The PREP Alliance is a volunteer, nonprofit organization that organizes community programs and activities that cultivate emergency preparedness and resilience within and among individuals and organizations in the Placitas Area.
The PREP Alliance is concerned with preparedness for all types of emergencies - flood, earthquake, medical emergencies, and more – but the most widely appreciated and obvious emergency in our area today is wildland fire. We all know that wildland fire can be catastrophic and is wildly unpredictable. We also know that there is actually a lot that can, and should, be done to reduce the risk of wildfire. A significant challenge is that too many people do not appreciate the danger and do not know what they can, and should, do to help reduce the likelihood of significant injury and/or damage from a wildfire event.
The PREP Team
Another big reason for the initial successes of the PREP Alliance is serendipity. The word “serendipity” is intriguing to me. It is more than chance or blind luck. The real essence of serendipity is how people recognize the opportunity and how they act on it. There is a positive element of human agency involved. To my mind serendipity does not happen unless the people involved in the occurrence are curious, open-minded, and are actually looking for a break-through or opportunity.
Among the dozen people who attended that first meeting and continued on to form the PREP Team were:
Phillip – the guy who organized that first meeting and was the moderator for the meeting. He has significant professional and organizational experience, lives in a part of Placitas in which the wildfire risk is obvious and palpable, happens to be a part of the Land Grant community, and has a wonderful appreciation for the values of a number of the diverse communities in, and the history of, our area.
Dawn – has a professional background as a well-credentialed environmental engineer and just happens to be a Master Gardener. Dawn also has commitment to, and years of volunteer work with a number of Placitas nonprofit community organizations. She is also a talented researcher, extremely organized and no shy retiring violet in terms of seeing an idea through to a viable action plan.
Myron – another engineer experienced with huge engineering projects all over the world. Myron has tenacity – when he takes on a project he wants to get all of the facts, understand everything, and tries his dead-level best to produce the best possible result. He is also skilled in producing a detailed work break-down structure, estimating costs and identifying all of the risks that might be hidden in the endeavor.
Angelina – unassuming and most people might underestimate her value. She has an extremely diverse background that just happens to include working with the forestry service and has an appreciation for wildfire. Angelina also has “civic spirit,” truly wants the best for our community and is not afraid of learning new things. She also has a knack for finding out the informal and unwritten ways that the community works and seems to be able to strike up a conversation with just about anyone.
Jay – we are still uncovering all of his talents. His professional background is mostly in education at the university level (a lot of that involving communications). He just happens to be a great proof-reader. He is a musician, connected to the artistic community in Placitas and seems to know a fair bit about most of the community-based organizations in the Placitas area. Jay is willing to take on new things and helps manage our organization’s communication activities.
Jon – has been in Placitas ‘forever’ and has had a number of important leadership and management positions within the Coronado Soil and Water Conservation District and the system of acequias in the Placitas area. Acequias are not just about water distribution – they are about ‘water democracy,’ providing water for both irrigation and domestic water supply and stem from both Pueblo Indian and Spanish traditions. Jon has a deep commitment to environmental sustainability and valuable insight into the cultural heritage of the region.
Allen – My experience as a volunteer firefighter and EMT, responding to all kinds of emergency incidents helps me both appreciate the need for, and provides specific knowledge about, being prepared. I was also involved in cultivating emergency preparedness and resilience on a community-wide basis and received the Community Resilience Award in Boulder County. This gave me a perspective about emergency preparedness needs at a community scale.
I have been involved in large-scale, devastating wildland fires (like the Marshall Fire near Boulder Colorado), small wildfires, and structure fires. All of that provides direct, first-hand knowledge about wildland fire behavior. I have helped with evacuation efforts; rescued people in a national disaster flooding event; dealt with power outages that have lasted for more than a week; been a part of mountain search and rescue operations and more. All of this is great experience for appreciating the need for preparedness.
Others that have helped along the way, providing insight into the concepts of marketing, social media, operating audio/visual equipment, and a number of other subjects.
Collaboration and Support
From the very beginning, our outreach to other community-based organizations (CBOs) in the Placitas area has been met with wonderful collaboration in addressing emergency preparedness issues. We quickly established having regular monthly meetings with Sandoval County’s Emergency Manager. The members of the Placitas Volunteer Fire Brigade have been extremely helpful and we have also been invited to attend regularly scheduled board meetings of a number of the more significant Placitas community organizations.
