. So, I turned on my TV…and there it was. The winds had picked up and re-kindled some fires. This time, they were much closer to populated areas and more homes were in danger. Once again, they were calling in more resources to help fight the fire. I contacted a few REACT members to see if they felt we should be ready to activate. We actually had a Board meeting scheduled for Thursday evening, but we knew with the fire danger so high, we may have to cancel the meeting and tend to the fires in NE OKC.
After speaking with our president, vice-president and chairman of the board, it was decided to go ahead and activate our team and see who was available to respond to this grass fire. I arrived on the scene at around 16:45 and attempted to locate the command post. As I continued to drive, I came upon a police officer who was blocking the road. I was about to stop and speak to him when I noticed lots of smoke down the road and people running frantically. I was not sure what was going on, so I headed that direction to see if I could be of assistance. A fire was about to jump the road and catch a lady’s house on fire. I grabbed my shovel and fire extinguisher and did what I could do. The shovel did not help me at all, so I used my fire extinguisher. I used it all up and the fire continued to burn.
I continued to assist with the fire attack until a brush pumper arrived on the scene. Then, I moved further down the street to assist in traffic control on a bigger fire. One of the National Guard’s Blackhawk helicopters was back making water drops. As I saw the helicopter approach, I got ready to take a picture. Little did I know that he was about to dump 600 gallons of water right next to me. As he started dropping the water, I moved out of the way as fast as I could. Fortunately, I did not get wet, however, a cameraman from KFOR got drenched…as did other firefighters. I stayed there for a while and once they had that fire under control, I met up with three other REACT units. We rested for a few minutes and then I headed over to the police officer I saw when I first arrived to see if he had anything for us to do.
I introduced myself to him and let him know our team was here to help. He gave me different intersections that he needed blocked off, so I took the list back to the other REACT members and gave each member an assignment. For the rest of the evening, all we did was handle traffic and crowd control. At around 20:15, the officer called my cell phone and released our team. We all met at a convenience store, held a DE-briefing and then went our separate ways.
After last night, I had already decided I would not be available to respond on anything today. After spending two straight nights in NE Ok County, I was ready to rest and to spend time with my family. This evening, I have two lawns to mow and tomorrow I have one. We are also having a big birthday luncheon for my daughter and my niece tomorrow afternoon. I may make myself available for tomorrow night, but I am not sure yet. Sunday is the Redbud Classic, so I will be busy with that most of the day.
It all started on Wednesday afternoon. Due to low humidity and high southerly winds, many wildfires broke out in Oklahoma. One in particular, in the Jones-Spencer area, was huge and was causing authorities to start evacuation procedures. The area was not highly populated, but there were still several homes in the area that were being threatened. Plus, there were lots of tall cedar trees that were catching on fire and embers were blowing to other areas and catching them on fire.
Several of our REACT members were monitoring the situation and, as the afternoon went on, the fires got bigger and bigger and more fire equipment was being called in. Because of the seriousness of the situation and the fact they were calling in more resources, our REACT team was activated and every available unit was sent to the fire scene. I arrived first at 16:30 and other REACT units arrived shortly thereafter. For the rest of the evening (a total of 5 hours), our team provided traffic control, crowd control and assisted in evacuations. I personally assisted in one evacuation, in which a man was in his home with no transportation and fire was all the way around his house. Myself, and an officer with the Oklahoma City Police Department, worked together and got the man out. I also assisted in another evacuation, however, the man we were trying to evacuate refused to leave.
At one point, the fire threatened a resident that had a pasture behind it. The fire had reached some cedar trees and flames were shooting in the air. There was no fire trucks anywhere, so I tried to make contact with someone in order to get some brush pumpers to fight this fire….before it got to the house. Plus, the resident had around 5 horses sheltered in a fenced in area, so we had to try to get the horses in a horse trailer to get them out of the fire’s way. Myself and another REACT member spent almost an hour helping the residents evacuate. Fortunately, the brush pumpers were able to extinguish the fire before it got to the pasture. As the evening went on, we were doing less evacuations and more traffic and crowd control. At around 21:30, our president DE-activated us and we met for a small DE-briefing. I made it home by around 22:30 and was exhausted. I never got a chance to eat dinner, so all I had were two small bags of peanuts.
