History of Disaster and Emergency Preparedness The Muir Woods Park Community Association began life in 1935 as the Muir Woods Park Improvement Association. People living along Panoramic Highway, Edgewood Avenue and Sequoia Valley Road were relatively isolated and felt a need to make a concerted effort to bring in utilities, improve the roads and develop a public safety program. When the association was formed most of the hillside was grasslands. As population grew, they planted shade trees and brought in water, which made the wild vegetation grow even more. The redwood trees, which once only grew along the stream beds, crept up hills, fed by new septic systems, creating a forest land on the east side of Throckmorton Ridge. On the west side, scotch and French broom gradually replaced the grasslands. By the time the Loma Prieta Quake hit the Bay Area in late 1989, the tree and brush population was alarming. The Quake led to the sinking of Highway One in early 1990, which put all the coastal traffic onto Panoramic Highway. After watching the East Bay Firestorm of 1990 Muir Woods Park residents realized that a disaster or a could fire destroy our lives here. The Association decided it was time to plan how to handle a disaster if one happened, and take measures to prevent one. In 1993 high winds came. The area was hit by three storms with hurricane force winds of up to 125 mph. The trees fell down. Power was disrupted, power surges caused two housefires; the water supply was cut off when power was out for 5 days. Panoramic was closed by downed trees and power lines - trapping residents in the area. Residents decided to deal with nature's wrath by developing a program of non-indigenous tree removal, controlled burns in the parklands, brush removal, trimming around high voltage lines, and brush disposal, which included chipper days and pile burns supervised by the Fire Dept. The MWPCA Mountain Emergency Team was formed in 1993 as an organized network of neighbors checking on neighbors in case of a disaster or emergency. A computer database was created listing all residents, residences, supplies and equipment, skills such as medical, CPR, first aid, etc. In 1996 the MWPCA created a Disaster Brigade with a group of residents receiving training. There's a Volunteer Fire Brigade, Medical Team, Engineers ( chain saw brigade) and the Community Center has been prepared to be a disaster shelter and stocked with emergency food supplies for people and their pets . A generator is installed at the Clubhouse. The neighborhood emergency siren is mounted on the Clubhouse roof. It is tested the first Monday of the month at noon for three minutes. We also purchased a new defibrillator, which now lives on our local fire truck. All of this came about because of an awareness of what could happen and a willingness to commit personal time and resources to be prepared to handle an emergency situation. We now have all metal water tanks and generator backups to make sure we'll have water when the power's down. There's still much to be done, but we're on our way.
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