A tale of one emergency across two counties in the Columbia River Gorge.

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Estella Kory Cobb
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1 Big County, Little County. Lessons learned in the Eagle Creek Fire A tale of one emergency across two counties in the Columbia River Gorge. Presentation timeline - Wed. October 10 9:15-11:30am 9:15-10:15 Hood River panel (little County) 10 minute break 10:30 11:30 Multnomah County panel (Big County) 9:15 10:15 Hood River County: Welcome & intro panelists 12:00 HRSO intro 12:00 OSFM intro 12:00 County EOC intro 10 minutes in future incidents 10 minutes Emergency Manager Barb Ayers, facilitator Sheriff Matt English initial comments Deputy Oregon Fire Marshall (Mariana Ruiz-Temple) Emergency Manager Barb Ayers All panelists: Discuss how we can partner better Q& A moderated by facilitator

2 Big County, Little County Session 1 Hood River

3 3 panelists 3 perspectives: Matt English Sheriff, Hood River County Mariana Ruiz-Temple Chief Deputy State Fire Marshal Barb Ayers Emergency Manager, Hood River County

4 4 Eagle Creek Fire Became #1 fire in the country Both sides of the Columbia River OR: Hood River County / USFS / Multnomah

5 Eagle Creek Fire overview Hood River County Sheriff Matt English Fire started Labor Day weekend, September 2, 2017 during peak tourism season in the Columbia River Gorge Started by a teenage boy igniting fireworks during a burn ban. The fire burned 50,000 acres, and burned for three months, before being declared completely contained on November 30, As of May 29th 2018 it was found still smoldering in some areas. As of August 2018, the Historic Columbia River Highway remains closed from Bridal Veil to Ainsworth State Park, a section with popular scenic destinations such as Multnomah Falls.

September 2nd, 2017 Eagle Creek SAR Hood River County Sheriff's Office and U.S. Forest Service 3 groups of hikers in the area of the Eagle Creek Fire One group of 3 in the most difficult location were airlifted by Oregon National Guard.

6 September 2nd, 2017 Eagle Creek SAR Hood River County Sheriff's Office and U.S. Forest Service 3 groups of hikers in the area of the Eagle Creek Fire One group of 3 in the most difficult location were airlifted by Oregon National Guard. A second group of 14 hiked out and made it safely off the trail. A third group (approx. 140 hikers) sheltered in place and hiked out in the morning. This group was safely away from the fire. Multiple agencies coordinated getting supplies to the group.

7 September 3rd, 2017 UPDATE: Eagle Creek Fire Search and Rescue The final group of 153 hikers hiked to the Wahtum Lake area and were bussed to the reunification site. No hikers were unaccounted for One hiker was transported non-critically via ambulance for exhaustion and dehydration.

That night: September 3rd Eagle Creek Fire Evacuations City of Cascade Locks received evacuation orders overnight. SW city: Level Three, affecting approximately 130 homes.

8 That night: September 3rd Eagle Creek Fire Evacuations City of Cascade Locks received evacuation orders overnight. SW city: Level Three, affecting approximately 130 homes. Level Three evacuation means residents need to leave immediately. Those residents have been notified either in person by law enforcement or through Everbridge notifications. The rest of the city: Level Two and Level One evacuation orders. A Red Cross Shelter has been set up at the Skamania County Fairgrounds, immediately across the Columbia River in Stevenson, WA.

September 4th, 2017 Eagle Creek Fire Evacuations Cascade Locks Level 3: Everybody south of Wa Na Pa Street, meaning that they should have already vacated.

9 September 4th, 2017 Eagle Creek Fire Evacuations Cascade Locks Level 3: Everybody south of Wa Na Pa Street, meaning that they should have already vacated. Level 2: North of Wa Na Pa Street up to Forest Lane, meaning be ready to leave at a moment's notice. Level 1: The rest of Cascade Locks, which means ready for potential evacuation. There are currently three Strike Teams standing by whose sole job is the protection of structures. Three more teams are due to arrive today.

September 4th, 2017 Eagle Creek Fire Evacuations Cascade Locks All prior Level One evacuation notices in Cascade Locks have been upgraded to Level Two.