The next day, we were still under a high fire risk because of the low humidity and high winds. I knew the morning would be slow, but I kind of figured something would happen during the afternoon….and it did. At around 15:00, one of my co-workers informed me that there was another grass fire in the Jones/Spencer area. So, I turned on my TV…and there it was. The winds had picked up and re-kindled some fires. This time, they were much closer to populated areas and more homes were in danger. Once again, they were calling in more resources to help fight the fire. I contacted a few REACT members to see if they felt we should be ready to activate. We actually had a Board meeting scheduled for Thursday evening, but we knew with the fire danger so high, we may have to cancel the meeting and tend to the fires in NE OKC.
After speaking with our president, vice-president and chairman of the board, it was decided to go ahead and activate our team and see who was available to respond to this grass fire. I arrived on the scene at around 16:45 and attempted to locate the command post. As I continued to drive, I came upon a police officer who was blocking the road. I was about to stop and speak to him when I noticed lots of smoke down the road and people running frantically. I was not sure what was going on, so I headed that direction to see if I could be of assistance. A fire was about to jump the road and catch a lady’s house on fire. I grabbed my shovel and fire extinguisher and did what I could do. The shovel did not help me at all, so I used my fire extinguisher. I used it all up and the fire continued to burn.
I continued to assist with the fire attack until a brush pumper arrived on the scene. Then, I moved further down the street to assist in traffic control on a bigger fire. One of the National Guard’s Blackhawk helicopters was back making water drops. As I saw the helicopter approach, I got ready to take a picture. Little did I know that he was about to dump 600 gallons of water right next to me. As he started dropping the water, I moved out of the way as fast as I could. Fortunately, I did not get wet, however, a cameraman from KFOR got drenched…as did other firefighters. I stayed there for a while and once they had that fire under control, I met up with three other REACT units. We rested for a few minutes and then I headed over to the police officer I saw when I first arrived to see if he had anything for us to do.
I introduced myself to him and let him know our team was here to help. He gave me different intersections that he needed blocked off, so I took the list back to the other REACT members and gave each member an assignment. For the rest of the evening, all we did was handle traffic and crowd control. At around 20:15, the officer called my cell phone and released our team. We all met at a convenience store, held a DE-briefing and then went our separate ways.
After last night, I had already decided I would not be available to respond on anything today. After spending two straight nights in NE Ok County, I was ready to rest and to spend time with my family. This evening, I have two lawns to mow and tomorrow I have one. We are also having a big birthday luncheon for my daughter and my niece tomorrow afternoon. I may make myself available for tomorrow night, but I am not sure yet. Sunday is the Redbud Classic, so I will be busy with that most of the day.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Wildfires in NE Oklahoma County
Yesterday afternoon, wildfires in north east Oklahoma County burned out of control, damaging and destroying several homes. The Central Oklahoma REACT team was activated at around 15:30 pm and many members responded to the area. Below is the official report that I submitted to the REACT Board of Directors........
On April 6, 2011, around 13:00 pm, I was at work, monitoring a wildfire that was destroying land and homes in the area around Post Rd and E Wilshire Blvd. Later in the afternoon, President Toner took us to level 2, which means we were to contact him and let him know if we were available to respond to the huge wildfire. I was receiving updates from NEWS9, Mike Weiss and Terri Owen. At 15:30 pm, unit 728 called me and said he was heading up to the fire to see how he could assist. I left my office at 4 pm and headed up there as well.
I arrived on the scene at 16:30 pm and approached an Arcadia police officer who had the road blocked. I identified myself and informed him that I was there to assist in evacuations and traffic control (if needed) and that I had other team members on the way as well. He told me to pull off the road and to stand by until other REACT members arrived on the scene. Shortly after I arrived, Unit 728, 722 and 723 arrived. We all put on our reflective vests and stood by for a few minutes until we were given assignments.
