LAKE HODGES -- If the sound of a horn blasts through the rolling hills around Lake Hodges, it's not a prank or an impatient motorist but an urgent cry for help in the quiet, rural community.

Residents recently distributed signal horns -- originally designed to sound distress calls from boats -- through the neighborhood of Lake Hodges Hills as the safety-focused community's newest tool to alert neighbors of wildfires, earthquakes, flooding or any other disaster that may occur.

"We're always looking out for fires. Especially if you're elderly and alone, you can't always get help right away," said Tisha Bennett, a Lake Hodges Hills resident and president of the neighborhood's FireSafe council. With the horns, she said, "someone can hear and come over."

Lake Hodges Hills residents use standard emergency signals -- three long, loud blasts to call for help and five long, loud blasts to signify a local or regional emergency, resident Kurt Barnhart said.

With the sound of the horns, residents "know it's time to wake up, get out and see what's going on," Barnhart said. "Something as simple as a loud noise can wake you up. Authorities can't do it all. Neighbors and residents need to take responsibility and prepare themselves."

Only about 15 horns have been distributed so far to residents with either good vantage points of potential hazards or in the homes of the elderly, but Bennett said she is hoping to garner more participation.

Residents around Lake Hodges Hills, which is home to some 2,000 people, are familiar with the need to be self-sufficient, they said.

The unincorporated neighborhood on the east and north banks of the lake is under the jurisdiction of the Sheriff's Department, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and the Escondido Fire Department but often experiences long response times, residents said.

"We have to be prepared to help each other," Barnhart said. "The neighbors here know the risks, we live here by choice in the country. … We know what we're getting into, so we have to collaborate with each other to be prepared for obvious things like fires."

To share news, neighbors keep in frequent contact through phone calls and e-mail, and even set up an Internet group on Yahoo.com. Neighborhood ham radio operators also set up K6SDO, an amateur radio station.

In addition to the signal horns, Lake Hodges Hills residents set up two community groups, Bennett said. The FireSafe council formed in July to equip residents specifically for wildfire preparedness by clearing brush from their homes, improving road access on the many privately owned roads and replacing street signs to aid firefighters. Meanwhile, the NeighborSafe council, which formed in last month, serves as an informal homeowner's association to discuss issues and problems such as speeding, break-ins and even a recent mountain lion sighting.

About 40 to 50 people take part in the councils, which plan to meet about six times a year.

"There are so many things involved in being safe … it isn't just fires, we have to be prepared," Bennett said.

The neighborhood's next plan is to set up a Community Emergency Response Team, which trains volunteers in techniques such as fire suppression, search and rescue and first aid, Barnhart said.

"When you're in the country, you've got to be prepared for anything," Barnhart said.

Contact staff writer Sarah Wilkins at (760) 761-4414 or swilkins@nctimes.com.