Photos of the CCEA Ice Cream Social – Bat Cave Tour

Free Ice Cream poster

Kids galore!  The CCEA’s ice cream social hosted out front of our Chevy Chase Library and Fire Station was grand old time.  Ice cream was gobbled up, and books enjoyed, but the star attraction turned out to be a tour of the famous Bat Cave, or Glendale Fire Station 23 as these photos below show.  Fantastic to see so many young children, our future readers, writers, and firefighters.  (Top right arrows for full size pix)

Ice Cream Social

Come One, Come All – Fire and Ice this Saturday the 22nd at our Library.

Free Ice Cream poster

The CCEA is again sponsoring an old-fashioned ice cream social at our very own Chevy Chase Library. There will be FREE ICE CREAM, books galore, and a tour of the BAT CAVE also known as the Chevy Chase Fire Station.

Ice Cream Social poster

New Chevy Chase SPEED LIMIT

New Speed Limit

25 MPH is now the law on Chevy Chase Drive.

Stop sign on Chevy Chase Dr. Glendale, CA

The speed limit has been moved back down from 30 to 25 mph as it had been not too long ago.  The five mile an hour slowing will mean less stress and danger for those trying to get into and out of their driveways on the busy road.  It will mean a safer street for homeowners, drivers, pedestrians, and wildlife.  As always, “Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time.”

Chevy Chase Brush Clearance Day

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.

Fight Chevy Chase Wildfire

Canyon Volunteers Needed – Saturday, August 20, 8 AM

Linda Vista / Figueroa streets Glendale, CA

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.

Glendale Brush Clearance Day

Food Truck Party On The Green Photos!

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!

Sunday’s Chevy Chase Food Truck Party

Get your free tickets to Sunday’s Chevy Chase Food Truck Party on The Green HERE!

The Chevy Chase Estates Association has teamed with The Chevy Chase Country Club to throw a party for all canyon residents this Sunday, May 22nd from 4 to 7 pm on the fairway at the jewel-of-our-canyon golf course.  There will be food trucks, a beer garden, a bounce house, and games galore.  And all you have to do is sign up for free tickets.  Come party with your friends and neighbors.

Invite for Canyon Party

Chevy Chase Evacuation Drill Recap.

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.

CCEvacDrill

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.

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.

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!

Chevy Chase Canyon Emergency Evacuation Exercise – May 14, 2022 | 9AM

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.

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

Sign up for emergency alerts.

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

Build a kit.

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

85th Annual CCEA Meeting Recap

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:

Watch the 2022 CCEA Annual Meeting.  56 minutes.

Chevy Chase Evacuation Map

Do you know the 5 escape routes out of our canyon?

Map. The 5 routes of escape from Chevy Chase Canyon in Glendale, CA.

Golden Oldie – Glendale Fire Message to Chevy Chase Canyon