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• Make sure your car survives the winter, page 2 • Planting and transplanting before winter, page 4 • Winter fire safety & emergency advice, page 5 • CHP's winter driving tips, page 6 • HELP Center has winter survival resources, page 7 Ernie Maxwell Town Crier front cover illustration — originally published Jan. 7, 1950. © Idyllwild Town Crier
Life on the Hill presents unique challenges BY VICKI JAKUBAC
W
inter in the mountains brings to mind images of roaring fires in stone fireplaces, cute, snow-covered cabins and children frolicking in the snow. However, there is another side to winter that everyone, whether visitor or local, needs to be aware of. While winter in the mountains can indeed be beautiful and idyllic, it can also be dangerous. Preparing yourself, your car and your home prior to a storm arriving, will help you survive should a winter emergency befall us. We've assembled a series of articles to help residents, part-timers and visitors cope with winter scences and conditions which are atypical of Southern California. Driving and surviving in snow is a different challenge than walking sandy beaches. Some unique challenges we face here on the hill
are frozen or broken water lines, power outages and dangerous or impassable roads. High winds and heavy wet snow can topple trees onto roads or houses, and you can find yourself being housebound or isolated for the duration of a storm. Preparation is the key to warding off a potentially life-threatening situation. Any time you come to the mountains to visit, make sure that you let friends and family members know where you are going to be. Power outages are common during winter storms and you cannot be sure you will have phone service or electricity to charge your cell phone if there is an extended outage. If you own a mountain home, it is best to keep one old-fashioned, corded phone in the house. Bring adequate amounts of the proper clothing and footwear for cold, wet, snowy weather for each person in your party. Many people are sur-
prised at just how cold it can get during the winter and how wet snow can be. Having the proper attire and footwear will make your snow experience a more pleasant one. Preparation includes your car. Have a full gas tank prior to leaving for the mountains. Stock it with emergency items such as tire chains, flash lights, snow scrapers, sand and a few old rugs for traction. Make sure you have enough blankets, snacks and drinking water handy in case you get stranded in your car. And remember, if the roads are bad, it is always best to just stay home and wait until it is safe to venture out. Preventing an emergency situation is always easier than trying to rectify one. If you are planning to stay on the hill for several days, be sure you have enough food and an emergency supply of drinking water to last through an extended power outage. People don’t
Page 2 - Winter Survival Guide - Winter 2011-12
Make sure your car survives the winter
BY MARSHALL SMITH Town Crier Reporter
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inter in the San Jacinto Mountains can be surprisingly severe. Temperatures occasionally fall to the low teens or single digits and snowfall is sometimes more than two feet deep. If you’ve lived here for a while, you may already know the drill. Just as Yaktrax on your boots or shoes gives you traction, your car needs tires with good tread for optimal traction. Translation — if your tires have minimum tread, you’ll have a potentially serious problem in winter driving conditions. “Proper inflation and decent tread are important for winter driving,” said Steve Friemoth, owner of Idyllwild Garage. The National Highway Transportation Safety Board says you need at least 1/8" of tread depth to be safe in wet and snowy conditions. The old penny test works as a quick check on safe tread depth. Pinch a Lincoln head penny from the base between your thumb and forefinger, so that the top of Lincoln’s head is showing. Place the top of Lincoln’s head into one of the tire tread grooves at the lowest point. If any part of Lincoln’s head is obscured by the tread, your tread level is adequate. But if you can see above Lincoln’s head, then you need new tires. Also, keep the tires inflated to vehicle manufacturer specifications. Inadequate inflation wears the outer edge of the tire, making it vulnerable to failure. Regularly check inflation in cold weather, since low temperatures can reduce inflation pounds per square inch. Ron Kaufman, owner of Idyllwild Automotive, said the most important thing to do is prepare before winter arrives. “A lot of people wait until the first snow to begin to prepare,” he said. “You need to make sure before winter comes to have good tires and that your four-wheel or all-wheel drive is working properly. And check the rest of your important car functions. Prepare early.”
