New Speed Limit
25 MPH is now the law on Chevy Chase Drive.
Reply
We did it! Watch us here! With the help of Glendale Fire, The California Conservation Corps, The Glendale Youth Alliance, your neighbors and CCEA board members, we wacked that fire-fuel brush way, way back. Thanks to Glendale for sponsoring this proactive community wildfire prevention day. Everyone who pitched in made our city safer, and enjoyed grand day at a local mountain top.
Canyon Volunteers Needed – Saturday, August 20, 8 AM
Linda Vista at Figueroa Streets Glendale
Thanks to the tireless lobbying of the CCEA, Glendale Fire Department has chosen our Chevy Chase Canyon from a handful of local high-fire neighborhoods to do a multi-agency sponsored brush clearance. But they need our help! Come join your canyon neighbors this Saturday morning for a good old fashioned Community Brush Clearance Day. We meet at Linda Vista and Figueroa Streets at 8 am. Details below.
Fun, families, friends, great music, an enchanted setting, and oh those food truck treats, a wonderful time was had by all. The Chevy Chase Estates Association teamed with the Chevy Chase Country Club to throw the first annual Canyon Day On The Green Food Truck Extravaganza. Yes, annual, because it was such a smashing success, we’re doing it again and next year we promise to make it that much better.
See photos of the day below. Click on the arrows upper right for a full-sized view!
The Happiness Band provided the afternoon’s tunes, and OMG they were good! Check them out in this short video.
Lots of folks worked hard to make our canyon party a day to remember. Big thanks go out to the Chevy Chase Country Club which is the true jewel of our canyon, and to the Chevy Chase Estates Association team of volunteer directors.
See you all next year!
|
|
The exercise was deemed a huge success despite one major glitch. Canyon residents’ response to the evacuation drill exceeded Fire Department expectations but behind the scenes the morning had its share of drama.
After getting the scheduled drill alert, on Saturday morning May 14 at 9 am canyon friends and neighbors hopped in their cars and took off for parking lot B at the Glendale Community College. They were greeted by Glendale Fire and CERT teams with a gift bag as reward for their participation in the Chevy Chase evacuation training exercise. 150 people and 13 pets made their way to the rendezvous parking lot. An estimated 150 additional people participated without making the drive. Glendale Fire considered the turnout a huge success. Photos below.
Evacuation Drill Destination
The dramatic glitch…
At the temporary command center set up at the Chevy Chase Library Glendale Fire, Glendale Police, and Glendale communication specialists monitored the morning drill’s roll out. Two types of emergency alerts were tested, the trusty time-tested Glendale Emergency Alert System run by the City of Glendale (sign up here!), and a new experiment modifying the Amber Alert cell phone system to target a specific limited number of cell towers. Unlike the city run Glendale Emergency Alert System, accessing, and testing the Amber Alert cell tower system required cooperation and clearances from multiple government agencies all the way up to the FCC.
At precisely 9:00 am Saturday the Glendale Emergency system kicked in notifying canyon residents via home phone, cell phone, text, and email, the exact details of the drill. The message was repeated 2 minutes later as planned. Glendale’s system performed perfectly. But by 9:07 the cell-based Amber type drill notification still hadn’t been sent out. That was a problem. At 9:08 the Amber cell notification finally went out. Within 20 seconds the command center knew there was a big problem. Not only had the wrong message been blasted out omitting that the evacuation was a drill, an exercise and not the real deal, but also instead of limiting it only cell towers servicing the Chevy Chase Canyon, the alert went out to the entire southland!!! Command communications were off the chart as widespread reports came in. Even our little Chevy Chase Estates Association website crashed after 4,700 people in two minutes clicked to find out about the “disaster” in Chevy Chase Canyon. The news media of course had a field day with the false alarm. At least now everybody knows about Chevy Chase Canyon.
But the bottom line is that drills and exercises are done so that problems can be ironed out before an actual emergency. Study the space program and how many misfires there were before man walked on the moon. We in Glendale are extremely lucky to have both Glendale Fire and Police that take safety so seriously as to go that extra mile to plan and hold evacuation exercises. Command center photos below.
Evacuation Drill Temporary Command Center
The CCEA would like to extend a big THANK YOU to all those who volunteered to help prepare for this drill. CCEA Board members, Canyon Residents, Boy & Girl Scout Troops, GFD Cadets, CERT Volunteers – because of you the Canyon and residents are better prepared for emergencies than ever before. Thank you to all residents who participated as well – whether you evacuated to GCC or simply spent some time educating yourself and taking steps to be ready for a real emergency. Every step you take to prepare means future safety for all!
Silvio Lanzas, Glendale Fire Chief’s video message to Chevy Chase Canyon!
All canyon residents are urged to join the Glendale Fire Department’s evacuation drill Saturday May 14th at 9 am. In case of a fast-moving wildfire or other disaster, nobody wants their family, friends, or pets trapped in the canyon. A trial run now for both Glendale First Responders and canyon neighbors will spell future safety!
