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Viewpoint IDEAS, THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS
ABOUT LOCAL ISSUES FROM PEOPLE IN OUR COMMUNITY. EDITED BY TOM GIBBONEY
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Many missed warnings on toxic cloud
L
uckily, it wasn’t even close to being the “Big One,” the massive Last Sunday’s fire was a wake-up call, especially for those who earthquake that residents fear could hit the Bay Area anytime. are not on the city’s call list. Commander Dave Bertini, a spokesBut when a major fire broke out at the Sims scrap metal recy- man for the department, said that during an emergency like a cling complex in Redwood City Nov. 10, it enveloped much of the major earthquake, all phone service and email could go down, Midpeninsula in a pall of foul-smelling smoke. but text messages might squeeze through as was the case during For many residents, much of that pain came from not knowing the Boston Marathon bombing. what had suddenly happened to the air quality in their neighborThe Sims fire exposed numerous shortcomings in the area’s hood. Although no one has exact numbers, the “shelter in place” emergency notification system, although the police and other advisory issued by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, local and county government agencies cannot send you a message apparently did not come close to reaching the unless you provide them the information. To thousands of households impacted by the acrid learn more about how to sign up, see the story EDI TORI AL smoke. on Page 5. The opinion of The Almanac When the department sent out an emergency Many residents were expecting police to message Sunday to the more than 13,000 phone patrol the neighborhoods using loudspeakers numbers in its database, connections were made to let people know what was happening. Cmdr. with only 7,828 people. The problems were typical — busy signals, Bertini said that officers would have patrolled the streets using people hanging up, reaching phone numbers that were no longer in their public address systems if the “shelter in place” alert had service or using an overloaded network. San Mateo County also sent been an order instead of being advisory. So far, it is not known if out warnings, but it is not clear when and how many went out. anyone was seriously injured by breathing the smoke, although To its credit, the Menlo Park Police Department acted quickly to many complaints about extreme discomfort were registered on make changes in the system so that on a second try, every number the Almanac’s online Town Square forum. was called three times, instead of once, with five minutes between Now it is up to state, county and city authorities to hold the each attempt. Many more people, 10,000-plus, did connect, a sub- Sims company accountable for this event. After a large fire fueled stantial improvement over the first effort. by crushed cars erupted at the same site in April 2007, Sims was But countless households, including many in the unincorporated cited by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District when county areas, were left in the dark because they had not signed up for toxic residue from the blaze fouled nearby wetlands. This time, the alerts, although the department also used Twitter and Facebook no citations have been issued, although it is time for the authorito get the word out about this emergency. The city’s primary system ties to consider revoking Sims’ permit to operate at the site. Even is designed to notify land line and cellular telephones, as well as if the company is not found responsible for starting the fire, its email addresses, which means people must sign up to receive noti- operations are accident-prone and put thousands of people in the fications and make sure to keep their contact information current. surrounding neighborhoods at risk.
L ET TERS Our readers write
Smoke was thick over N. Fair Oaks Editor: The fire at Sims Metal in Redwood City on Nov. 10 sent a thick plume of smoke over my neighborhood in unincorporated Redwood City. The odor was like burning plastic and the haze was dense over our homes. We could not be outside, the smell was so bad. We did not get the “shelter-in-place” phone message for at least two to three hours after the fire started. By then the smoke was drifting thick and low over North Fair Oaks, Menlo Park and Atherton. Shame on Sims. That said, this incident is a reminder of just how foolish it is for Cargill to continue its plan for residential development on the salt ponds, just steps away from the Sims metal shredders. Marsha Cohen Redwood City
18 N The Almanac N TheAlmanacOnline.com N November 20, 2013
Atherton Heritage Association/Rachel Bentley
Our Regional Heritage This watercolor by Rachel Bentley depicts the spectacular Atherton home built for James and Mary Emma Flood. The construction project began in 1876 and took two years to complete. The land that was later subdivided is now Lindenwood.