As we stood by, a motorist came by and informed the officer that her brother was still in a house, trapped by the fire, with no transportation to escape. The officer refused to allow her through, but he did allow me to go through and try to find this guy. I was given the address and directions, however, the smoke was so thick, trying to find an address or a street was difficult. I stopped and asked an OCPD officer, who was blocking traffic, to pull the address up on his map. Since I wasn’t familiar with the area, the officer volunteered to go with me, so I followed him.
Once we found the address, we turned into the long drive. The drive was very rough and bumpy….and there was fire all around us. It was so smoky, you could barely see where to drive. Once we arrived, I got out of my truck, ran to the front door and started banging on it. There was no answer, so I tried the doorknob. As I opened the door, a man in his 30’s was coming to the door. I advised him that he needed to leave because his house was about to catch on fire. He didn’t want to leave, but the officer that was with me persuaded him too. He got in the police car with the officer and I got in my truck. By then, the fire had almost reached the house and the sides of his driveway were on fire. My main goal was to get out of the driveway without my truck catching on fire. It was a bumpy ride, but I made it out of there. My eyes were burning and watery and it was getting hard to breather with all the smoke.
We returned back to the area where the road block was set up and delivered the man to his family. I stood by again, waiting for my next assignment. While I was waiting, a news crew from KOCO wanted to interview me. I went ahead and did the interview with them and shortly after that, I was told there was another man who was trapped in his house and needed to be evacuated. This time, myself and unit 723 (Tanner Owen) responded. As we arrived at the house, there were several other officers on the scene, trying to get the man to leave. He refused. We could not make him leave, so we headed on out. On our way back out, we passed two or three mobile homes that were on fire. We headed back to the area where the roadblock was and stood by for another assignment.
While waiting, we were informed of another property that the fire was about to consume. Myself and unit 714 (Daak Love), headed over to the property. There were no brush pumpers in this area, so we called for some assistance. The homeowners had several horses and the fire was getting closer and closer to their land. The man of the house was on a dozer, trying to move some dirt around, but it was not doing any good. Myself and 714 advised the people they needed to evacuate, so one of their neighbors brought a horse trailer over and they started loading the horses up in the trailer. It was not an easy task. The horses were scared and did not want to go. I tried to help corral them, but since they did not know me, I just made it worse….so I stayed out of the way. Several brush pumpers arrived on the scene and proceeded to put the fire out. While they were fighting the fires, we were trying to get the horses in a trailer. Once we finally got the horses loaded up, we all left the area. As we were leaving, I had noticed the fire had gotten worse and more brush pumpers were coming in. Myself and unit 714 headed back to the roadblock to stand by for further assignments.
There were no more evacuations, so most of us stood by blocking traffic. Most all of the law enforcement agencies that were there with us blocking the road, had left the area, which left us in charge of blocking traffic. As nighttime settled in, the fires were finally being contained and there was less traffic. President Toner (unit 732) decided to go ahead and release us from the scene, although, a few REACT units stayed to assist with traffic control. We had a de-briefing and were released from the scene at 21:30 pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Keith Sossamon
Central OK REACT Unit 706
Treasurer/PIO/Recruiter
http://www.okcentralreact.org/
On April 6, 2011, around 13:00 pm, I was at work, monitoring a wildfire that was destroying land and homes in the area around Post Rd and E Wilshire Blvd. Later in the afternoon, President Toner took us to level 2, which means we were to contact him and let him know if we were available to respond to the huge wildfire. I was receiving updates from NEWS9, Mike Weiss and Terri Owen. At 15:30 pm, unit 728 called me and said he was heading up to the fire to see how he could assist. I left my office at 4 pm and headed up there as well.
I arrived on the scene at 16:30 pm and approached an Arcadia police officer who had the road blocked. I identified myself and informed him that I was there to assist in evacuations and traffic control (if needed) and that I had other team members on the way as well. He told me to pull off the road and to stand by until other REACT members arrived on the scene. Shortly after I arrived, Unit 728, 722 and 723 arrived. We all put on our reflective vests and stood by for a few minutes until we were given assignments.
