The Weather Channel: Alive

Pinecam is a local website that offers mountain residents a place to ask questions, make snide remarks, find lost pets and in the case of fires and other emergencies it can save lives.

In past posts I’ve written about the Lower North Fork Fire in 2012 and a series of posts on Pinecam were the only real information residents had about what was really going on with the huge clouds of smoke cascading out of the mountains.

The local TV stations had nothing that day about the out-of-control-controlled-burn by the US Forest Service. Even the local paper that I worked for had very little information about what was going on. But if you listened to the scanners, know who’s who in the local fire departments and understand the language used by emergency personnel you can figure out what’s going on and warn people of coming danger.

That’s what a Pinecam scanner moderator named watermanofevergreen did the day of the fire and his posts were the only information we had.

The Weather Channel did a story on how the Pinecam moderator helped save this family but not after a harrowing drive through a shower of red-hot embers and the sounds of panicked children in their car.

It’s not easy to watch this video, especially if you’re like me and rather worried about wildfire burning your home to the ground but it has a sweet ending although the big, bad wolf of fire still lurks out in the forest.

The Weather Channel Alive: Episode 2

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid2759431448001?bckey=AQ~~%2CAAAAAAQxtuk~%2CN9g8AOtC12dmOTvDgp9O9da4Wjrwp43q&bctid=2772910810001″

It’s nice to know that people care and are wiling to sit alone at a computer and listen to the Mountain Area Scanner ever on the alert on for danger.

Life always come down to moments, one moment at a time.

Thanks, watermanofevergreen.