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Residents of Meadow Pointe in Wesley Chapel watch the fire on Friday afternoon. Scott Iskowitz/Tribune
By MIKE WELLS
The Tampa Tribune
TAMPA - The wildfire that closed Interstate 75 in Gibsonton and caused gridlock across the county shows residents need more escape routes and better lines of communication between responding agencies.
That was among the conclusions in a report issued this week by a committee of representatives from eight county agencies that responded to the blaze, including the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office and Hillsborough County Fire Rescue.
The May 8 fire prompted the closure of all northbound and southbound lanes of I-75 and part of U.S. 301. The subsequent gridlock panicked residents during the evacuation of about 500 homes.
The committee recommended the county look for ways to get residents out of subdivisions faster when brush fires threaten their homes.
The report also said the sheriff’s office and fire department were slow to establish a unified command and communication.
“… As an example, no one was sure who made the decision to evacuate the South Pointe subdivision,” the report said.
The agencies agreed that in the future, a visible incident command center should be established to better coordinate response.
Why is that in the year 2006. Mankind has not establish the oldest communication skills.
T A L K I N G
We live in the age of who’s actally talking since emails. We can send out warnings from T.V.-- Ambers Alert--Actual man power to carry message.
How sad- Routes to evacuate--well that is not as old as mankind communincation; yet we live in an age of technology-there are no roads left untraveled. 500 all on the same road?--This is not a road of evacuation but a road of SIT STILL AND PANIC IN YOUR CAR “WILL THERE BE ENOUGH GAS?
P R A Y P R A Y
BE RESPONSIBLE TO YOUR FAMILY SAFETY AND BY ALL MEANS---RESPECT THE NEXT MAN--FOR YOU AND YOURS ARE NOT THE ONLY ONE SITTING ON THE EVACUATION ROAD THAT IS OVERWHELM TRAVELED. THERE ARE NO ROAD LESS UNTRAVELED DURING A DIFFICULT AND ALL SO REAL TIMES. The state can only do so much.
Peace be with us all. Y.A.N.A.(you are never along).
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Posted by Raymond Greenlee, Riverview, Fl on 06/08 at 08:09 PM
Well as a resident of South riverview in the hub of subdivision mania and even back to when this was considered “out in the country”. I am happy that they realize that there is a problem. However fires will not be much af a threat for long as I am sure that within a couple more years it will all be cookie cutter houses and no brush to burn. Problem solved. And the nice thing is with all of their forsight soon they will begin to 4 lane 301. Oh won’t that be fun. I heard the funniest thing the other day. It must be an urban legend or something because there is no way it can really exist. Supposedly we have an agency called “Planning and growth management” Ain’t that a hoot.