The public officials responsible for evacuating people in Santa Barbara County who are threatened by natural disasters such as wildfires, flooding and debris flows know they face several significant challenges — from the logistical to the psychological — in discharging that duty.
A sheriff’s deputy places an evacuation notice at a residence in Montecito. (Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department photo)
People typically are reluctant to leave the comfort and perceived safety of their homes, especially if they’ve been ordered to do it time and again, and they don’t always respond appropriately to the message of imminent danger being delivered by emergency officials, according to county officials.
The county, especially the South Coast, has been put to the test repeatedly in the past two years by multiple large vegetation fires and dangerous winter storms that have produced deadly flooding and debris flows, which prompted widespread evacuation orders.
Twenty to 25 sheriff’s Search and Rescue Team members and 45 to 60 sheriff’s deputies typically are dispatched to implement evacuation orders.
In recent months, that crew has been aided by a smartphone app that replaces a cumbersome manual system for tracking evacuations.
Designed by a company called Spatial Networks, the Fulcrum app allows officials to delineate an evacuation zone, address by address, and put that information in the hands of the people sent out to notify residents about an evacuation order.
At each address, deputies and SAR members use the app to input whether they were able to contact the residents and whether the residents said they planned to leave or stay. As appropriate, they obtain names and contact phone numbers.
They also can make note of special needs — such as a person who is bedridden or in a wheelchair — and whether assistance may be needed to evacuate people or animals.
Likewise, they can indicate whether pets that are left behind — fish, for example — will need to be tended to during the evacuation period.
All of this information is uploaded in real time and is accessible to incident commanders who can follow the progress as an evacuation order is implemented.
“It’s really sped up the process, and given us more accurate information,” said Nelson Trichler, an incident commander for the sheriff’s Search and Rescue Team. “It’s a tool we can go back to statistically to see who is responding to these evacuations.
“Now we also can determine, how effective are the warnings, how effective are the alerts?”
A map generated by the Fulcrum app during the March 5 evacuation in Montecito. More than 1,400 parcels received noticed to evacuate. Of those, 48% were not home, 20% said they planned to leave, 20% said they planned to stay, and 12% were unoccupied and under construction from damage during the Jan. 9, 2018, debris flows. (Courtesy Santa Barbara County Search and Rescue.)
The system was first used in January this year, Trichler said, and since has been refined.
County officials have had more than their share of experience with evacuations during the past three years and readily concede that they’ve learned some valuable if hard-earned lessons in the process.
“Like I say, practice makes perfect, and unfortunately, we’ve had lots of practice,” Trichler said.
Stretching back to the Whittier Fire in July 2017, county officials have ordered large-scale evacuations at least six times, sometimes keeping people out of their homes for more than two weeks, as in the case of the December 2017 Thomas Fire response.
Even in the age of the Internet and smartphones, alerting people to the impending danger and getting them to respond appropriately is no simple matter.
Barricades indicate a road closure during a storm-related evacuation in Montecito. (Peter Hartmann / Noozhawk photo)
Effecting evacuations during a wildfire is, in some ways, easier, Trichler said, because the threat of approaching flames is more visible and immediate. People can clearly sense that danger is coming, he said.
Getting people to leave ahead of a “possibly” dangerous storm is more problematic, especially if what is often termed “evacuation fatigue” begins to take hold in the community, he said.
The county uses various messaging systems to alert the public to evacuation warnings and orders, and has transitioned to a procedural hierarchy that begins with an “advisory,” then progresses to a “warning,” and finally to a “mandatory order,” as needed.
That change came after county officials were strongly criticized in the wake of the deadly Jan. 9, 2018, debris flows in Montecito, which relied on protocols that issued “voluntary” evacuation warnings and “mandatory” evacuation orders.
Despite publicity and warnings about the threat of the incoming storm, a majority of the 23 people killed in that disaster lived in areas south of Highway 192 that were under voluntary warning status — not mandatory evacuation orders.
Sheriff’s deputies go door to door in Montecito alerting residents to an evacuation order. (Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department photo)
Officials concede that many residents interpreted the voluntary order as an indication they were not at risk.
“We used to use mandatory and voluntary, but people got really confused,” sheriff’s Commander Kevin Huddle told Noozhawk.
Hence the change in terminology to advisory, warning and mandatory order.
“I think that the process has been refined and explained to the members of the community who are the most impacted, particularly those who live in the red zones,” Sheriff Bill Brown said, referring to the county debris flow risk, which shows evacuation areas in red. “I think we all have a better understanding of why this is necessary.”
Among the changes that have been made, Brown said, is a smaller number of properties and people who are ordered to evacuate for potentially dangerous storms.
“Instead of tens of thousands, we’re down to a point where we have around 1,500 or 1,600 parcels, with about 3,000 residents,” Brown noted.
Officials also have taken steps to minimize the amount of time people are out of their homes, he said.
In recent cases, evacuation order have remained in place for 24 hours or less — “just long enough until the danger has passed,” Brown said.
“If you live in the front country in the area below one of these burn scars, you just have to understand it’s going to require you to make a decision and to evacuate once or twice a year — just for an evening, if nothing happens,” he said.
