The urgent need for backup communications: Lessons from Paradise

Monday NOVEMBER 22, 4PM on ZOOM. Email Rich Combs at richsfpd@gmail.com for link.

Residents of Tuolumne County interested in Fire Safety and Emergency Communications are invited to an online presentation by Alan Thompson, Satellite Internet Field Engineer of El Dorado Networks of Placerville. Alan helped restore Internet service at several downed cell-phone towers in Paradise shortly after the Camp Fire. What he saw there and learned later about the colossal emergency communications failures during the fire, turned him into an “Accidental Advocate” for fire safety and communications resilience. Since 2019, Alan has given over 100 presentations before Civic Groups, Fire-safe Councils and Homeowners’ Associations, detailing the clear and present danger we now face from an over-dependence on vulnerable Internet and telecom services, and the urgent need for backup emergency-communications systems.

This will be a 45-minute online presentation via Zoom on Monday, November 22nd , time is 4 PM. Those interested should email Rich Combs at richsfpd@gmail.com, and he will send you a link to the meeting and the time. Please don’t wait until the last minute! You can ask questions at the same address.