10 September 4th, 2017 Eagle Creek Fire Evacuations Cascade Locks All prior Level One evacuation notices in Cascade Locks have been upgraded to Level Two. Level Two notices now cover all areas north of Wa Na Pa to the Columbia River. On the east end of town, Level Two covers north of I- 84 to the river. Remember: Level Two means that you should be ready to evacuate at a moment's notice.

11 September 4-5th, 2017 Eagle Creek Fire Evacuations Sept. 4 All prior Level 1 evacuations in Cascade Locks have been upgraded to Level 2. Level 2 notices now cover all areas north of Wa Na Pa to the Columbia River. On the east end of town, Level Two covers north of I-84 to the river. Remember: Level Two means that you should be ready to evacuate at a moment's notice. Sept. 5 All public forest lands west of Highway 281 and north of Mt. Hood are being put under Level 1 evacuation. These are public lands where campers, hikers, and hunters may currently be recreating, but no private homes. Deputies have been making sweeps to advise anyone in those areas. The only other areas under evacuation continues to be the Cascade Locks area.

12 Updated information is available on hoodriversheriff.com and on the Hood River Sheriff Facebook and Twitter pages. All of those sources will have a link to the Interactive Web Map where you can enter your address to see what level you may be under.

Fire crews continue to run back-burn operations in the area of Cascade Locks to help protect homes and important infrastructure.

14 September 7th, 2017 Eagle Creek Fire The Hood River County area continues to remain vigilant due to fire activity from the Eagle Creek Fire. No changes in evacuation levels have occurred in the last 48 hours. Fire crews continue to run back-burn operations in the area of Cascade Locks to help protect homes and important infrastructure. Community meeting at the Hood River Valley High School We continue to advise that residents to receive official emergency notifications to sign up for the Citizen Alert System.

15 September 8th, 2017 Eagle Creek Fire Evacuation Level Changes Due to increased fire activity on the east end of the fire, the Hood River County Sheriff's Office is changing evacuation levels: New Level 1 runs from Collins Rd. in Dee at the south end to I-84 on the north end. The current Level 2 evacuation area on the NE half of Cascade Locks is being extended east to Viento State Park, along the I-84 corridor.

16 September 14th, 2017 Hood River County Evacuations new orders on west side After careful consideration by fire incident commanders and the Hood River County Sheriff's Office, the following changes are being made to Evacuation Levels: Level 2: adding Zones A5 and A6 Level 2: A4b - adding new boundaries as follows Level 1: Zones A7, B4, B5, B6 and B7 now in effect B4: The northern boundary of this zone is the Columbia River and the southern boundary is Belmont Drive. The eastern boundary is Rand Road running down to the May Street intersection. The line continues south to Belmont Drive. The western boundary is Country Club Road.

17 Lessons learned

18 Lessons learned

19 Oregon State Fire Marshall s Office perspective / lessons learned Mariana Ruiz-Temple, Chief Deputy State Fire Marshal

21 Lessons learned

23 Hood River County EOC perspective Emergency Manager Barb Ayers

24 We plan, we drill, we preach preparedness but

25 2 5 It happens when we least expect it 2 weeks after Oregon Eclipse

26 2 6

27 Which was right after FEMA came to town Dec. 2016: 4-day national IEMC academy Hood River The same year as the Mosier oil trail derailment

Complicated evacuation messaging After careful consideration by fire incident commanders and the Hood River County Sheriff's Office, the following changes are being made to Evacuation Levels: Cascade

28 Complicated evacuation messaging After careful consideration by fire incident commanders and the Hood River County Sheriff's Office, the following changes are being made to Evacuation Levels: Cascade Locks area: Level Two notice, and the A4a zone running along the I-84 corridor from Exit 47 to Exit 56 remains at Level Three. Zones A5 and A6 are being placed on Level Two evacuation Adding to current Level Two zone of A4b Zones A7, B4, B5, B6 and B7 are now being placed on Level One evacuation notice.