Both Trichler and Huddle indicated that the overall response from the public to evacuation orders has been good recently.
“We appreciate the public’s cooperation,” Huddle said. “We don’t want to get evacuation exhaustion. … When we make the decision to do an evacuation order, we ask people to please take it seriously…
“One of our mission statements is that we will only keep people out of their homes as long as it’s a public safety issue.”
— Noozhawk executive editor Tom Bolton can be reached at tbolton@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
The public officials responsible for evacuating people in Santa Barbara County threatened by natural disasters such as wildfires, flooding and debris flows know they face several significant challenges — from the logistical to the psychological — in discharging that duty.
People typically are reluctant to leave the comfort and perceived safety of their homes, especially if they’ve been ordered to do it time and again, and they don’t always respond appropriately to the message of imminent danger being delivered by emergency officials.
The county, especially the South Coast, has been put to the test repeatedly in the last two years by multiple large vegetation fires and dangerous winter storms that have produced deadly flooding and debris flows, and prompted widespread evacuation orders.
About 20-25 sheriff’s Search and Rescue Team members and 45-60 deputies typically are dispatched to implement evacuation orders.
In recent months, that crew has been aided by a smart-phone app that replaces a cumbersome manual system for implementing and tracking evacuations.
Designed by a company called Fulcrum, the app allows officials to delineate an evacuation zone, address by address, and put that information in the hands of the people sent out to inform residents about an evacuation order.
At each address, deputies and SAR members use the app to input whether they were able to contact the residents, and whether they said they planned to leave or stay. As appropriate, they obtain names and contact phone numbers.
They also can make note of special needs — such as a person who is bedridden or in a wheelchair — and whether assistance may be needed to evacuate people or animals.
Likewise, they can indicate whether pets that are left behind — fish, for example — will need to be tended to during the evacuation period.
All this information is uploaded in real time, and accessible to incident commanders, who can follow the progress as an evacuation order is implemented.
“It’s really sped up the process, and given us more accurate information,” said Nelson Trichler, an incident commander for the sheriff’s Search and Rescue Team. “ It’s a tool we can go back to statistically to see who is responding to these evacuations.
“Now we also can determine, how effective are the warnings, how effective are the alerts?”
The system was first used in January of this year, Trichler said, and has been refined since.
County officials have had more than their share of experience with evacuations over the last three years, and readily concede that they’ve learned some valuable if hard-earned lessons in the process.
“Like I say, practice makes perfect, and unfortunately, we’ve had lots of practice,” Trichler said.
Stretching back to the Whittier Fire in July 2017, c0unty officials have ordered large-scale evacuations at least six times, sometimes keeping people out of their homes for more than two weeks.
Even in the age of the internet and smart phones, alerting people to the impending danger and getting them to respond appropriately is no simply matter.
Effecting evacuations during a wildfire is, in some ways, easier, Trichler said, because the threat of approaching flames is more visible and immediate. People can clearly sense that danger is coming.
Getting people to leave ahead of a “possibly” dangerous storm is more problematic, especially if what is often termed “evacuation fatigue” begins to take hold in the community.
The county uses various messaging systems to alert the public to evacuation warnings and orders, and it has transitioned to a procedural hierarchy that begins with an “advisory,” then progresses to a “warning,” and finally to a “mandatory order,” as needed.
That change came after county officials were strongly criticized in the wake of the deadly Jan. 9, 2018, debris flows in Montecito, which relied on a previous protocol that involved issuing “voluntary” and “mandatory” evacuation orders.
Despite lots of publicity and warnings about the threat of the incoming storm, a majority of the 23 people killed in that disaster lived in areas south of Highway 192 that were under voluntary — not mandatory — evacuation orders.
Officials concede that many residents interpreted the voluntary order as an indication they were not at risk.
“We used to use mandatory and voluntary, but people got really confused,” sheriff’s Commander Kevin Huddle told Noozhawk.
Hence the change in terminology to advisory, warning and mandatory order.
“I think that the process has been refined and explained to the members of the community who are the most impacted,” said Sheriff Bill Brown, “particularly those who live in the red zones. I think we all have a better understanding of why this is necessary.”
Among the changes that have been made, Brown said, is a reduction in the number of properties and people who are ordered to evacuate for potentially dangerous storms.
“Instead of tens of thousands, we’re down to a point where we have around 1,500 or 1,600 parcels, with about 3,000 residents,” Brown noted.
Officials also have taken steps to minimize the amount of time people are out of their homes, Brown said.
In recent cases, evacuation order have remained in place for 24 hours or less — “just long enough until the danger has passed,” Brown said.
“If you live in the front country in the area below one of these burn scars, you just have to understand it’s going to require you to make a decision and to evacuate once or twice a year — just for an evening, if nothing happens.”
Both Trichler and Huddle indicated that the overall response from the public to evacuation orders has been good.
“We appreciate the public’s cooperation,” Huddle said. “We don’t want to get evacuation exhaustion…When we make the decision to do an evacuation order, we ask people to please take it seriously…
“One of our mission statements is that we will only keep people out of their homes as long as it’s a public safety issue.”
— Noozhawk executive editor Tom Bolton can be reached at tbolton@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
