Fire Prevention Week celebrated with a new evacuation plan for residents
This is Fire Prevention Week, which no doubt will resonate more with Plumas County residents this year. That’s because from Sierra Valley to Indian Valley, wild fires threatened homes and forced evacuations this past summer.
Quincy residents lived with the threat of evacuation from the Minerva Fire for two weeks, so the announcement this week that an evacuation plan will be landing in their mailboxes is timely news. The full color publication, paid for with CalFire SRA funds, will be mailed to over 5,000 households in the Quincy zip code and has valuable information for all residents. Quincy is the first community in the state to receive this publication with the local evacuation route map used as the centerfold.
This project, which has been in the works for months, is a joint effort of CalFire, the Plumas County Sheriff’s Office and Office of Emergency Services, and the Quincy Fire Department. According to Sue McCourt, the county’s fire prevention specialist, the document was actually headed to press as fires broke out around Quincy. Even though the publication wasn’t ready, the agencies involved had discussed evacuation routes and evacuation planning for the area, which greatly assisted emergency responders.
In addition to evacuation routes and centers, the plan offers residents tips about how to create defensible space around their homes and this information is also timely. Fall is a great season to limb trees, space out plants and thin out those small trees that seem to pop up every year.
And even though wildfire season is waning, the information in this guide on can be used in any emergency including winter snows or floods.
It’s also a good time for cell phone users to sign up for CODE RED — the Plumas County Reverse 911 emergency alert system to receive text, email and/or phone alerts. All landlines in the county are already in the system. Sign up at plumascounty.us. Facebook users can follow the Plumas County Sheriff’s Office, Quincy CHP and the U.S. Forest Service-Plumas National Forest Facebook pages. These pages were of great value to residents during the Minerva Fire to share official information and evacuation notices.
Good call supervisors
We applaud the Board of Supervisors’ decision to begin the process of implementing a moratorium on commercial cannabis cultivation, as well as their decision to hold the public hearing on the subject in the Mineral Building at the fairgrounds rather in the cramped boardroom. The change of venue will allow more individuals to hear and be heard during the process.
We also want to commend the public for their involvement with the issue — both pro and con. While the latter were a little late to the conversation, once they saw the trajectory of the ordinance that would govern commercial cannabis cultivation, they activated to have their voices heard.
