By Ron Snow, University Park Neighborhood Coordinator
A broken gas pipe on Vine St. Wednesday (Sep 8, 2021) was a bit of a wakeup call for neighborhood emergency preparedness. A construction crew accidently broke the PG&E gas pipe at 11:37am. Oak Knoll’s school yard was evacuated and the students were placed in a sheleter in place lockdown. Additionally, a sheleter in place instruction was put in place for those residents along Vine, Palo Alto Way, and Leland within a block of the gas leak.
Menlo Park Fire Protection District first responders were the first to arrive and they eventually had three engines on scene, along with several sheriff and police. PG&E was called and arrived about 11:50am and stopped the leak. KRON has a broadcast of the incident.
While not the scale of the San Bruno gas fire a few years back, this incident reminds us that we each should be taking basic steps for our household and family. Probably the most important, to start, are these 3 steps to prepare for a major emergency or area disaster:
- Make a household plan so that each member knows what to do, where to meetup, where the safety gathering points are, and what ways to safely get to those meeting areas.
- Make a Disaster Survival Kit — water, food, medicines, first aid kit, etc.
- Make a personal “go bag” and store it so it can be easily gotten to. This contains personal items like clothes, shoes, medicine, personal hygine items, and don’t forget your pet’s go bag.
To help in taking these first 3 steps, here are some checklists and additional information.
- Household plan: Ready.gov has a great handout (link here)
- Make a Kit: Ready.gov provides this emergency supply kit guide (link here)
For households with children, this link for making kit is good (link here) - Personal GoBag: Woodside-PortolaValley has a good check list (link here)
Join us as a Block Coordinator and you will meet neighbors, get more prepared yourself, and help neighbors get prepared.