OES director, supervisors declare Plumas in another state of emergency
By Victoria Metcalf
Acting on recent powers granted to him when the Plumas County Board of Supervisors is not in session, Office of Emergency Services Director and Sheriff Todd Johns declared a state of emergency Monday, July 19, concerning the Dixie Fire in the Feather River Canyon.
In a roll call vote supervisors unanimously approved Johns’ actions in a state of emergency proclamation and resolution declaring Plumas County is once again severely impacted by the rapidly expanding Dixie Fire.
The items were added to the agenda July 20 before regular agenized topics were heard.
This is the second time this month supervisors have declared a state of emergency. The first was July 13 concerning the Beckwourth Complex that’s now burned more than 100,000 acres in Plumas and Lassen counties. By 5 p.m. that same evening, the start of the Dixie Fire was reported.
Calling it “likely to be affected by a public calamity” and since supervisors were not in session, Johns acted upon powers recently granted to him by supervisors to proclaim an emergency situation.
In the proclamation, Johns stated “that conditions of extreme peril to the safety of persons, business and property, public lands and resources including, but not limited to grazing lands, watersheds, timber resources, and public infrastructure have arisen,” within the county. These were caused by a fire started July 13 and exacerbated by dry conditions and greatly enhanced by winds.
The proclamation also indicates that “ongoing response, assessments and mutual aid have diverted local resources from day-to-day operations, and the continued threat of catastrophic wildfires places the county at significant risk, beyond control of personnel, services, equipment and budget of the county and the state.”
While supervisors declared a state of emergency July 13, California’s Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency for the county July 16.
