As a resident of La Costa, I have been tuned in to the San Diego TV stations for many hours during the past several days. Were it not for an abrupt shift in the wind direction in the La Costa fires in 1995, our house, with its wood-shake roof (replaced soon thereafter with a fireproof roof) surrounded by tall pine trees, might have suffered the same fate that more than 1,000 homes in San Diego County have suffered in the past few days. Four years ago in the Cedar fire east of San Diego, nearly 5,000 structures were destroyed and 15 people died as a result of that fire.

The totals may not be in for several days in the current San Diego County fires. Based on recent history, it seems likely that similar fires are likely to flare up again in a few years. We do not yet have the technology to prevent these kinds of disasters, nor are we likely to develop that technology, if it is even possible, for many years. But what we can do is use the technology we have to reduce the loss of life and destruction of property to a minimum.

I answered two "reverse 911" phone calls from the city of Carlsbad warning me of the "voluntary evacuation" status of my neighborhood. Whoever developed this reverse 911 phone system should be applauded for their foresight. We must use this kind of currently available and emerging technology to deliver critical information to those in need in a crisis.

Based on the assumption that most residents of the affected areas will continue to rely primarily on their TV screens rather than their computers, telephones or other means to gather information, I would suggest the following ideas to those organizations who deal with disaster preparedness in San Diego:

1. Each of the San Diego TV stations should be assigned specific geographic areas for their coverage so that residents of those areas do not have to scan through half a dozen channels hoping to pick up the vital information that could make the difference between saving or losing their homes and/or their lives.

2. A master computer map (broken down into several geographic areas similar to those of the TV stations) should be created, updated and broadcast by the TV stations covering their respective areas. As it becomes available, new data would be entered into the map with the latest GPS positions for new hot spots, wind speed and direction, air temperatures, important trends in these data, etc. Live, dynamic computer maps of this sort tailored to this kind of emergency situation are well within the current technology.

3. The master computer map must be created with all the critical data generated, verified and implemented by professionals in the appropriate areas. It is not realistic to expect TV news staffs to meet the vital need for accurate information to make life or death decisions for millions of people throughout San Diego County by broadcasting anecdotal stories from traumatized homeowners and long-winded speeches by politicians about all the things they are doing to fix the problem.

Carlsbad resident Jim Fassett packed to leave but did not evacuate his family from their La Costa home.