SD County Says Sign Up for Evacuation Alerts

By Alison St John / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published October 2, 2008 at 12:43 PM PDT

This story was published more than 16 years ago.

As the anniversary of last year's wildfires approaches, San Diego County is urging homeowners to take action to protect themselves and their own property against fire. KPBS reporter Alison St John has

As the anniversary of last year's wildfires approaches, San Diego County is urging homeowners to take action to protect themselves and their own property against fire. KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

Yvette Urrea Moe of the County’s Office of Emergency Services says it doesn’t need to cost a lot of money to take basic precautions. Replacing a roof or double glazing the windows are good steps to take, she says, but San Diegans can make a difference with simpler, less expensive measures.

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Moe: They can start clearing the leaves from their gutters or their roofs or their yards, pull out any dead or dying plants or trees, and these things go a long way towards protecting your home in case an ember were to land in your yard.

Moe also says San Diegans can register their cell phones at Readysandiego.org, which is safer than relying on a home phone for an evacuation alert. Home phones can go down if the power is out.

The County will hold two wildfire awareness fairs in Poway and El Cajon, this weekend and next to advise homeowners about fire safe building materials.

Alison St John, KPBS news

Alison St John

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Alison St John currently serves as a general assignment reporter and occasionally co-hosts KPBS Midday Edition. She fell in love with KPBS Radio when she arrived in San Diego in 1985 and first heard NPR. She has been a voice on KPBS Radio since 1989, and has served as a news reporter for radio, TV and the web, as well as anchoring, hosting, producing and editing. Alison has reported on stories about North County and was based in the KPBS' North County Bureau. Alison covered the metro beat during the critical period of the San Diego City pension crisis, and the education beat while Alan Bersin was the controversial Superintendent of San Diego City School District. She covered health when the industry was converting to managed care and told welfare reform stories in the late 1990s when Clinton was “ending welfare as we know it.” She has covered land use issues extensively, looking at the challenges of meeting a growing population while preserving community character, and developing a better transportation system to meet environmental concerns. She has done many stories on the military in San Diego, and the series she edited on the challenges veterans face returning from active duty to civilian life won “Best of Show” from the San Diego Society of Professional Journalists. She occasionally hosts the KPBS Roundtable and KPBS Midday Edition. Alison has won awards from the San Diego Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Associated Press TV and Radio Association, and the California Golden Mike Awards. Alison was born in Tanzania, brought up in Scotland, and earned her degree in psychology and sociology from Durham University in England. Her postgraduate diploma is in student counseling. She worked in England, Nigeria, Switzerland, Belgium, India, and Japan before moving to the United States in 1981. She now lives in Oceanside and enjoys how her community is growing and changing.