“You're going to have tragedy if you don't have a plan.' Paradise, which burned in a major California wildfire, had an evacuation strategy. Many other at-risk cities don't.
This story is part of a series, Destined to Burn, in which a partnership between journalists from USA TODAY Network-California, McClatchy, Media News and the Associated Press explore the urgent wildfire issues facing California. More info on the series and other coverage can be found below.
Paradise Mayor Jody Jones said even though there were traffic jams and people died trying to flee the town during the Camp Fire, she still recommends communities develop evacuation plans.Despite the tragic outcome of that day in November 2018 and the confusion faced by people like Wilken, the city's careful planning made a difference, Paradise Mayor Jody Jones insists.
Using Cal Fire's designation of wildfire risks across the state, the USA TODAY Network-California requested evacuation plans from 27 communities at greatest risk of fire.One group consisted of the 15 most populous communities where 95% or more of residents live in very high hazard areas for wildfires; the other group included the 15 places with the highest sheer number of residents living in that riskiest zone. Three communities appeared on both lists.
Jones, the Paradise mayor, said other communities around the state in high fire hazard areas should learn a lesson from what happened in her town. that had worked in the past, including in 2017, Jones said. The evacuation plan breaks the town into 14 zones. Residents living in each zone evacuate depending on where the fire is located.
“And the entire town, because of the wind, the embers were coming in everywhere all at once, so we had fires all over town and the entire town was evacuating at one time, which is going to overrun your transportation system. Reporters submitted requests for copies of evacuation plans in March to Los Angeles, El Dorado and San Bernardino counties through the California Public Records Act.
However, in response to a USA TODAY Network public records request, county officials two days later provided 851 pages of documents. "I confirmed with the for our division that we do not release our emergency plan, for obvious security reasons," wrote El Dorado County Sheriff's Sgt. Anthony Prencipe, in an email response. He did not elaborate on those reasons.
The county’s evacuation plan was born out of the lessons learned from evacuating New Orleans residents during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, as well as hurricanes Irma and Harvey in 2017. A plan for what to do when people don't hear the evacuation order, don't trust it or choose not to evacuate. Will uniformed officers knock on doors, and if so how will that be staffed and organized?
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