EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. — The Maui wildfires are causing many people to take a closer look at evacuation plans in their own communities.
Officials in the foothills and Tahoe spoke to lessons that can be learned from wildfires and the changes made.
Many cities in Northern California are faced with similar evacuation issues that have been seen with the Maui wildfires -- towns with only one way in and out and in places like South Lake Tahoe, an abundance of tourists that don’t live there year-round.
Sgt. Kyle Parker with the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office said there are some similarities, even with the wildfires being an ocean apart.
“What’s happened there, we experienced with Caldor (Fire) two years ago, and it is getting into fire season. The thought of a natural disaster is in the forefront of the planning,” said Parker.
Two years ago, the Caldor Fire creeped dangerously close to South Lake Tahoe, lines of cars stopped as people tried to evacuate.
It was a scary lesson for the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office, but they learned about the need for a steady flow of traffic.
“The traffic lights are set up for a constant green for a smooth flow of traffic. That way, it doesn’t create back up, which could be extremely catastrophic -- which we’ve seen just recently in Maui but also with Paradise and other fires we’ve had locally,” said Parker.
In Placer County, the Board of Supervisors learned lessons from last year’s Mosquito Fire, which prompted 11,000 people to evacuate Foresthill.
Cindy Gustafson, with Placer County Supervisor District 5, stresses preparedness.
“They should have multiple plans and multiple points of egress out,” said Gustafson.
They are also focused on tourists getting evacuated as well.
Evacuation printouts are posted and available at all hotels and recreation areas for guests to see.
Placer County Sheriff Wayne Woo says the Board of Supervisors has stepped up.
“Effective July 1, we now have a full time sheriff lieutenant and an assistant chief with Placer County Fire District that is embedded with the Office of Emergency Services to work on things like this community event tonight,” said Woo.
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