While the weather is cool and wet, our Firewise champion Marta is starting the 2020 fire season planning early with talks to members of the local Rotary and Kiwanis clubs. Her presentations will focus on defensible space and how neighbors can work together to ensure greater fire prevention in neighborhoods.

FEMA’s fascinating PrepTalks “are given by subject-matter experts and thought leaders to spread new ideas, spark conversation, and promote innovative leadership. In this PrepTalk, Amanda Ripley combines the inspiring stories of disaster survivors with research into how the brain works when confronted with unusual events. She explains why our instinctive response may be the worst possible reaction, unless we have had the experience and/or the training to help us act quickly.

This hour-long video about the Camp Fire illustrates how the best and most thorough planning may not be enough. For personal planning, any preparation is better than none. Your first Go bag? Water, medicines, and a flash drive with important documents is a good start.

A lot of us take BART to the many places we need to go. Some of us have wondered what would happen if we’re on the tracks, in a tunnel, or under the bay when a big quake happens. We know there are geological fault lines that would affect our ride. The people at BART have wondered that too. BART carries about 415,000 travelers every day, and this isn’t a new issue for them.