On Monday, November 19th, SM Fire Chief Dan Orr briefed Santa Maria Rotary South on Measure U's positive impacts on our local Fire Department. Enabling the department to add 3 firefighters, Measure U allowed the department to staff the newly completed Station 5, rounding out the organization's citywide coverage. Chieff Orr also gave serious statistics about disaster readiness and survival, telling us that in a large quake or other emergency, it might be two weeks before families could count on a retur-n to normalcy, and that each family should prepare for such. With grocery stores stocking only a 3-day supply of food, emergency stores of food and supplies should be kept, as well as plenty of water and small provisions in cars as well as homes. Chief Orr mentioned that our firefighters respond to 20-25 calls a day, with 70% being emergency rather than fire related.

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