As we stood by, a motorist came by and informed the officer that her brother was still in a house, trapped by the fire, with no transportation to escape. The officer refused to allow her through, but he did allow me to go through and try to find this guy. I was given the address and directions, however, the smoke was so thick, trying to find an address or a street was difficult. I stopped and asked an OCPD officer, who was blocking traffic, to pull the address up on his map. Since I wasn’t familiar with the area, the officer volunteered to go with me, so I followed him.
Once we found the address, we turned into the long drive. The drive was very rough and bumpy….and there was fire all around us. It was so smoky, you could barely see where to drive. Once we arrived, I got out of my truck, ran to the front door and started banging on it. There was no answer, so I tried the doorknob. As I opened the door, a man in his 30’s was coming to the door. I advised him that he needed to leave because his house was about to catch on fire. He didn’t want to leave, but the officer that was with me persuaded him too. He got in the police car with the officer and I got in my truck. By then, the fire had almost reached the house and the sides of his driveway were on fire. My main goal was to get out of the driveway without my truck catching on fire. It was a bumpy ride, but I made it out of there. My eyes were burning and watery and it was getting hard to breather with all the smoke.
We returned back to the area where the road block was set up and delivered the man to his family. I stood by again, waiting for my next assignment. While I was waiting, a news crew from KOCO wanted to interview me. I went ahead and did the interview with them and shortly after that, I was told there was another man who was trapped in his house and needed to be evacuated. This time, myself and unit 723 (Tanner Owen) responded. As we arrived at the house, there were several other officers on the scene, trying to get the man to leave. He refused. We could not make him leave, so we headed on out. On our way back out, we passed two or three mobile homes that were on fire. We headed back to the area where the roadblock was and stood by for another assignment.
While waiting, we were informed of another property that the fire was about to consume. Myself and unit 714 (Daak Love), headed over to the property. There were no brush pumpers in this area, so we called for some assistance. The homeowners had several horses and the fire was getting closer and closer to their land. The man of the house was on a dozer, trying to move some dirt around, but it was not doing any good. Myself and 714 advised the people they needed to evacuate, so one of their neighbors brought a horse trailer over and they started loading the horses up in the trailer. It was not an easy task. The horses were scared and did not want to go. I tried to help corral them, but since they did not know me, I just made it worse….so I stayed out of the way. Several brush pumpers arrived on the scene and proceeded to put the fire out. While they were fighting the fires, we were trying to get the horses in a trailer. Once we finally got the horses loaded up, we all left the area. As we were leaving, I had noticed the fire had gotten worse and more brush pumpers were coming in. Myself and unit 714 headed back to the roadblock to stand by for further assignments.
There were no more evacuations, so most of us stood by blocking traffic. Most all of the law enforcement agencies that were there with us blocking the road, had left the area, which left us in charge of blocking traffic. As nighttime settled in, the fires were finally being contained and there was less traffic. President Toner (unit 732) decided to go ahead and release us from the scene, although, a few REACT units stayed to assist with traffic control. We had a de-briefing and were released from the scene at 21:30 pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Keith Sossamon
Central OK REACT Unit 706
Treasurer/PIO/Recruiter
http://www.okcentralreact.org/
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
High Fire Alert Day..
I just learned this morning that April has been declared as Sexual Assault Awareness month.
I have been working with the students at my church now for the past 8-9 years. I have seen evidence of verbal abuse and some physical abuse, but never any sexual abuse. I believe that it is happening, but many are afraid to come forward. I tell the students over and over again…..if you are being abused in any way, whether it is verbally, physically, or sexually, let me or another youth worked know. If we find evidence that this is happening, our responsibility is to go to the proper authorities. Nobody should EVER have to endure being abused in any manner. Some may think it is their fault and that’s why they don’t say anything. It is NOT their fault. They are the victims and the person doing this to them needs to be punished.
