REGION: North County residents become disaster volunteers

New crop of disaster volunteers learn how to help community in event of emergency

By RENEE RAMSEY - For the North County Times | Sunday, November 2, 2008 6:08 PM PST ∞

ESCONDIDO ---- In a classroom at Escondido City Hall, 60 volunteers recently learned how to help their neighbors the next time disaster strikes in San Diego County's wildfire-prone communities.

"After the last two fires in 2003 and 2007, we wanted to be better prepared," said Sheree Dohanyos of Escondido, an after-school tutor. "There was a sense of powerlessness, of wanting to do something but not knowing how."

So, Dohanyos said, she decided to enroll in seven free training sessions to become a member of Escondido's volunteer Community Emergency Response Team.

Her son, Jeremy Dohanyos, 17, a senior at Escondido High School, also is a disaster volunteer in training.

"I want to be more a part of my community because I'm going to be on my own very soon," he said.

Chuck Milks, the Escondido Fire Department's coordinator of the city's two-year-old CERT program, said 47 North County residents already have become CERT members through earlier training sessions.

The 60 trainees are residents of Escondido, Oceanside, San Marcos, Valley Center, Pauma Valley, Carlsbad and Ramona.

"The premise of CERT is neighbor helping neighbor, and these are your neighbors ---- grandmas, grandpas, young people, business people," Milks said at the group's first class Oct. 14.

The volunteers spent the next two weeks learning personal safety techniques and how to support other agencies responding to fires, earthquakes and other disasters.

CERT is a California invention. The first program was introduced in Los Angeles in 1985.

The program, funded in part by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, now operates in 28 states and Puerto Rico.

Escondido class member Mark Vaught of Pauma Valley, a retired law enforcement officer, said his goal is to relay what he learns to his community, which has no CERT program, "and maybe instigate something there."

Susi Hensen of Escondido, who works at a medical office, said she is one of several members of the city's First Congregational Church who enrolled as participants in the church's new disaster preparation program.

More than a dozen trainees raised their hands when asked if they had been among the thousands evacuated from their homes during the county's devastating Cedar fire in 2003 or Witch Creek fire in 2007.

"Several neighbors of ours lost their homes last year," said class member Larry Hoehn of Ramona, a computer security professional. "We were fortunate."

The fire stopped 200 feet from their home, said his wife, Valery, a homemaker and fellow CERT trainee. "By doing this, you feel like you can make a difference," she said.

Retiree John Smaldino of Escondido had completed a CERT program in Rancho Santa Fe two years ago, but enrolled again to update his skills after 21 homes burned in his Via Loma Vista neighborhood last year.

"I see so many people who don't know what to do in an emergency," said Smaldino, a volunteer firefighter. "We can help."

Rob Klepadlo of Carlsbad said his home was spared during the fires.

Joining the class is his way to contribute to the community where he works, said the safety administrator at Stone Brewing Co. in Escondido.

"We know there are community emergencies, and this gives us the training beforehand," Klepadlo said.

For more information, visit www.escondido.org/fire.