Practice Evacuation on Horizon Lane — A Big Success
By Joni Johnson
Under threatening skies and newly cleared air, Security Director Jens Larsen orchestrated the first practice evacuation that included pets. It was a major success, and luckily, it was fun. About a third of the cottages on Horizon Lane participated. More important than fun, however, was the chance to see how an evacuation might work for residents when their pets were involved. The idea came from several joint meetings of Jens and the Pet Emergency Group, consisting of Vicki Gorrell, Leslie Schettler, Mickie Terry, Channing Penna, Joanna Luchessi, Lanette Moutos and Joni Johnson. That group was originally started with the idea that some residents with pets might need to be evacuated during an impending fire, and that plans needed to consider animals. During three meetings with Jens, the group recommended a practice run to smooth out any kinks.
Bob and Jill Stoecker — ready to go
Karen Laurie, a veteran of 3 evacuations, is ready for the next one
The rescue bus arrives
In case of a real fire, the plans for evacuation are basically street by street by need. In other words, it will not be an evacuation of the whole community all at once, but a progressive evacuation starting with the streets in the most danger. We chose a street (Horizon Lane) that we knew included both dogs and cats. Horizon Lane residents received a notice of the impending practice evacuation, and had the option of participating or not. On Monday, September 25 at 8:55, Jens sent out a One-Call-Now message to all of the residents who had said that they would be able to join. The call was our notification to take a go-bag as well as any pet go-bags to the edge of the driveway. People were to stand by their luggage or be in a position to see the bus arrive. Then, the Rogue Valley Manor bus driven by Bill Fullenwider, our intrepid Transportation Supervisor, went from house to house picking up individuals and their belongings. Those that couldn’t get up the stairs of the bus were picked up by a separate Manor car. On this first run, only one real dog participated, but people put out their animal go bags and crates so that we had a sense of how much luggage would be involved. So cat kennels were part of the luggage, and we even had a robotic cat that meowed, purred, swished its tail, blinked and — yes — even hissed.
The bus ride to the Plaza
Jens takes inventory
Joni and Starr check out the facilities
While everything went very smoothly during the drill, we learned a lot and the Pet Emergency group will be meeting with Jens to iron out some of the potential kinks. It was extremely informative, and we are very pleased to have these plans moving ahead in case of an emergency. Even Meusette, the Robokitty (pictured at left), was pleased with the outcome.