Well, yesterday afternoon, myself and several other Central Oklahoma REACT members attended the Wild Weather Event in Midwest City. It was hosted by the Midwest City Chamber of Commerce and David Payne, meteorologist from KFOR, was the speaker. Our team had a table set up at the event so we could do some recruiting. It was a fun event and we got to meet many people. We talked to visitors and even programmed a weather radio for someone. I had a good time, although, I really expected to see more video. David Payne had a long question and answer session and most of the questions were good…..I just thought we would see more video. The event ended at 7:15 pm. Afterwards, several of us went to a hot wings place and ate.
Today the temperatures are suppose to be back up in the 70’s, with strong winds. With the strong winds comes high fire danger. Our REACT team is on alert as I type this, however, since most of us work during the day, we won’t be available until after 4 pm. We have been monitoring the fire calls in case our assistance is needed for traffic control.
http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/OCFD_Citizens_Fire_Academy_Alumni_Association
http://www.okcentralreact.org/
I have been working with the students at my church now for the past 8-9 years. I have seen evidence of verbal abuse and some physical abuse, but never any sexual abuse. I believe that it is happening, but many are afraid to come forward. I tell the students over and over again…..if you are being abused in any way, whether it is verbally, physically, or sexually, let me or another youth worked know. If we find evidence that this is happening, our responsibility is to go to the proper authorities. Nobody should EVER have to endure being abused in any manner. Some may think it is their fault and that’s why they don’t say anything. It is NOT their fault. They are the victims and the person doing this to them needs to be punished.
Well, yesterday afternoon, myself and several other Central Oklahoma REACT members attended the Wild Weather Event in Midwest City. It was hosted by the Midwest City Chamber of Commerce and David Payne, meteorologist from KFOR, was the speaker. Our team had a table set up at the event so we could do some recruiting. It was a fun event and we got to meet many people. We talked to visitors and even programmed a weather radio for someone. I had a good time, although, I really expected to see more video. David Payne had a long question and answer session and most of the questions were good…..I just thought we would see more video. The event ended at 7:15 pm. Afterwards, several of us went to a hot wings place and ate.
Today the temperatures are suppose to be back up in the 70’s, with strong winds. With the strong winds comes high fire danger. Our REACT team is on alert as I type this, however, since most of us work during the day, we won’t be available until after 4 pm. We have been monitoring the fire calls in case our assistance is needed for traffic control.
http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/OCFD_Citizens_Fire_Academy_Alumni_Association
http://www.okcentralreact.org/
Saturday, April 2, 2011
The Weekend is Here!!
I am so glad the weekend is finally here......I need some rest.
Yesterday evening was the fundraising talent show for the South Lindsay Baptist Church Acteens. They are trying to raise enough money to attend the Blume Conference in Florida this coming July. They are really excited about it and I am glad they are.....many of them are working very hard in order to earn money to go on the trip. The talent show was a huge success. I was rather busy because I was running the sound system and playing the cassette tapes and CD's for them. It was not hard, but it was challenging. I enjoy doing it, but I also like to be recognized for doing a good job.
Maybe I am wrong, but I feel if you do a good job and things go real smoothly that you should be recognized or shown some kind of appreciation. It seems as if they recognized every body else and their dog last night except for me. The funny thing is, I should be used to this by now. After running the sound for our church for the last 30 years, I have gotten very little appreciation or recognition. So, last night was not really any different. It just kind of irks me that I put so much time into this...and knowledge....and sacrifice my time to do this and don't receive any type of appreciation. I was a little upset, but I should not have been....because this is normally how it happens.
As I was leaving the church, I received a call from one of our REACT members. He had heard on his scanner there had been a bad accident at SE 44 & Sunnylane. the original report was a car had run into the building at Braums and there were multiple injuries. I responded from the church and he met me over there. Here is the report I submitted to the REACT Board of Directors.
On April 1, 2011, at around 20:15 pm, I received a phone call from Central Oklahoma REACT member Mike Weiss, who informed me there had been a bad traffic accident at SE 44 & Sunnylane. he received the call over his scanner and initial reports were a car had driven through the Braums store and there were multiple injuries.