September 8th, 2017 Eagle Creek Fire Evacuation Level Changes Due to increased fire activity on the east end of the fire, the Hood River County Sheriff's Office is making two changes to evacuation

29 September 8th, 2017 Eagle Creek Fire Evacuation Level Changes Due to increased fire activity on the east end of the fire, the Hood River County Sheriff's Office is making two changes to evacuation levels. This new Level One area runs from Collins Rd. in Dee at the south end to I-84 on the north end. The current Level Two evacuation area on the north-east half of Cascade Locks is being extended east to Viento State Park, staying along the I-84 corridor.

daily 2 million+ / year 5 million /year Gorge visitors USFS Mt Hood Natl Forest USFS Year = 11.

30 3 0 Transportation issues Cut off annually fire, snow/ice, rock fall, other hazards Half of County staff commutes min. daily 2 million+ / year 5 million /year Gorge visitors USFS Mt Hood Natl Forest USFS Year = 11.6 million Year = 1.1 million I-84 daily traffic (only east/west access) OR 35 Mt Hood (only south access) Significant evacuation concern Stranded tourists, truck drivers

3 1 What Eagle Creek Fire - derailment winter storm eclipse have in common Crippling transportation loss Resource, fuel, food shortages Small communities = high impact Few back up generators Not

31 3 1 What Eagle Creek Fire - derailment winter storm eclipse have in common Crippling transportation loss Resource, fuel, food shortages Small communities = high impact Few back up generators Not enough shelters Boil water / other secondary issues Need supply independence for weeks, during, after a disaster Lack disaster equipment caches Long term economic recovery June 2016 Mosier Train derailment

32 Major EOC activities Evacuation plan Call Center Public Information/JIC Shelter and evacuation support Staffing: 21 days, 7am-7pm 30.5 people Vast majority: voluntary or volunteers

3 3 Eagle Creek Fire County EOC (Emergency Ops Ctr) activation 18 days EOC: by the community for the community Staff/volunteers - 30.

33 3 3 Eagle Creek Fire County EOC (Emergency Ops Ctr) activation 18 days EOC: by the community for the community Staff/volunteers people/day x 18 days Partnership in action Cities- Ports- NGO s, volunteers, Intertribal fisheries, School District, fire, law enforcement, ESF-8 / health, utilities, Red Cross, ODOT, OHA, OSFM Mutual aid from 5 counties OR / WA

34 3 4 Eagle Creek Fire County EOC Joint Information Center Evacuation notices daily changing Shared evacuation website with Multnomah Call center thousands of daily calls English/Spanish Recorded info line As soon as new evacuations notices went out, staffed up Created one of OR s 1 st co. evacuation plans Included ESF-8 vulnerable populations Shelter open 15 days

35 EOC Call Center Thousands of phone calls per day Opened and staffed BEFORE evacuation changes or press release working with PIOs Staffed with volunteers - English and Spanish Phone default: Recorded phone lines Spanish and English Evacuation levels and shelter information English Spanish Excel spreadsheet for spontaneous donations and volunteers

36 EOC Call Center Thousands of phone calls per day Entry point for new volunteers - need bilingual Need vast expansion of IT and phones Blew out County phones Blew out County calendar program Twice daily cooperators calls Too many calls- OEM, USFS, our own Have good food Importance of solid GIS person Leverage spontaneous donations Leverage intact community groups (Rotary, Lions)

37 Partnerships Mutual aid- Washington County (Scott Porter,) Clatsop (Tiffany Brown) Jefferson County (Mark Carman,) Omnibus agreement 3 days free Put them up in a hotel and feed them Neighbor county support Wasco County Sheriff Land and EM Juston Huffman WA- Skamania Stevenson (John Carlson) Local partner support Hood River Port

38 Every time it felt like the EOC was getting its battle rhythm, a significant new problem occurred

39 Lessons learned in the EOC, our first long term activation EOC activated 21 days one day at a time Partnership of parties (across agencies and jurisdictions) Importance of volunteers Volunteers may not understand access and privacy concerns: just in time training About mutual aid Shadowing opportunities for volunteers and EOC staffs Local agencies roles Importance of maps City of Cascade Locks evacuated for 3 weeks

40 EM / EOC Lessons learned Drafted one of Oregon counties first Evacuation plans on the fly Absence of County staff EOC small is good; but plan food for a large turnout Transportation issues few roads in/out; choke points at interstate bridges The disaster within the disaster: spontaneous volunteers and donations The blessing within the disaster: spontaneous volunteers and donations leverage these to reduce response costs Working with Multnomah County on online map What s a FMAG? How is that different than a Presidential declaration and FEMA cost recovery?

