The Yolo County Office of Emergency Services will provide an update on the LNU Complex Fire response and recovery efforts in Yolo County. This presentation builds off the update provided to the Yolo County Board of Supervisors on February 9, 2021 on the Community Wildfire Protection Plan. Overall the presentation will include a detailed review of the community listening sessions held in Winters that followed the fire event, fire recovery and evacuation plan efforts, and an update on the Evacuation of Older Adults and Persons with Access and Functional Needs Subcommittee.
LNU Complex Fire Response:
On August 17, 2020, a series of more than 250 individual fires were sparked, to become the LNU Lightning Fire Complex, spreading across the Counties of Lake, Napa, Sonoma, Solano, and Yolo, totaling an area of nearly 400,000 acres, destroying nearly 1,500 structures, and resulting in six deaths. LNU refers to the name of the local unit of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire), the Sonoma–Lake–Napa Unit (LNU). As the fire extended east towards Yolo County, structures and land were burned in the Winters area, and resulted in mass alerting and notifications, and evacuations within the County. The Hennessey Fire was the eastern portion of the fire that extended into Yolo County. The LNU Lighting Fire Complex, including the Hennessey Fire were officially extinguished on October 02, 2020.
Within Yolo County, the effects of the fire resulted in five properties being impacted by the fire, triggering the participation in numerous Federal and State recovery programs. All of these properties have been cleared of environmental and chemical hazardous materials, leaving the properties to be cleared of other fire damaged materials. Currently, property owners are being supported in additional clean up of vehicles, debris, and vegetation. Further recovery is continuing and in progress.
With the end of the LNU Lightning Fire Complex, a desire for input from the community became important for all involved. Members of the Board of Supervisors held community listening sessions, in which feedback was gained and analyzed, creating several programs and/or projects to better protect and serve the community. Those included the implementation of a Fire Safe Council, development of a Community Wildfire Protection Plan, revitalization of the incident management team, considerations for community alert and warning, and post-incident issues. The alert and warning developed into the idea for a mass notification system, and possible audible siren systems. The post-incident issues revolved around the need for transparent after-action reporting, relief recovery programs, and real-time fire information.
Recovery
The LNU Lightning Complex Fire Recovery efforts include support for six damaged or destroyed homes in the County. Five homes were destroyed, and one was damaged, as well as fire damage to a large number of grazing lands. Of the properties impacted, all impacted structures have completed the Phase 1 clean-up, which includes the clearance by the State of California, Department of Toxic Substances Control (Cal DTSC) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), which involves the removal of household hazardous waste materials, including lead-acid and household batteries, compressed gas cylinders, pesticides, fertilizers, pool chemicals, paints, etc., as well as asbestos. The Phase 2 clean-up involves the removal of contaminated soils, ash, metal, hazardous trees, etc., in an attempt to restore the properties to pre-fire conditions. These programs are managed by the State of California, Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (Cal Recycle). In addition, one of the impacted properties is taking part in the County Urgency Ordinance to assist with clean-up fund reimbursement. The recovery efforts will continue until completed.
The recovery efforts on the LNU Lightning Complex Fire are continuing and being led by the Yolo County Office of Emergency Services (OES), in conjunction with other County departments, such as Environmental Health, Finance, and Community Services.
Evacuation Policies
Additional work is occurring related to evacuation policies and plans. First, the Yolo County Office of Emergency Services is currently working with the Yolo County Sheriff’s Office in drafting a Repopulation and/or Re-entry Plan. This plan will be partnered with the Evacuation Plan, to support the return of evacuated individuals within the County, the Cities, and the Tribal lands-as needed. The components of the plan will include but will not be limited to components of public works agencies, debris management partners, traffic control entities, and law enforcement for security, as well as the Health Department and air resource agency for concerns of health and wellbeing. Currently, in wildfire incidents managed by the State of California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) there is an access permit process that is used during the active firefighting and overhaul actions, for access of media, agency representatives, and citizens on a case-by-case basis.
Secondly, the Yolo County Office of Emergency Services is currently working with the Yolo County Sheriff’s Office, Animal Services Section, as well as the University of California, Davis’ Veterinary Emergency Response Team, and community partners to draft a Large Animal Evacuation and Shelter Plan that is in coordination with the Evacuation and Shelter Plans for humans. Currently, efforts have been accomplished with community members and representatives of the Sheriff's Office.
Evacuation Subcommittee
The incident of the LNU Complex Fire has brought additional focus to evacuation improvements in Yolo County. In January 2020 the Yolo County Commission on Aging and Adult Services (YCCAAS) established a Disaster Subcommittee to identify recommendations for the Yolo County Board of Supervisors to address the special needs of older adults and persons with disabilities in regards to emergency preparation and evacuation. These recommendations followed the occurrence of fires, floods, and electrical outages that highlighted the urgency for Yolo County to be prepared in the event of the eventual next emergency. The subcommittee consulted regularly with Yolo County Office of Emergency Services (OES) and the Yolo County Health & Human Services Agency (DHHS) in formulating recommendations, to ensure consistency and accuracy.
In response, the Yolo County Board of Supervisors formed the Emergency Preparedness and Evacuation of Older Adults and Persons with Access and Functional Needs Subcommittee. The purpose of this subcommittee is to review and implement the recommendations from YCCAAS. These recommendations include items such as developing a protocol to identify those with access and functional needs in the unincorporated area, power outage information tailored to those with special needs, improved accessibility and navigability of the County website, and the provision of free “go-kits” for IHSS consumers. At this time, implementation of the recommendations is underway. Some accomplishments thus far include improved County webpage navigability through a new website launch and grant funding secured for the IHSS “go kits”. |