Show chains are being put on a car at Idyllwild Garage during a snowstorm. Photo by Cid Castillo
In addition to tires, there are a number of other things to check before the arrival of winter weather, since cold temperatures will make almost any problem worse. Make sure the following are in good operating condition: battery and battery terminals; engine cooling system; the proper antifreeze (at least a 50/50 solution or one designated for certain low temperatures); belts and brakes; CV boots; windshield wipers; all vehicle lights; and a proper spare tire and working jack. Changing engine oil prior to winter can make the vehicle easier to start in cold temperatures. Windshield wipers are critical in winter snow conditions. Replace washer fluids with a mixture that won’t freeze
For information or to donate or volunteer visit our website at www.MDP-idyllwild.com
and clean and adjust the jets so that the spray reaches the necessary parts of the window. Add a little rubbing alcohol to the wiper solvent and that will make the solvent more likely to withstand freezing. Also, scrape or brush your windshield free of snow and ice. Don’t attempt to clear it with your wipers since that can shred the rubber and make the wipers less effective. Forcing the wiper motor to move frozen wiper arms can cause them to break, leaving you without wipers and necessitating a very costly repair. Getting parts on the Hill for repair can take time. Kaufman said he has already seen broken wiper arms with this early November snow. Remove leaves and other debris that accumulate during the fall under the cowl panel below the windshield. If left, they block water drains and collect moisture, causing corrosion and extra humidity in the car and interfering with proper defroster function. Lubricate door and trunk locks as well as the hood locking mechanism so they won’t freeze. It also helps to lubricate hood, door and trunk hinges so they open freely. Keep a winter preparation kit in your trunk containing: a basic tool kit; an ice scraper; a shovel; a small broom for sweeping snow off the vehicle; burlap or sand for traction if your car gets stuck in snow; road flares or a warning light; an emergency sign; a flashlight; a fire extinguisher; booster cables; extra windshield washer fluid; a charged cell phone; and emergency clothing, water and food. Finally, make sure your car has at least half a tank of gas. Not all mountain gas stations are open 24 hours. Also, should you get stranded and need to run the engine and heater to keep warm, you will want sufficient fuel to do that. Idyllwild Garage operates as the approved Automobile Club of Southern California (AAA) tow station in Idyllwild. If you are a member and need road service, first call the toll-free AAA number listed on your card. Otherwise call Idyllwild Garage directly at (951) 659-2613. Marshall Smith can be reached at marshall@towncrier.com.
Winter Survival Guide - Winter 2011-12 - Page 3
PCWD
Every winter season, homeowners in our mountain community are at risk of the damage and expense caused by frozen pipes. However, just a few precautions can greatly reduce your risk.
Disconnect and Drain – detach Locate your customer shuthoses from outdoor faucets off valve – this cannot allow water to drain from be stated enough. Know the pipe. where your shut-off valve is and how to turn it off. Any Insulate pipes and faucets in time you leave the Hill, turn unheated areas – if you off your water. have pipelines in an unheated garage or cold crawl space under the house, wrap the water pipes before temperatures plummet. Seal off access doors, cracks and around vents – winter winds whistling through overlooked openings can quickly freeze exposed water pipes.
Remember, when you leave your mountain home, turn off your water!
(951) 659-2675 — www.pcwd.org
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Page 4 - Winter Survival Guide - Winter 2011-12
Planting and transplanting before winter
BY HAROLD VOORHEIS Idyllwild Garden Club
I
admit to letting my gardening necessities sneak up on me again. There's still much to do in putting my gardens to bed, and so little time left to do it. Thanksgiving week, or a bit afterward is usually the last of the weather that allows for reliably being able to comfortably garden here in Idyllwild and Pine Cove. We have already gone through a good early winter snow storm and a wake-up call of frost. the last few weeks.) Transplanted while asleep, they wake up in their new home never knowing they have been moved. Some Final Garden Tasks Oh, yes. Here is a gentle reminder for some of us that there Just One More Week is still a little remaining work to be done. Not really work as I’m hopeful that we will get one more week (or two or such, but setting the stage for next year. A lot of transplanting three) to get out there and do transplanting so we will have remains to be done. The best time to transplant is now, as the winter to dream of the results. weather will be cool and crisp in the mornings, but warm in the afternoon. Bulbs, tubers and rhizomes of all descriptions do best when transplanted while the soil can be worked. Don’t mulch the bulbs until after the soil has turned cold, as the mulch will create easy runs for voles and mice. Trees and shrubs do best when transplanted now. The soil will not get below 40 degrees for some time yet, so their roots will continue to grow as their tops are dormant. Perennials are mostly dormant in their containers now, so the roots can be transplanted, watered once, mulched and ignored until they return next spring. (This is what we have done in the GAS LOG SPECIAL! CUT-TO-FIT Village Garden with a lot of new plants and shrubs “installed” in
