Early (and ominous) smoke alert
The billowing dark gray smoke from the 2/5/12 10AM five-alarm fire that consumed a vacant Mare Island-based warehouse was visible many miles away. While early media reports mentioned that the space had once housed submarine parts, there was little information about whether Vallejoans were in danger from any toxic fumes emanating from the fire.
So it was a surprise to Vallejoans (present company included) when they received an automated call from the Vallejo Fire Department much later in the day, advising them, until further notice, to close their windows and stay indoors with their pets.
We received a subsequent automated call at approximately 8PM Sunday night, informing us that the Vallejo Fire Department was canceling this advisory.
While we appreciated getting both alerts, we wondered why it took so long to receive the first message, which was said very quickly and not repeated. This morning we asked Kay Buchanan, the Vallejo Fire Department secretary who reports directly to Fire Chief, Paige Meyer, about this delay.
Too fast and too late
Buchanan was quick to acknowledge that the Fire Department's response needs to be improved. "Our Reverse 911 system sent out automatic alerts to approximately 40,000 citizens. Unfortunately the call queue got back-logged, delaying the delivery time to many of our residents." She said that the Department will be addressing this issue, along with the many complaints that the initial advisory was said too quickly to comprehend its scope.
At Buchanan's invitation, we will be following up on this issue with Paige Meyer. And will report his response in a future posting. So stay tuned...
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