By Eliza Ridgeway

joe hu/town crier Retired Santa Clara County Fire Department firefighter Mike Sanders has been hired as emergency coordinator for Los Altos Hills. He spent 30 years as a firefighter in the county.

In case of a large-scale disaster, area residents must be prepared to fend for themselves for as long as three or four days, according to Mike Sanders, the retired firefighter hired as emergency coordinator for Los Altos Hills and its unincorporated areas.

Sanders was hired by the Los Altos Hills Fire District, which serves the town and unincorporated areas, to coordinate a three-hour Personal Emergency Preparedness (PEP) class specifically tailored to area residents. The workshop will educate residents on disaster-response resources, how infrastructure can be affected, how to prepare in advance of a disaster and how to identify and respond to hazards during an emergency. He is assembling a seniors’ preparedness course that includes age-specific resources.

The classes, set to begin in February, are smaller in scale than the six-week Citizens Emergency Response Team (CERT) training offered in Los Altos.

“A lot of people don’t have that kind of time to give,” Sanders said. “PEP is designed to handle the specifics needed for a homeowner to take care of his or her family in an emergency.”

Residents interested in the CERT experience can take the classes in Los Altos or Cupertino. Twenty-three Hills residents have already been sworn in as CERT officers and stand ready to coordinate grassroots community response during a crisis.

Sanders said he plans to implement a neighborhood watch-type program, wherein residents get to know their neighbors as they meet with him to discuss emergency preparedness.

He praised Los Altos’ “Ark,” a trailer filled with emergency supplies, and said he plans to assemble one or more of the mobile units in the Hills area. Sanders said he wants to refine the town’s Teleminder system, which can be used to target specific areas of residents with an automated warning message. He said the town’s emergency operations center, located next to town hall, is in excellent condition and ready to use.

Sanders, a Morgan Hill resident, retired in 2004 from active duty as a firefighter after 30 years’ service in Santa Clara County. He volunteers every year as a counselor and staff member for the Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation’s summer camp.

Sanders views himself as a resource for the community and said his background in public education for the fire department prepared him to serve in his new role.

“This was a real need - people need to be prepared for earthquakes and wildfires, and any other major catastrophe,” said David Bergman, president of the fire district. “There’s no way you can afford to have enough people to work for you to be ready to respond to these things. We need to create a force of educated citizens.”

The fire district contracts Sanders’ position through the county fire department, with which it contracts all fire services. With an office at the El Monte fire station, Sanders has access to the department’s resources and staff, and will, he hopes, create a high profile in town for the district and fire department.

Los Altos has set aside funding for a similar full-time position. City Manager Phil Rose said that the city council planned to determine its specifications for the job in the next two months. Los Altos emergency preparedness is handled by the police department. Police Officer Rod Sayre currently plans and leads the city’s CERT classes.

For more information, call Mike Sanders at (408) 378-4010 or e-mail mike.sanders@cnt.sccgov.org.