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Susana Barrios
From:SHANNON M MCCHURCH <smcchurch@sbcglobal.net>
Sent:Tuesday, October 29, 2024
To:Public Comment
Subject:\[EXTERNAL\] SALT project
You don't often get email from Learn why this is important
Warning: This email originated from outside the City of Anaheim. Do not click links or open
attachments unless you recognize the sender and are expecting the message.
Hello,
My name is Shannon McChurch. I lived the first half of my life in Anaheim, west of the 57 freeway. I have lived most of
my adult life in Anaheim Hills. I have been an elementary school teacher for 30 years. The first half of my career was
with Anaheim City School District. I taught at Adelaide Price, Gauer, Guinn, and Juarez Elementary Schools. The past
16 years I have been teaching 4th grade with at I'm
lucky to live right around the corner from my work.
I love Anaheim. The beautiful and unique features of Anaheim are illustrated in the vast diversity between Anaheim and
Anaheim Hills. Each is rich in cultural diversity. The cultures differ, but both areas are beautiful because of the mix of
residents. Some issues and problems are the same, but some are drastically different. The "Hills" are sometimes viewed
as the "rich people" area. I know this because as a student at Katella High School, I remember poking fun at the rich hills
residents. Problems, however, exist everywhere. People struggle with health, crime, mental illness, abuse, neglect.....in
every zip code.
I think the biggest difference that I have experienced with Anaheim is the physical geography. I remember the Santa Ana
winds growing up, but they are nothing like the Santa Ana winds at the top of the hill off Weir Canyon. If you have never
spent multiple nights in a home in Anaheim Hills during Santa Ana winds, you simply cannot understand their power. I
invite you to come to my home the next time the winds kick up. Please, you are welcome.
I mention all of this because I want to tell you about the scariest day of my life. It was the day of the wildfire in 2017. I
was at work at Running Springs Elementary. My son was in First Grade at the school. The winds were "normal-bad" that
morning, but they quickly started to really get bad. I remember telling my principal in passing (he wasn't from the area and
it was his first year), that it was fine....the winds always got bad like that. Within an hour after that conversation the sky to
the east was black from an approaching wildfire. It was like an end-of-the-world war movie. The sky just across from the
school was nothing short of ominous. Buses starting coming immediately, as it was clear that we needed to evacuate the
entire school. You have no idea what it was like to have parents running up the school, crying, grabbing their children in
their arms and running...all as we were trying to get buses loaded and out of the area. Teachers left everything
there...cars in the parking lot and many left their pets and homes that are in the immediate area.
I vividly remember being on the bus, heading towards the evacuation site at Canyon High School. Our bus went up
Serrano because others that went down to Imperial were stuck in horrific traffic. We didn't even get to Canyon Rim Park
and we were stuck in traffic on the bus. Literally less than 50 feet away, as we were stopped on the road, the entire
hillside was on fire....full red flames! Luckily we sat for just a few minutes before a police car came to escort us past the
stopped traffic. Do you have any idea what that could be like? As I sat there with a busload of young, terrified, children, I
thought we could actually die while sitting on the bus. Please, try to imagine this. You have heard the unimaginable
stories of tragedy from Maui......this is a REAL and plausible threat to Anaheim Hills. If you don't live here in the hills, I'm
begging you to understand that the ability to leave in an emergency is so incredibly difficult. The 91 freeway overflow
reaches to all corners of Anaheim Hills, as people use navigation to avoid the freeway as far as Weir Canyon. Again, you
are welcome to stay with me and my family. I will take you down Santa Ana Canyon as I drop my son off at El Rancho
Middle School and back to work. Then back to Canyon High School and down to Imperial to take care of an elderly
parent. The back and forth down Santa Ana Canyon is a daily way of life for everyone living here. It is a unique driving
situation, to say the least.
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So now I get to my real request. Please consider everything I've explained as you decide the fate of the Deer Canyon
Project. All those added residents will add to the potential of the next tragedy. I know you have a lot to think about, but
don't forget your fellow Anaheim residents here in the hills. We all want the same basic things in life. Happiness, love,
and the safety to live our lives with family and friends. More people in this wildfire area, that is already overcrowded with
91 freeway overflow on a daily basis, will only add danger to our lives.
You are welcome to visit my home or my place of work. I'd be happy to point out my neighbors homes that have burned
down in past wildfires. I know you are not callous, but I just don't think you really know what it's like. I can show you, if
you will take the time to see.
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