41 EM / EOC Lessons learned Public outreach is essential PLAN BIG - people were on edge for weeks The same thing occurred in 2018 as soon as fire season began Call Center essential to help residents and reduce impacts on 911; tie them into your JIC team Volunteer hours and mutual aid counts toward cost recovery match Send a dedicated PIO to impacted communities develop a presence Send a dedicated EOC liaison to impacted communities impossible to stay in touch with folks via phone Arm firefighters and officers with PIO content Send a dedicated PIO to the evacuation shelter Shelter issues no contact with evacuees; EOC received hundreds of concerned calls from family members and friends

42 EM / EOC Lessons learned Shelter issues: two agencies (County and Providence Hospital) have MOU s for the two major shelters in Wasco Co. IAP for EOC too big, not actionable but it is a PR tool Make a plan for policy group, especially if it impacts multiple elected officials areas Does it capture our EOC priorities and deliverables or just mirror Unified Command s IAP? Throw your work plan out Plan to lose another month until the fire is more contained Plan to lose 3-6 months in recovery phase Multnomah and Hood River Counties could draft off each other for future planning EM: expect lots of new planning and worrying burn scar area

43 EM / EOC Lessons learned Don t be afraid to ask for help Mutual aid Volunteers Partner agency support People have ownership may not want outside help Need shadowing opportunities Liaison officers serve many masters send EOC delegate to Fire Camp Day job vs EOC job confusion, esp. uniformed staffs Extra expenses after event impact your budget Kept phone lines afterwards promote call in # Push Everbridge opt in to residents but we also need to test it

44 Lessons learned Small communities = small budgets = huge impact VOLUNTEERS SAVED THE DAY! 100% of Oregon s fuel is imported Need shelter plans for community centers Few back up power options What if there had been a long term power outage?

45 2 weeks after we closed our EOC. Northern California firestorm October 2017 Napa, Sonoma 9 counties 12 fires in one month 228,503 acres Destroyed/damaged buildings: 9, dead 8 injuries

4 6 After the Fire collaboration - recovery

46 4 6 After the Fire collaboration - recovery phase County, Cities, Governor s Office, OEM, MCEDD, Travel OR, recovery council, SBA Cascade Locks community relief Business outreach SBA Loan program requested / activated Hood River led counties in businesses interested

47 4 7 Columbia Gorge already earned the distinction of the state highest landslide risk Eagle Creek fire heightened that threat in some of the most popular Gorge areas firmly in the landslide zone - Dogami

48 4 8 2 County Landslide Response planning underway After heavy rain + snow melt Using limited county budgets - Hood River / Multnomah Santa Barbara fire post-fire mudslide Lack = mitigation PROJECT FUNDING higher risk assessment and response

49 4 9

Community emergency equipment caches Shelter planning shelter in place Contingency funds for

50 5 0 Seeking grants to build resilience Response mitigation recovery projects: Flooding landslide mitigation - community impacts, prevention Mobile EOC - emergency response Community emergency equipment caches Shelter planning shelter in place Contingency funds for local planning, mitigation and response PROJECTS 2 counties Search and Rescue OSO landslide before / after

51 5 1 Gorge s greatest strength: people Partnerships community working together FEMA s whole community approach - integrated Emergency Management

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ESF 4 Firefighting THIS PAGE LEFT BLANK INTENTIONALLY Table of Contents 1 Introduction... ESF 4-1 1.1 Purpose... ESF 4-1 1.2 Scope... ESF 4-1 1.3 Policies and Authorities... ESF 4-1 2 Situation and Assumptions...