One week after devastating wildfires broke out in Los Angeles, killing at least 10 people ages 67 to 95, Rita MacKay joined 500 of her neighbors at a special “Town Hall” on wildfire preparedness in Rossmoor, the well-known retirement community in Walnut Creek.
MacKay, 94, wanted to hear local city, police and fire officials tell her how to avoid the fate of those older men and women in Pacific Palisades and Altadena – trapped in burning homes or suffering agonizing burns and smoke inhalation. MacKay still drives, but she won’t be able to rush to her car if flames come her way because she has back pain and uses a cane. She also wondered whether she should pack her CPAP machine in her “go bag.”
“It’s all these chargers and machines you need that up to the last minute you’d have to run around and throw them in,” MacKay said, as her friend, Elaine Ove said she wouldn’t worry about her CPAP machine. “In an emergency, you do what you have to do.”
As has become documented by safety experts, older people face disproportionately higher risks of being injured or dying in fires. The U.S. Fire Administration said the risk is more than two times higher for people 65-84.
In the 2018 Camp Fire in Paradise, 71 of the 84 identified fatalities were of people age 60 or older, while the average age of the 22 people who died in the 2017 Tubbs fire in Sonoma and Napa counties was 73, according to AARP and an analysis by CalMatters.
This grim trend seems to be bearing out in the Palisades and Eaton fires. As of Thursday the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office had confirmed 27 deaths, with news reports revealing that 13 of the 15 victims identified thus far were 55 and older. Six were in their 80s, while former film actress Dalyce Curry, was 95. Curry didn’t make it out of her Altadena home when evacuation orders were issued. “No one saw this coming,” Curry’s granddaughter told the New York Times
According to AARP, older adults often have mobility or cognitive issues that make it difficult for them to get out of harm’s way. Some also don’t drive, and social isolation can be common, even in a 10,000-person community like Rossmoor, where residents live close to one another in fourplexes or apartment-style buildings.
“Some of my neighbors are in wheelchairs. They can’t walk,” said Suzanne Aldrich, who volunteers for the Emergency Preparedness Organization. Under the adage, “your neighbor is your first responder,” the organization, among other things, tries to bridge people’s isolation by keeping in contact with those who would need help evacuating.
Tuesday’s Town Hall, organized by Rossmoor’s Firewise committee, had been planned weeks before the calamitous Los Angeles fires. Much of the information didn’t just pertain to Rossmoor but could be useful for older people anywhere — whether they live on their own in rural areas or reside in large senior communities like Rossmoor or The Villages in San Jose.
During the town hall, speakers emphasized key points, starting with the need for advance planning and “go bags,” which people could begin assembling “today,” said Walnut Creek police Lt. Holly Connors.
Another key point is the need to leave after receiving an evacuation warning — or even sooner — and not wait for an evacuation order, which always means immediate danger and the need to leave “right now,” according to the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.
Walnut Creek Assistant City Manager Charles Ching said a warning gives people time to reach out, and friends or family can still drive into an affected area and pick them up. But when an evacuation order is declared, “there is no more opportunity for non-emergency workers to come into the area,” Ching said.
“You do not want to be stranded in an evacuation zone,” said Noell Crosse, a fire education coordinator with the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District. “Because I’m going to tell you the ugly truth. There’s nobody coming. There is no calvary. If you call 911, do you know how busy they’re going to be?”
Unfortunately, stories about some who died in Southern California reveal another difficult truth. Elderly people may be extremely reluctant to evacuate, especially if they’ve lived in their homes a long time, said Crosse. There’s a fear about an uncertain future, leaving their “safe place” and not knowing if they’ll ever return, she said. AARP also reports that many older adults lack the financial means to relocate or rebuild their homes.
Fortunately for Rossmoor residents eager to heed warnings, the community has worked with local police and fire departments to create a plan for moving some 10,000 residents and their vehicles out of the valley where the community is nestled, according to Chris Bachman, the assistant fire chief and fire marshal for. Contra Costa Fire. Such planning was crucial because Rossmoor, like neighborhoods in Pacific Palisades, only has one main entrance and exit.
Neighbors should also reach out to one another, said Tom Cashion, Rossmoor’s public safety manager. He said, “If you have a neighbor who is immobile, who maybe doesn’t drive, by all means, introduce yourself and come up with a plan if there is ever going to be an evacuation. Like, I got you.”