Costa Mesa Newsletter - United Neighbors Caring - January 14, 2012

The information below is from the United Neighbors Caring Costa Mesa Newsletter distributed on January 14, 2012. 

 

ALERT NEIGHBORS SAVE LIVES IN FIRE ON WARREN

 Last Sunday after midnight, a neighbor couple saw a fire in a garage across the street. The wife called for the fire department AND CALLED THE HOMEOWNER’S PHONE. Her husband ran to the front door of the home that was burning. The phone call woke the homeowner. He saw the flames and got his family and dogs and was coming out of the front door by the time the neighbor’s husband reached the door. The family and dogs had moments more to get out, because someone called their phone. We are so grateful Vaughan and his family are OK and have good insurance taking care of their needs. We are so grateful for the alert neighbors who had Vaughan’s phone number where they could quickly use it, ran in person to back up their phone call and did everything they could to succeed in saving their neighbors. We are also grateful for the quick response of our firefighters and join the firefighters in hoping and praying the one who burned his hand fighting the fire will be back at work soon. 

LET THIS TRUE STORY MOVE YOU TO ACTION THAT COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE!

 HAVE YOU EXCHANGED PHONE NUMBERS WITH THE  6 – 10 NEIGHBORS CLOSEST TO YOU? If you get this mail forwarded to you by someone who is not your immediate neighbor or Street Contact, PLEASE CONTACT THE EDITOR OF THIS NEWSLETTER NOW. Let us help you contact near neighbors if they are known to us or give you material to help you contact your neighbors to start building your own neighborhood safety net NOW. As you can see, exchanging phone numbers with everyone who can see your home could save your life or someone else’s. You are safer if everyone has each other’s phone numbers, for your Street Contact may not always be there. EXCHANGING PHONE NUMBERS IS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT IF YOU LIVE IN AN APT. OR CONDO COMPLEX. IN A FIRE, SECONDS COUNT AND STAIRS OR HALLWAYS COULD BE BLOCKED. SMOKE ALARMS, AN EMERGENCY ALARM SYSTEM AND PHONE CALLS MAY ALL BE NEEDED AND SHOULD BE READY TO USE. 

CHECK THE WIRING IN YOUR GARAGE, ITSELF, AND ANY APPLIANCES THERE

 We have not heard the final word on the cause of the garage fire. There was a refrigerator in the garage, which reminded us of the words of a Sears Repair Service Mgr.: The most service calls are for wiring damage caused by a mouse or rat and there is no warranty on such damage. You can stop a fire before it begins if you regularly inspect all wiring that could be found by a mouse or rat. Consider this response from a first responder in a discussion we had about the Warren fire: I think your point regarding damage to wiring in appliances caused by mice and rats is a good one regardless of whether the Warren fire was caused by such an occurrence.  On a personal note, I have had firsthand experience with damaged wire caused by rats.  I have a small refrigerator in an outside patio/bar area.  One afternoon, I opened it to get a bottle of water and noticed the light was not working and the water was warm.  I pulled the refrigerator away from its enclosure and found a nest of rats and indeed, the wiring had been chewed through.  Luckily, this did not cause a fire nor were there any combustible materials near to sustain combustion. 

SOLICITORS HAVE TOO GREAT A POTENTIAL FOR MISCHIEF TO BE IGNORED

 Don’t ever give your names to solicitors. They will use your name as a reference to all your neighbors. We have heard there have been vans of young people dropped off in South Orange County with instructions to knock on front doors. If there is no answer, they were to see if they could find any way to get into the home and take anything of value that could fit in their backpack.  

REMINDER - Sec. 10-194. - Sleeping in motor vehicles prohibited

 In November we discussed this in depth, as someone had taken up long term residence in a vehicle in a residential neighborhood and had unsavory guests. In our neighborhood, the police were called because someone was sleeping in his car in the early evening. That person was taken away in handcuffs. Another person parked in front of a neighborhood home this noontime sat there for 20 minutes and then went to sleep. Again, the police were called. If you see someone sleeping in their car, you want to at least be sure if they need help, but it is not always wise for you to ask them yourself. Call the police and tell them what is going on, so that person can get help if it is needed, 

NEW CA TRAFFIC TICKETS EFFECTIVE JANUARY 6, 2012

 An email has been circulating with this subject and quoting the LA Times. Regardless of the amounts, which may sometimes vary depending on a judge’s opinion, tickets are increasingly expensive. They are designed to get your attention and change your behavior. Be careful to begin with and save yourself some money.