He was on his way back from eating on the north side of town and I was just finishing up with a talent show at the church, so both of us were rather close. Weiss contacted President Toner and advised him that he and I were self-activating to the accident in order to assist DCPD and DCFD.
We both arrived on scene at about the same time, at around 20:25 pm. I pulled up on the south side of the accident, while Mike pulled up on the north side. I activated all my emergency lights, grabbed my reflective vest and my flashlight and started directing north bound traffic.One north bound lane and one south bound lane was blocked. Mike began directing south bound traffic.
Mike and I continued to direct traffic while PD and FD were cleaning up the scene. Come to find out, a car did not go through Braums and there were not multiple injuries. It looked as if there had been two separate vehicle accidents. At 21:15 pm, a firefighter with DCPD came up to me and thanked me for stopping to assist with traffic control.
Mike and I were both released from the scene by DCFD at 21:15 pm. We pulled into a parking lot north of Braums to discuss a few things. While we were talking an officer with DCPD came by to talk to a few of the accident victims. Once he finished with them, Mike approached the officer, gave him a business card and one of our new brochures. The officer thanked us for stopping to assist. Mike contacted President Toner and cleared us both off from the scene at 21:30 pm.
http://www.okcentralreact.org/
http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/OCFD_Citizens_Fire_Academy_Alumni_Association
Yesterday evening was the fundraising talent show for the South Lindsay Baptist Church Acteens. They are trying to raise enough money to attend the Blume Conference in Florida this coming July. They are really excited about it and I am glad they are.....many of them are working very hard in order to earn money to go on the trip. The talent show was a huge success. I was rather busy because I was running the sound system and playing the cassette tapes and CD's for them. It was not hard, but it was challenging. I enjoy doing it, but I also like to be recognized for doing a good job.
Maybe I am wrong, but I feel if you do a good job and things go real smoothly that you should be recognized or shown some kind of appreciation. It seems as if they recognized every body else and their dog last night except for me. The funny thing is, I should be used to this by now. After running the sound for our church for the last 30 years, I have gotten very little appreciation or recognition. So, last night was not really any different. It just kind of irks me that I put so much time into this...and knowledge....and sacrifice my time to do this and don't receive any type of appreciation. I was a little upset, but I should not have been....because this is normally how it happens.
As I was leaving the church, I received a call from one of our REACT members. He had heard on his scanner there had been a bad accident at SE 44 & Sunnylane. the original report was a car had run into the building at Braums and there were multiple injuries. I responded from the church and he met me over there. Here is the report I submitted to the REACT Board of Directors.
On April 1, 2011, at around 20:15 pm, I received a phone call from Central Oklahoma REACT member Mike Weiss, who informed me there had been a bad traffic accident at SE 44 & Sunnylane. he received the call over his scanner and initial reports were a car had driven through the Braums store and there were multiple injuries.
He was on his way back from eating on the north side of town and I was just finishing up with a talent show at the church, so both of us were rather close. Weiss contacted President Toner and advised him that he and I were self-activating to the accident in order to assist DCPD and DCFD.
We both arrived on scene at about the same time, at around 20:25 pm. I pulled up on the south side of the accident, while Mike pulled up on the north side. I activated all my emergency lights, grabbed my reflective vest and my flashlight and started directing north bound traffic.One north bound lane and one south bound lane was blocked. Mike began directing south bound traffic.
Mike and I continued to direct traffic while PD and FD were cleaning up the scene. Come to find out, a car did not go through Braums and there were not multiple injuries. It looked as if there had been two separate vehicle accidents. At 21:15 pm, a firefighter with DCPD came up to me and thanked me for stopping to assist with traffic control.
Mike and I were both released from the scene by DCFD at 21:15 pm. We pulled into a parking lot north of Braums to discuss a few things. While we were talking an officer with DCPD came by to talk to a few of the accident victims. Once he finished with them, Mike approached the officer, gave him a business card and one of our new brochures. The officer thanked us for stopping to assist. Mike contacted President Toner and cleared us both off from the scene at 21:30 pm.
http://www.okcentralreact.org/
http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/OCFD_Citizens_Fire_Academy_Alumni_Association
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