What will happen during the drill?
You will be notified via text, voice message or email at 9:00 AM on Saturday, May 14 that the drill is on, where to go and what to do. (Hint: We will be evacuating to a nearby undisclosed location where there may be a small thank-you gift waiting.)
What Do I do NOW, what’s the 1st step?
Step 1. – Sign up here, right now, to the Glendale Emergency Notification System. It takes just a minute and this is truly a lifesaver. If and when an emergency strikes, Glendale will notify and guide you to safety. See how great it works the morning of our May 14 drill.
Who is invited to participate?
All Chevy Chase Canyon residents. Residents will be notified via text, voice, or email to exercise their household emergency plans and evacuate.
Why practice evacuating?
To give canyon residents an opportunity to prepare for an emergency that may require an evacuation. Your participation will help first responders and public safety personnel improve their response.
How can you prepare for the exercise?
Visit www.GlendaleFire.org, click on the Emergency Preparedness button and follow the steps below.
Follow these 4 steps to prepare for an emergency:
Step 1
Make a plan today. Your family may not be together if a disaster strikes, so it is important to know which types of disasters could affect your area. Know how you’ll contact one another and reconnect if separated. Establish a family meeting place that’s familiar and easy to find.
Step 2
When emergencies strike, public safety officials use timely and reliable systems to alert you. You can sign up for Glendale Citizen Alerts here.
Step 3
After an emergency, you may need to survive on your own for several days. Being prepared means having your own food, water and other supplies to last for several days. A disaster supplies kit is a collection of basic items your household may need in the event of an emergency. Use the resources here to build your kit. Consider what unique needs your family might have, such as supplies for petsor seniors.
Step 4
Be a good neighbor and get involved. Join the Glendale Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) and learn how to help your community before, during and after an emergency!
Useful Documents & Checklists from the Glendale Fire Department
Watch a Zoom recording of the CCEA 85th Annual Meeting held on March 9th, 2022.
Jonathan Payne, Fire Captain & Emergency Manager of the Glendale Fire Department discussed the planned Chevy Chase Canyon Evacuation Drill. And Patty Mundo, Vegetation Management Specialist spoke about fire safety brush clearance in our canyon. Also on the evening’s agenda were CCEA updates, and a call for all canyon members to cast votes on two CCEA resolutions.
Here are some useful links and contact information from the meeting as well:
- Sign up here for Glendale alerts and warnings
- Disaster Preparedness information and other links
- Fire Prevention Bureau 780 Flower Street Glendale, CA 91201 (818) 548-4810
- Home Ignition Zone Evaluator Training
- Patty Mundo, Vegetation Management Specialist, Glendale Fire Department: (818) 548-4810, pmundo@glendaleca.gov
- Jon Payne, Emergency Manager, Glendale Fire Department: (818) 550-5621 jpayne@glendaleCA.gov
Watch the 2022 CCEA Annual Meeting. 56 minutes.
Chevy Chase Evacuation Map
Do you know the 5 escape routes out of our canyon?
Golden Oldie – Glendale Fire Message to Chevy Chase Canyon
Do you have your copy of the CCEA 85th ANNUAL MEETING NEWSLETTER?
The CCEA CANYON CRIER NEWSLETTER has been mailed to every canyon household with a special invite to our 85th annual CCEA meeting.
The Glendale Fire Department will be revealing plans for a canyon-wide disaster evacuation drill, so this will be one event not to miss.
Stay tuned for more information and easy links to join the meeting.
What: Linda Vista/Buckingham Secret Stairs Cleanup
Where: Meet at the bottom of the Buckingham stairs on Linda Vista, across from Dunsmere Road.
When: Saturday January 22, 2022 at 2PM
Neighbors cleaning the stairs in 2019.
Did you know there is a Secret Stairway in Chevy Chase Canyon? It’s part of a city-owned path that connects Buckingham with Linda Vista.
The stairs had all but disappeared under years of washed down dirt and leaves – the city hadn’t cleaned them for over 25 years, secret stairs are not high on their priority list. In 2018 (and 2019) a group of neighbors spent two hours trimming, shoveling, scraping and raking, and we unearthed the vanishing trail and stairs.
After a year or two of pandemic-induced neglect, our stairs could use a little tidying. Join us for a fun get together to meet your neighbors and beautify a source of pride in our canyon! Bring your garden gloves, rake, broom or any other garden tools you think might be helpful. We also welcome contributions of wildflower seeds or other plants that could beautify the stairs. If you can’t attend the cleanup but would like to contribute something, please get in touch!
The stairs cleanup is organized by the CCEA in association with the Pride of Buckingham group. The “Pride of Buckingham” group was established with the intent of bringing the folks who reside on Buckingham Road and Buckingham Place together in sharing this beautiful Canyon and taking pride in keeping the environment clean. The Canyon Cleanup event has been happening for over a decade. They meet on select Saturdays once a quarter at the parking lot of the Chevy Chase Library and pick up litter along Chevy Chase to Emerald Isle and Linda Vista.