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Emergency Prep
 

Rim Family Services
and the Old Fire

When the October 2003 wildfires began and the mountain was evacuated, the County of San Bernardino sent Rim Family Services to work at the Evacuation center at Norton Air Force Base due to our current contracts with them. We had over 600 contacts with clients during the two-week period.

When a disaster is declared by the Federal government, FEMA is called in and funds are made available for crisis counseling. (The Old Fire is Fema disaster #1498). When FEMA and the County left the area, Rim Family Services was invited to take over the crisis counseling and outreach work. We know the area, the people, the needs; and were evacuated too. Our job is to help people understand the normal reactions to such a disaster and to help people return to their pre-fire functioning.

When we returned from the fires, we found people all over the mountain were experiencing many of the following symptoms:

  • crying for no apparent reason
  • anxiety/fearfulness
  • forgetfulness
  • fear about leaving home
  • fatigue/exhaustion
  • physical symptoms such as stomach problems and headaches

We now find ourselves in a unique situation in the mountains. We are in fire season, we have dead and dying trees, we have power outages if the winds are high. We still have areas of burned forest that are a constant reminder of what we experienced. children are bothered by these same "triggers" (reminders) too.

Remembering and talking of the event has been found to be an aid in the healing process. It helps to know that the thoughts and feelings you are having are normal and that you are not crazy. This was the largest evacuation in the history of California. No one planned on evacuating with no electricity. No one planned on being gone foe two weeks. No one planned on the emotional, physical and financial toll this would have on everyone.

The stressors were enormous; yet most people came home to find their homes were intact and felt they should not complain. Finding out your home was not burned did not erase the evacuation experience with all its emotional and physical demands. Those who lost their homes have additional burdens.