Hidden away from the cars whizzing by on Highway 17 is the community of Aldercroft Heights. 2020年夏天, this community had a front row seat to the wildfires that swept through the Santa Cruz Mountains. 通往这个山区社区的道路有限, evacuating the area at a moment’s notice posed significant safety concerns.
《平台登录》
帮助ing residents to flee quickly was the impetus behind a multi-year effort by several agencies to find additional exit routes. San Jose Water owns 6,000 acres of watershed in the area, and the property is fenced. 平台登录的分水岭就在奥尔德克罗夫特高地路的尽头, 其中包括一条通往水塘的维修道路. 这条路被恰如其分地命名为“野性的呼唤”，主要是一条未铺设的土路.
的 圣克拉拉县野火保护计划 (CWPP)已将平台登录的“野性的呼唤”路定为 可能的 发生火灾时的疏散路线. 1962年和1985年，大火烧毁了该地区的部分地区. 目前的疏散路线包括17号高速公路或顶峰路. During a fire emergency, evacuation efforts become both urgent and confusing. 当居民逃离火场时，急救人员正在向火场靠近. 是否有安全且有标记的出口路线成了生死攸关的问题.
Road systems also need attention when considering an emergency fire route. Making our “《平台登录》” road safer during an evacuation required the installation of hundreds of reflective yellow and orange markers alongside the road to help drivers identify both the upslope and downslope. 疏散 route signage within the community also helped to steer evacuees in the right direction.
试图减少在平台登录的土地上发生灾难性野火的风险, while providing additional wildfire risk reduction benefits to the neighborhoods adjoining our watershed, 意味着整个社区的努力.
熟能生巧
5月8日, 2021, an Aldercroft Heights 疏散 Exercise was held to assess the viability of a proposed emergency route for the Aldercroft Heights 社区 (as part of the CWPP). A total of 10 households evacuated via Aldercroft Heights Road through SJW’s property on to Wrights Station Road. 的 purpose of this countywide plan is to assist in protecting human life and reducing property loss due to wildfire throughout the planning area. This particular exercise was the collaborative effort of many agencies: San Jose Water, 圣克拉拉县消防安全委员会, 圣克拉拉县消防局, 圣克拉拉县警长办公室(SCCSO), Cal火, 加州公路巡逻队, 圣克拉拉县公园, 中半岛区域休憩用地区, and local neighborhood leaders and residents that have formed their own “火wise“社区.
Agency and community stakeholders generated important insight into process and procedure to help refine the overall evacuation and emergency response plan for the community. 相关目标包括:
- Evaluating communications approach and coordination (radios, cell, social media)
- Assessing multi-agency coordination and response strategies; and operating under a unified command structure
- 确定撤离时间表
- 抓住挑战和经验教训
- Understanding constraints (access, communication, road infrastructure, fire hazards)
- 提高对野火风险、疏散和减灾的认识
无事故疏散
事件发生前, several weeks of planning calls and site visits were held to prepare participants for “game day”. Agency participants (including SJW) facilitated a pre-exercise coordination meeting at Miller Point, 当天演练复习应对方案, 目标, 参与者当天锻炼的目标和过程. 会议结束后, CALFIRE provided a software-driven simulation of a wildfire based on current weather conditions, 以及对火灾行为的分析. 的 simulation served as the basis for response and start of the exercise.
作为练习的一部分, Aldercroft Heights residents received a simulated emergency evacuation notice via text and Sheriff’s office drive-by community notification. 同时, all participating agencies received notification and were deployed to assist with the simulated fire response and “evacuation.”
奥尔德克罗夫特高地的10户家庭参加了疏散部分, with an handful of others as passengers for additional community education. 一旦得到通知, 这些家庭沿着预定的路线前进, 在1左右进入SJW地产.离北奥尔德克罗夫特5英里. 社区 members were then escorted by the SCC Sherriff – already staged at the SJW entrance – through the proposed emergency route. SJW staff were also part of the evacuation with SJW’s guard service and operators opening gates at either end of the route in advance of the caravan evacuation.
所有社区成员都顺利撤离，没有发生事故.
SJW:参与和部署
SJW staff worked closely with local fire agencies to develop the overall emergency evacuation strategy and logistics, 同时在演习中提供关键的支持. Staff participated in the pre-exercise coordination meetings and served as liaisons between the various agencies. SJW also conducted an independent assessment to better understand/manage potential natural resource impacts from vehicles utilizing watershed roads as an emergency route.
Operations and security staff were engaged and deployed to simulate the SJW wildfire response. Security staff opened the proposed emergency route gates — responding directly to a real-time request from participating fire agencies. SJW’s response timeline was recorded to quantify the notification to action/response time.
下面是练习, SJW参加了汇报, 这是由县消防局促成的，其中包括一个Q&与来自奥尔德克罗夫特高地社区的参与者的会议.
下一个步骤
的 Aldercroft Heights 疏散 Exercise provided valuable lessons for the community and emergency responders. 以SJW的《平台登录》 Road》为例 主要逃生路线 去奥尔德克罗夫特高地 是不可行的 due to the area’s road conditions and the potential fire threat in the area. But this route may be an opportunity for emergency vehicles to shorten response times in and out of the area. Other parts of Santa Clara County observed this event and are now evaluating alternative escape routes and the potential for full-scale community evacuation exercises in their community.
San Jose Water is proud to have partnered with so many agencies working to keep residents safe in an emergency. 测试逃生路线, 通信系统, and inter-agency training and coordination efforts is key to making our community safe.