Photos courtesy Harold Voorheis
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Winter Survival Guide - Winter 2011-12 - Page 5
Winter fire safety and emergency advice BY CHIEF NORM WALKER Idyllwild Fire Department
For those of us in the fire suppression business, winter presents a paradox. Once the rain and snow come, we and the citizens of our mountain relax our hyper vigilance for wildland fire. Statistically however, the biggest threat to life and property in our mountain communities has been cold temperatures, ice and snow. We’ve never lost a home in Idyllwild or Pine Cove in wildland fire, but many have been lost to fires that are heater- and fireplacerelated. The first thing many of us do to when it gets cold is to start a fire in our stove or fireplace. A cozy fire will warm you up, provide ambiance and perhaps help offset propane bills. Unfortunately, the Idyllwild Fire Department (IFD) will begin responding to chimney fires this time of year. Experiencing a chimney fire is not the way a homeowner wants to find out that the chimney needs
cleaning. If your fireplace is used regularly, have your chimney cleaned once a year at a minimum. For those who burn only pine, twice a year (once in the middle of winter) is better. Hot ashes, improperly handled, are the number one cause of ruinous residential fires in the Idyllwild and Pine Cove communities. Most of the time it is not the homeowner that causes a fire, but a guest or weekend renter. No matter how wellintentioned, cleaning hot ashes out of a stove and leaving them on a wooden deck up against the structure or in flammable vegetation is destined to have a poor outcome. Homes are often completely lost because, in a typical scenario, the guest cleans out the stove late on Sunday afternoon and leaves the ashes in a flammable container on the deck. The smoldering process takes hours, there is nobody home and the fire is not reported until it is so large that it wakes up the neighbors. By the time the first fire engine arrives the house is usually a total loss.
Crews work to extinguish an October fire in an Idyllwild home, which investigators suspect was fireplace-related. The home was destroyed. Photo by Cid Castillo
If you are a property manager or somehow involved with lending or renting to weekend guests, leave instructions in front of the fireplace or wood stove. The safest thing to do with hot ashes is leave them in the stove to cool. If you want ashes cleaned out, provide a metal bucket with a lid (available at either of Idyllwild’s hardware stores) and instructions on where to then put the bucket on some non-flammable surface away from the house. The possibility of having a medical emergency occur
during the winter when there is heavy snowpack on the ground is another concern. Look at your yard and ask yourself if paramedics and firefighters can actually get a patient, on a gurney, from the house to the ambulance. Many people have asked why IFD sends a fire engine with the ambulance to medical calls. The reason we send so many people to medical calls is to deal with patient care, scene safety and the logistics of getting the patient into the ambulance. During snow periods, one or more firefighters will be
assigned just to shovel snow off of steps and walkways to improve the safety of the patient and the emergency responders. Anything a homeowner can do to keep a path relatively clear from the house to the street will be a huge help in an emergency situation. And finally, if there were an emergency, do you have a phone that works? What a silly question in this day and age! Ten-year-olds have phones that work! But do you have a phone that works when cell towers are overloaded with calls and there is no electricity? Many of us would have to answer “No.” There are at least three ways to solve this problem: generator power, backup battery power or an analog phone. The cheapest of the three is the old analog phone that we all used to have. No electricity is required for these older model phones and you can still buy them if you can’t find one stored in a closet somewhere. When you need to call 9-1-1 during a power outage, your best friend might be that old phone!
Challenges
Continued from page 1 always realize that if your pipes freeze, you will not have running water. If you own a home here on the hill, you can prevent unexpected emergencies — such as frozen or broken water pipes, which can cause leaks — with appropriate planning. Insulate all water pipes and faucets in unheated and outdoor areas before temperatures plummet. Disconnect and drain hoses from outdoor faucets, allowing water to drain from the pipe. Seal off access doors, cracks and around vents. Winter winds whistling through overlooked openings can quickly freeze exposed water pipes. When you leave your mountain home, turn your water off at your customer valve. This is the single most important thing you can do to prevent coming home to frozen or broken water pipes. With just a little forethought and preparation, you will have a much better chance of getting through whatever Mother Nature throws at you. Winter can be a magical time here in the mountains, so be informed, come prepared and you will leave with wonderful, winter memories!
