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CERT in the Rural Community: The Melrose Model
David A. Donnelly, FPEM, Alachua County Emergency Management, Alachua, Florida

Background

The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) concept was developed and implemented in urban areas, initially to deal with earthquakes. Since that time, CERT has spread coast to coast to a number of communities to address a variety of disasters.

Alachua County is a mid size county in North Central Florida. It serves as a hub for education, medical care and commerce. Most of the 218, 000 residents live in and around the County Seat, Gainesville. However, the remainder of the population is dispersed amongst 8 rural municipalities and the unincorporated area.

Early on in the development of its CERT program, Alachua County recognized the need to address the unique hazards that threaten rural areas. The Town of LaCrosse was without power for two weeks after the March 1993 storm. In early 1998, flooding affected several housing developments in the unincorporated and rural areas. Wildfires during a three-year period caused the evacuations of half the City of Waldo (population: 1098) and three mobile home communities north of Gainesville.

With these types of events in mind, Kevin Rolfe, of Alachua County Fire Rescue, developed the CERT in the Rural Community module for Alachua County. The module addresses issues such as long-term power outages, wildfires, flooding, tie downs for mobile homes and LP gas tanks and most importantly, the potential of isolation. The CERT concept itself is based on the ‘isolation’ of neighborhoods from fire, emergency medical, law enforcement and utility services for a period of time. What could a small town expect being far from urban centers?

Along Comes Melrose

Melrose is an unincorporated community that straddles the Alachua-Putnam County line. The approximate population of the area is 5,500 folks spread out over a four-county area. It is an area known for its beautiful lakes and small town atmosphere. Many of its residents commute to Gainesville or are retired.

After investigating the Melrose Area, I met Joan Barco, a volunteer with the Melrose Fire Department. She invited me to one of the Melrose Business Association’s meetings to present the CERT concept. Although the business community was not receptive, Joan’s homeowners’ association was. She lives in a part of Melrose that is virtually isolated from the outside world on a day-to-day basis, not to mention when a disaster occurs.

The Melrose Landing development is a community of 256 people with 124 houses about 5 miles from ‘downtown’ Melrose. Nearby is the Cue Lake community with a population of 175. The response time of the nearest fire station is 20 minutes. The next nearest department, Interlachen, is 30 minutes away. Although Melrose Landing is closer to Interlachen, there are no direct routes between the two areas. Many of the existing roads are unpaved and run through wildland. The surrounding area is farmland with pine trees and sabal palm common to North Florida. During the continuing drought, this picturesque countryside can easily fuel a wildfire.

In addition to the wildfire threat to the Melrose vicinity, tornadoes have impacted the area as recently as March 2001. There were no fatalities but one could only imagine the effects of a larger twister or multiple cyclones. The area also has an airstrip in which there are monthly fly-ins and two major aviation gatherings each year. Just one more hazard to consider.

Joan told me about a fire they had in their area and as a result, her neighbors realized just how vulnerable they were. The group started looking for training that could prepare them for such events. When the association heard about CERT, they knew they had found their answer. Joan put me in touch with Larry Robidoux, an officer of the Melrose Landing Homeowners Association. Larry championed the idea from the very start and has since become the team leader.

Classes began in August of 2001. A local church was kind enough to allow us to use one of their classrooms. Eighteen students attended the class plus two prior CERT graduates, who had recently moved to Melrose.

After graduation, the Melrose team went to work on team development. Individuals were assigned to head up functions such as communications, medical, fire, transportation, and supply. Additionally, they recognized the need for funds to purchase equipment. In an effort to raise money, the team held a spaghetti dinner that raised $400.00!

In the fall of 2001, the Melrose team got to prove their skills as a small brush fire broke out in their area. It was large enough to threaten a home. Six of the Melrose CERTs took action and prevented the fire from growing long enough for the fire department to arrive. Once the firefighters got there, they took over and put the conflagration out. The training had made a difference for this little community.

The Future

In March of 2002, some of the team participated in a locally conducted exercise. The simulation had a house that had been involved in a tornado. There were three victims inside that needed attention. As the team went through the drill, they soon realized how much they had forgotten. Each exercise is a learning experience and they gained more insight because of the realism of the scenario. Additionally, this drill has helped prepare them for Disaster 2002, the Statewide CERT drill at Universal Studios in May.

The training was so well received in Melrose that the community is planning for another class. Our neighboring counties to the north and east all have or shortly will have CERT programs as well. We look forward to working with them on multi-county exercises.

Melrose is a unique community with unique hazards. The Melrose Landing folks are a very tight knit group. Although no two towns or neighborhoods are alike, we hope we have illustrated not only the need for CERT in our smaller communities but also how the desire of a small group can bring positive change to a locale.

As people go through the CERT program, not only do citizens learn how to take care of themselves, but also we as local government learn about our citizens and their needs. CERT is a program that can involve many people with various talents. Alachua County’s bigger ambition is that we can deliver CERT training to all of our municipalities and communities.

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