SPECIAL PROMOTIONAL SECTION
An aerial photo of Santa Rosa following
the wildfire, taken Oct. 12, 2017.
THE POWER IS
IN THE PLAN
The time to get ready for an emergency is
before one is on top of you
BY STEVEN YODER
Business owners in north Santa Rosa may
have anticipated earthquakes and flood-
ing, but they couldn’t have imagined that
a wildfire would reach their doors. Urban
boundaries are rarely breached by wildfires,
but in early October of 2017 that’s exactly
what happened there. So strong were the
winds when the flames hit city limits that
the blaze jumped from trees to buildings and
continued to spread.
There’s no way for owners to predict
the next cataclysm, but there’s a way to
mitigate the damage. By the time a ca-
tastrophe is approaching it’s usually too late
to prepare, say experts. At least a quarter
of firms that close after a disaster never re-
open, according to the Institute for Business
& Home Safety. That’s why they say that
imminent or not, the time is now to gird for
January 2018 | comstocksmag.com
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