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Page 6 - Winter Survival Guide - Winter 2011-12
CHP’s safe winter driving tips Chain Requirements
BY MARSHALL SMITH Town Crier Reporter
For autos and pickups
O
fficer Darren Meyer, California Highway Patrol (CHP) San Gorgonio Pass Area, passed on winter driving tips. Most are common sense for Hill residents but visitors should take note that weather conditions can change rapidly in the San Jacinto Mountains. Winter conditions can render highways treacherous from November through April. (Sometimes a May snowstorm occurs, too.) Just as hikers from the desert underestimate winter conditions on mountain trails, drivers who start off in 70degree valley weather can find themselves in snow and ice in the mountains. Prepare Before heading into local mountains, make sure you have tires with plenty of tread that are properly inflated, windshield wipers in good condition, washer fluid full (concentrated fluid may be necessary to prevent an icy windshield), a full tank of gas, a working defroster, antifreeze in the radiator (temperature’s in Idyllwild in the winter can fall into the low teens), updated road maps and a muffler and exhaust in good condition. Carry Carry tire chains, tighteners and chain repair links. Although the Idyllwild Garage and local hardware stores stock chains, you can’t be guaranteed that you’ll find the size you need once you are here. Carry a flashlight and batteries, flares, a small shovel (to help clear snow to assist chain installation or dig out if stuck), sand or burlap for traction if wheels are stuck in snow, windshield scraper and a broom for removing snow, warm waterproof clothing and blankets, snacks and drinking water in case you get stranded. Put an extra car key in your pocket. A number of motorists have inadvertently locked themselves out while putting on chains. You must stop and put on chains when highway signs indicated chains are required. You can be cited and fined if you don’t. Motorists usually have about a mile between “Chains Required” signs and the CHP checkpoint to install chains. Only put on chains after pulling safely off the roadway. Do not block traffic to install chains. The speed limit, when chains
For buses and recreational vehicles
are required, regardless of regularly posted limits, is 25 to 30 miles per hour, according to Meyer. Diving tips for different weather conditions When encountering bad weather, slow down, be more observant (rockslides can block lanes and mountain roads are curvy), leave extra distance between your car and the car ahead, apply breaks gently to avoid skidding and open the window a crack if caught in stalled traffic to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning. When driving in rain, drive with headlights on; stay alert for vehicle hydroplaning; apply brakes more slowly — they may pull; and leave extra distance between your car and the next motorist. In fog, drive with
It’s important to pull off the roadway, if possible, when putting on chains. Otherwise you block traffic and can cause an accident. Photo by Cid Castillo
Legend
low beams on (it’s illegal to drive with parking lights on); watch for a CHP pace vehicle to help guide you through fog; avoid crossing lanes; don’t stop on a highway except in an emergency; move away from stalled or disabled vehicle and put on emergency flashers or put out flairs. In snow, carry chains in snow conditions, even if a vehicle has four-wheel
drive. It’s the law; keep to 25 to 30 mile per hour speeds when chains are required; and stay with your vehicle if you break down.
become the perfect storm,” Meyer said. He said that Caltrans is busy clearing the roads and getting cinders down and CHP is responding to multiple accidents and incidents. Call CHP for road conditions at (800) 427-7623. Marshall Smith can be reached at marshall@towncrier.com.
Pedestrians on highways during snow conditions Watch out for pedestrians on roadways, even state highways, during snow conditions. Day tourists often
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Winter Survival Guide - Winter 2011-12 - Page 7
HELP Center has winter survival resources The Idyllwild HELP Center is open from 9 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 3 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays. Services In order to assist anyone in need, the center requires the following: • Recipients are required to volunteer for 30 minutes before receiving any service; • a copy of a photo I.D. for every person ages 18 and older in the household; • a copy of an I.D. for every person under age 18 (a birth certificate, medical card or Social Security card); • a copy of current proof of residency (this month’s utility bill or rent receipt. Recipients who rent a room will need a letter from their landlord and a copy of a utility bill in the landlord’s name.); • a copy of current proofs of income for everyone in the household (Social
P
Propane delivery keeps most Hill homes heated during cold winter months. The HELP Center has a utility fund for those who struggle to pay for propane. Wood is also available. Photo by Cid Castillo
Security, food stamps, salary, Cal-Works, etc). If selfemployed, three months of profit and loss statements or bank statements are required. The Idyllwild HELP Center offers these services when funding is available: • utility fund; • food pantry;
• wood for heating; • vouchers for dental; • vouchers for eye exams and glasses; • vouchers for doctor visits; • vouchers for prescriptions; • gas vouchers for medical appointments off the Hill; • Idyllwild Children’s Fund.
Other services include: • referral services for county, state and governmental agencies. • For those who are homeless there is a shower, coffee and use of the phone for local business calls during operating hours. • Vouchers also are available for clothing through the HELP Center Thrift Store.
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Page 8 - Winter Survival Guide - Winter 2011-12