The subject of evacuation and what to do in case of a wildfire comes up regularly in our interactions with Oak Park residents. There are many aspects to these challenges, including wildfire planning and preparation, Emergency Communication, and recommended evacuation planning and coordination. All three of these areas are critical to an evacuation event.
It should be noted that the Office of Emergency Services (OES) under the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department provides information regarding all three of these important topics.
Wildfire planning and preparation – We have discussed in previous articles the Ready, Set, Go!
Program for evacuation planning and preparation. Details behind this program can be found HERE on our website. In addition to Ready, Set, Go!, OES provides an emergency communications plan HERE on their website. This plan highlights all critical contact information required in a wildfire emergency. There is an emergency kit checklist that highlights the kit you should build to take with you in case of an emergency HERE.
Wildfire emergency communication – Ventura County has a proven system for communicating with residents in case of a wildfire emergency. It is called VC Alert. You simply need to register for it HERE, and you will be notified via text, phone, email, fax, TTY/TDD device or numeric page if your area has an evacuation order or warning in place. You can also go to www.vcemergency.com for updated wildfire emergency information. In case of a wildfire, emergency personnel may drive your local streets with a hi-lo siren, sounding an alert to evacuate. All of this is summarized in a three-minute video HERE .
Evacuation Coordination – OES is responsible for coordinating evacuations. Depending on the location and fire characteristics, they may suggest evacuation routes (if appropriate). Any suggestions are typically made in real-time based upon the situation on the ground. Building on its experience with the recent Thomas and Woolsey Fires, OES applied for and received a $380,000 Wildfire Evacuation Route Planning and Development Grant (currently under development) from the California Fire Safe Council. The funding obtained from this grant program will be used to conduct an analysis of the various fire severity zones in Ventura County and, where appropriate, devise pre-configured evacuation zones for alerting the public during a wildfire. Additionally, an analysis of community demographic information for each evacuation zone will be conducted to better understand how communities will be impacted by evacuation orders and what needs they might have. The demographic information will be made available on a dashboard and will be used by emergency managers for real-time decision-making. Several Geographic Information System (GIS) tools will be developed to assist in gauging traffic flow during an emergency and identifying potential choke points.
