Fire Disaster in Madori Falls Wilderness

 

By Gemma Cleanslate

 Well,  what an adventure! Sunday I went to explore Madori Falls Wilderness high on a hilltop . I hiked through a forest to the small lake that was the headwaters of the waterfall. It was so pleasant and quiet I sat to rest and fell asleep for a while.

I awoke smelling smoke and hearing crackling in the distance. Above me on the hill I saw the fire watch tower and the nearby trees were aflame.

As I turned in the distance below I saw more smoke rising. This fire was encircling the area. It is a good thing there was a small meadow around me and the lake in case I needed to save myself there. I felt very alone until several others walked out of the woods to join me.

Several elks trotted out of the woods too crying with fear. Happy to see the water they stood at the edge drinking, ignoring us.

We  stood around, sat , chatted and hoped someone was looking for hikers. I was happy to be prepared for this with a water bottle and some snacks which I shared. We could smell the smoke and hear the fire getting closer. 

A bear appeared out of the woods across the lake frightening humans and elks! He stayed on that side so we felt somewhat safe.

 We could hear helicopters above and waved and waved. we were urged to head for the lower waters and finally took a short jump into the falls to the creek below. Most of us followed the creek to a large lake and waited there . One was missing,  Kees, who got the wrath of the bear before he jumped and was bitten so rescue for him would take place elsewhere.

As we waited it was so cold we danced in place in the thigh high water. Finally , two rescue copters appeared in the sky above and one by one we were lifted up on a rope . Slowly the pilot made her way to the rescue ship off the coast that was well equipped for medical issues. Each of us was assigned a cot in a tent to await clearance that we were not injured or ill in any way. Serenity joined us but she had fallen from the copter when being lifted so was the most injured of us.

 We heard Kees arrive on a gurney and he was swiftly examined and began treatment for his bear bite. It was good to see that at least he was alive and sounded pretty much ok. His treatment sounded a bit painful though. The nurse taking care of him thoroughly discussed each step of the treatment as she went along .

The Doc  came in to our tent and questioned each of us to see if we were aware of who we were , what day it was, did we know how we got there , were we injured in any way and finally released most of us to go topside. Serenity stayed to have an MRI and I hope she is ok.

Kees was still there when I left too and I hope to see that he has recovered . 

Great thanks to all who assisted in the rescue and putdown of the fires. I witnessed the rescuers getting thanks and being dismissed from all their work before I left the ship. Well, not sure I will go back to Madori Falls Wilderness again soon. I know quieter places to go hiking.

Gemma Cleanslate

Second Life Regional Search And Rescue

By Gemma Cleanslate

“Sunday the 18th at 9:00 Am  SLT will be the opening calls for mutual aid and we look forward to a  community of skilled first responders  participating.  “

I often see and have seen many first responders around Second Life, but have never seen such an event in the time I have been here, except for the  9/11 event that was held for many years.

I saw this call for 9:00 for a multi-agency event in Iridium and went over to see what was going on. It was an amazing display . A train had derailed on a bridge over a deep ravine above water. Cars were strewn around in the water on fire and above on the bridge with victims  waiting for help. Some were on the bridge, some in the tunnel, and down below in the water.

Liam Steele (Liam3017 Resident) shouts: Got a young lady here with a pulse, no response.
L.Krause (MarkRenard221 Resident) shouts: OK COMING

The organization was amazing. A fire truck deployed a winch to lower the fire fighters and carry the victims to safety.. A helicopter lowered another first responder to help.I saw three victims rescued and winched up to the helicopter. They were transported to an area set up near the area with medical personnel waiting .  This took place over 4 hours.It was so professional.

At one point one of the responders has an accident himself, Jᴀᴍᴇs L. Qᴜɪɴɴツ (MikeStoker Resident fell off the bridge into the water and was covered in oil and needed to be rescued himself.

A wide variety of mutual aid responders showed up at various times from various rescue groups the the hours passed went on. A marine fire and rescue boat appeared to check the waters and the train cars under water . One entered and swam the cars to check for people. There was a victim trapped in there for a long time with her head above water fortunately .   After all were rescued then everyone took part in knocking down the fire.

I spoke to Tealcie Annibles (Tealcie Resident, ( Founder and Commander of Second Life Regional Search And Rescue - A Mutual Aid Response Organization.  Co-Founder/Owner TLC Land-Co),   who runs these activities and she told me that she tries to do it as often as possible . She has been coordinating them for the past two years.  Next month will be another disaster involving an oil rig and a cruise ship. When they are called to respond the call goes out in real time to anyone who can come as first responders and they arrive in various times as they can and search for victims and disaster relief.

I asked her if there was a practice before hand and she answered, “No we go live with no warning”. She passed a video of a past event that you can see here .   https://youtu.be/8Cw9y2rvWFM .



If you want to see or participate in this activity get in touch with a first responder and find out how to get involved. I found it all amazing as I watched it occur and offered to be a victim some time. There is a group for those who might like to be a survivor. You can find it on my profile. I stayed to watch for over three hours with a few other observers sitting high on a hill and camming in on various parts of the activity . This is a particular sort of roleplay that takes time and patience. It is a slow process that moves along with the pace of discovery of victims and planning. It was a great experience for all .

Gemma Cleanslate