2008 Woodie Awards
Southern California fires burn close to home for some
Rachel Davis, Opinions Editor
Issue date: 10/24/07 Section: News
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Raging wildfires threatened the safety of one of ACU's sister schools, Pepperdine University, in Malibu, Calif., on Sunday.
Through emergency notifications, students were able to be safe, and the fires have illustrated how important ACU's new emergency text messaging system will be in the future, said ACU police chief Jimmy Ellison.
Pepperdine students were roused from their dorms early and stayed in the cafeteria and other various central campus locations for most of the day, said Pepperdine student Leslie Reed, junior Spanish and German major from Atlanta.
"For us, it was safer to stay on campus than leave," Reed said. "Roads were closed, and the winds were so unpredictable that trying to leave would have been more hazardous. Sporadic fires in the [Malibu Creek] Canyon and the highway would have made it very difficult to get out."
Reed said her roommate did leave Malibu and made it to a nearby town, but fires were there as well.
"She would have been safer on campus," Reed said.
Ellison said when it comes to emergency planning, there's no way to have a plan for each emergency that may occur.
"You can't have 957 plans for each emergency," Ellison said. "That's not realistic. You need one plan that is strong enough to address every need and adapt to everything that might come up. The difficulty with emergency planning is that you can't have a one-sizefits-all approach."
Pepperdine has its own fire department and a vegetation
barrier around campus that is watered all the time, Reed said.
"To get to the campus, a fire would have to burn through wet grass and other vegetation," Reed said.
Ellison said most universities in Texas don't have their own fire departments, but ACU is fortunate in its proximity to an Abilene fire department station.
Reed said she was awakened at 7:30 a.m. by people pounding on her door and telling her to get to the campus center.
Students, faculty and staff stayed in the cafeteria for the morning and were released periodically to return to their rooms to get snacks and homework.
Through emergency notifications, students were able to be safe, and the fires have illustrated how important ACU's new emergency text messaging system will be in the future, said ACU police chief Jimmy Ellison.
Pepperdine students were roused from their dorms early and stayed in the cafeteria and other various central campus locations for most of the day, said Pepperdine student Leslie Reed, junior Spanish and German major from Atlanta.
"For us, it was safer to stay on campus than leave," Reed said. "Roads were closed, and the winds were so unpredictable that trying to leave would have been more hazardous. Sporadic fires in the [Malibu Creek] Canyon and the highway would have made it very difficult to get out."
Reed said her roommate did leave Malibu and made it to a nearby town, but fires were there as well.
"She would have been safer on campus," Reed said.
Ellison said when it comes to emergency planning, there's no way to have a plan for each emergency that may occur.
"You can't have 957 plans for each emergency," Ellison said. "That's not realistic. You need one plan that is strong enough to address every need and adapt to everything that might come up. The difficulty with emergency planning is that you can't have a one-sizefits-all approach."
Pepperdine has its own fire department and a vegetation
barrier around campus that is watered all the time, Reed said.
"To get to the campus, a fire would have to burn through wet grass and other vegetation," Reed said.
Ellison said most universities in Texas don't have their own fire departments, but ACU is fortunate in its proximity to an Abilene fire department station.
Reed said she was awakened at 7:30 a.m. by people pounding on her door and telling her to get to the campus center.
Students, faculty and staff stayed in the cafeteria for the morning and were released periodically to return to their rooms to get snacks and homework.
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