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From: Don Crist
Please pass on my thanks to everyone in attendance, whether they were there to ask questions, to become involved, or to make suggestions for improvement of our services. I would like to pass on some information I verbalized at the meeting (on Mar 8) which seemed to correspond to the questions from the Lake Hodges website forwarded to our department prior to the meeting. Many of the questions require a fire department response, but some of those questions concerned the San Diego Sheriff Department’s response to the Firestorms of 2007. Feel free to pass this information on to others in the community who may not have been at the meeting.
Advanced evacuations are determined by the incident commander for a particular incident. In the case of a fire, the incident commander is the fire department, not the Sheriff’s Department. When incident commanders from the Sheriff’s Department or fire departments determine that a fire requires an evacuation, the Sheriff’s Department determines the best method of informing the public in the affected area. Some of these methods include advising the news media, having law enforcement officers go door-to door, making announcements using their vehicle public address systems, Reverse 911, or any combination of these methods.
Generally, the Sheriff’s Department would receive advance evacuation notices from the fire incident commander, then make Reverse 911 calls based on the parameters set by the fire department. When incident commanders request the use of Reverse 911 as a means to notify the public, a specific geographic area is given to our Department Operations Center. Utilizing a mapping system within the Reverse 911 computer, the geographic area provided is outlined and the system identifies all of the telephone numbers contained within that area. The Reverse 911 system was used extensively by our department throughout San Diego County, notifying over 300,000 phone numbers about the fire hazard and any recommendations for evacuation.
I interpreted the one question (about the difference in notification times) as part of an overall comparison of services between the City of Escondido and the County of San Diego. Each entity relies on those factors they see as most applicable to their population and given conditions. I cannot answer why Escondido sent notices five hours prior to notifications done in another area, or if even this was the case. To suggest we were delayed is somewhat subjective as to whether or not the second area should also have been notified at that same time. In the case of Santa Ana winds and several fire fronts we cannot always predict the fire’s behavior. In the Firestorm of 2007, the fires’ (note plural) direction and intensity changed constantly. Just because one part of the county gets an evacuation notice does not mean that every adjacent area should have also received an evacuation notice. We will always focus warnings to those specific locations affected by the potential threat at hand.
I was surprised by the one citizen’s statement that a fire official said it was because the Sheriff’s Department did not act on a recommendation for evacuation of that citizen’s area. Although we can make mistakes, I find it hard to believe we would not have acted on such a request. If we made a mistake, I would like to find out where the error occurred in order to correct our procedures, but I have been unable to track down any such notification. Would you be so kind as to put me in touch with that citizen so I can investigate this statement further?
Many of the Sheriff’s Department’s notifications were sent in conjunction with County Office of Emergency Services (OES) and what seemed reasonable and precautionary at the time. This is not to say that the Sheriff’s Department always waits for the fire department to instruct us to evacuate an area. When a deputy sheriff sees a need to evacuate a particular area, he or she advises the Sheriff’s Department Operations Center which would then make the Reverse 911 notifications.
Some people complained because they were evacuated unnecessarily. Some people complained that they were not given enough notice. Some people complained because they received two evacuation notices at two separate times and found out later that the second one was probably unnecessary. Believe it or not, after each Reverse 911 alert is made, our dispatchers become inundated with citizens who call 911 to ask if they need to evacuate – even though they just received the Reverse 911 call. We always take the most cautious and preventative actions. Evacuation notices go out to any area that we believe MAY need to be evacuated. Having said this, I cannot imagine any adult relying entirely and solely on the government before taking affirmative action in the face of potential fire danger – especially given our county’s history.
As I said at the meeting, in order to improve our response to these types of incidents, our department sought advice from each and every employee involved in the firestorm. We have made changes in our training, equipment, communications, and procedures and will continue to improve as recommendations are made. In addition, the County of San Diego contracted for the services of a private firm to evaluate every county department’s response. San Diego County OES is taking the lead in consolidating the AlertSan Diego program to bring all county jurisdictions to the same level of training in alert procedures. Someone in the audience asked how to verify that a landline phone number is showing the correct address (in case of a recent move or change of phone service). I mentioned that I would post a phone tool for this. Here it is:
* Register your cell phone and/or reregister your land line phone with the Alert San Diego mass notification system. The link to the registration site is http://www.sdcounty.ca.gov/oes/ready/signup.html
May I also suggest that citizens do the following:
* Invest in an emergency radio with a SAME-decoder feature. More information on these systems can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_Alert_System#EAS_for_consumers
* Join the local CERT team. This team helps citizens prepare themselves and their families for disasters. More information can be found at http://www.sdcounty.ca.gov/oes/community/get_involved/cert/
As for the complaints about lack of law enforcement during the fires and while the community was evacuated, I was personally in the communities of Lake Hodges, Del Dios, and Elfin Forest a couple of times each day/night while those communities were evacuated, sometimes for a couple of hours at a time, and I saw law enforcement in those neighborhoods. I noticed that some of the comments mentioned that the citizens saw officers from agencies besides the Sheriff’s Department. All of law enforcement was spread pretty thin that week (Oct, 2007) and the Sheriff’s Department was no exception. It was not because we did not try; as evidenced by the fact that we called upon law enforcement officers from other agencies and other counties to help us. Many of the deputies in this command worked five or six straight days of 18-hour shifts (with only four or five hours of sleep in between). They were physically exhausted, but I believe they did their best under very trying circumstances. I can’t say anymore than I am sorry some members of the community felt unprotected. We always reflect on our actions and experience and incorporate lessons learned in future responses.
Thank you again for organizing the meeting.
Don Crist
Don Crist, Captain
Sheriff's San Marcos Station
182 Santar Place
San Marcos, California 92069
760-510-5200
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