Tahoetopia interviewed various local authorities for this series of stories.

NTFPD
North Tahoe Fire Protection District (NTFPD) officials stressed that emergency readiness begins with the individual.

“If there is a widespread disaster, it flat takes time to mobilize resources. Logistics are difficult,” said Bryce Keller, NTPFD Division Chief.“People need to be prepared to deal with it on their own.”

Keller advises that all residents should be prepared to survive without help for the first three days after a serious disaster. This means homes, which could be without power and heat, should be stocked with three days worth of food and water, in addition to blankets and a first-aid kit. The same resources also need to be stored in cars.

According to Keller, California is the best prepared state in the nation when it comes to emergency readiness. This is because of the state’s history of earthquakes and wildfire. Responsibility for responding to a disaster is clearly recognized at all levels. It falls first on local government, than on counties, then on cities, and finally, on the state.

Locally, the Tahoe Truckee region would most likely face one of three forms of natural disasters: fire, winter storm, or to a lesser extent, flooding. However, due to any catastrophe’s unique circumstances, the NTFPD only has a specific plan in place for an Alpine Meadows avalanche.

“Things occur very dynamically. There is not just a single, cookie-cutter approach,” Keller said.

In the event of a disaster, the NTPUD does have a protocol it follows. It is called the Incident Command System. This system links all the relevant agencies together and establishes a unified command with a single incident commander. The commander then assembles a written plan for the specific event.

In addition, lines of communication are in place that should avert the communication problems that plagued response teams in the Gulf. The NTPUD and Placer County Sheriff’s Office work on the same radio frequency and share the same dispatch center. In times of emergency, all agencies, including schools, also have access to a common radio frequency, CALCORD (California On-Scene Emergency Coordination Radio Plan).

“We were doing this long before 9/11,” Keller said. “It’s an age-old problem that California overcame a long time ago.”

In preparation for a serious snowstorm, the NTFPD has four-wheel drive trucks, chains, cold weather gear, and snow removal equipment. NTPUD also has agreements with snow removal companies, the county, and Caltrans to clear roads for emergency vehicles.

The Alpine Meadows avalanche plan includes directions for road closures and management; the plan also has alternative routes to help residents get out and emergency services get in. The Placer County Office of Emergency Services (OES), Caltrans, the sheriff’s office, NTFPD, and the U.S. Forest Service review the plan annually.

In case of major flooding, as occurred in 1997, NTPUD stockpiles sand for residents to use to fill sandbags,

The county’s OES also has an Emergency Operational Plan, updated every year, which tells all agencies how they are to work together and how to set up an emergency operations center.

The second in this series on Community Disaster Planning will be about the Tahoe City area.