GREATER LAKE TAHOE AREA, Calif. / Nev. – Fire agencies around the Tahoe Basin recently publicized the Lake Tahoe Regional Evacuation Plan, but most of the information within it is not particularly new.

What is new with the plan, Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection Fire Chief Scott Lindgren explains, is it makes evacuation plans available to the public and consolidates all individual area emergency plans into one place.

“It’s now informing the public what we have in place, what we’ve been cooperating with each other,” the chief says, “We’ve just made it more public and more accessible.” Previously this information was provided at the time of evacuation, he explains, partly due to plans getting adjusted, changed and modified for the situation.

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However, fire chiefs saw the need for a publicized plan like this after Caldor Fire evacuations sparked confusion and questions, particularly for a certain group of people. “It makes it really hard for the Stateline people,” Lindgren says, “whether you’re on the California side or you’re on the Nevada side, as you don’t realize that there’s different terminology and different laws between the states.”

And so, about a year and a half ago, basin fire chiefs along with law enforcement began getting together regularly and prepared a public document that addresses the questions raised and other considerations during an evacuation, from terminology and legalities, evacuating disadvantaged groups, to handling pets and livestock.

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The almost 200 page document provides broad, region wide information up front and narrows into area specific details towards the back, providing annexes with evacuation information from seven jurisdictions.

Here are the big take aways Chief Lindgren recommends the public know.

Know where to get information

When that emergency threatens the community, Lindgren says, “They need to be able to get information.” The first thing to consider during a large scale emergency is where to find it. You can take care of this before the crisis even hits by signing up for reverse 911 for area you reside in.

Tahoealerts.com is an easy tool to sign up for your specific area’s reverse 911. The interactive map of Tahoe allows you to click your specific region and sign up for that region’s notifications.

Lindgren says it is also a valuable tool for second homeowners to get notified of events in the region, even if they are not currently located here at the time of evacuation.

Homeowners and residents aren’t the only ones that can benefit. “If we could sell the tourists on one thing, it’s [to] go to Tahoealert.com and it’ll tell you where you’re at and what reverse 9-1-1 you need to be signed up for.” The fire district also works with vacation rental companies, which have welcome books with evacuation information and resources.

While reverse 911 is one of the main ways agencies notify people of widespread emergency and evacuations, there are other resources the chief recommends.

A majority of the counties in the Tahoe basin use perimetermap.com to display evacuation information and routes during an incident.

He also recommends the Watch Duty app as a resource for mapping, fire cameras, briefings and other information.

Regardless of how you get your information, Public Information Officer for TDFPD, Michelle Turner, notes it is really important to pay attention to reverse 911. “When it’s time to go, it’s time to go.”

Fire agencies don’t always want you to evacuate

Ensuring you’re receiving your area’s emergency information through reverse 911 is important because depending on the situation, agencies won’t always want you to evacuate.

“We’re not always going to have people leave,” Lindgren expresses, “There’s going to be times that we want them to shelter in place.”

Shelter in place in defined in the evacuation plan as, “The use of a structure to temporarily separate individuals from a hazard or threat. Sheltering in place is the primary protective action in many cases. Often it is safer for individuals to shelter in-place than to try to evacuate. Sheltering in place is appropriate when conditions necessitate that individuals seek protection in their home, place of employment, or other location when disaster strikes.”

Another scenario might be that authorities want people to move to a temporary refuge area or TRA. According to the plan, a TRA will be designated by fire or law enforcement at the time of the incident, based on the safety of the location. A TRA will only be used in the event a fire evacuation route is unusable or unsafe. Bodies of water are not considered TRAs (or not advisable) because of the various hazards that they pose. A TRA is meant to provide temporary and limited protection as an incident occurs.

“There’s so many different factors, depending on the emergency or the fire and what direction it’s going and that kind of thing,” Lindgren explains, “and that’s where they have to stay up on their information and look at their mapping stuff for perimeter solutions that we’re going to give them and follow those directions.”

The plan provides further details and considerations for each scenario.

Get familiar with terminology

The first part of the document provides critical information on terminology and definitions, as well as the legalities between California and Nevada.

The definitions list within the plan says that definitions are unique to their respective state, but pulls the specific list from FIRESCOPE, due to those terms generally being used with the public.

The two page long list of definitions provides terms they may look similar, but have important distinctions. For example, evacuation warning versus an evacuation order.

The plan describes an evacuation warning as a potential threat to life and/or property. Those who require additional time to evacuate, and those with pets and livestock should leave now.

While an evacuation order is an immediate threat to life. This is a lawful order to leave now. The area is lawfully closed to public access.

Certain area agencies provide their own definitions within their annex as well.

Get Ready, Get set, Go

The plan provides CalFire’s three step wildfire preparation plan, called Get Ready, Get Set, Go.

It outlines getting ready for wildfire before it happens through defensible space, and home hardening. This includes 100 feet of defensible space around homes with two specific zones. Home hardening is also important, as flying embers can destroy homes up to a mile from wildland areas.

The preparation plan also walks you through getting set for evacuation, including creating an action plan, emergency supply kit and family communication plan.

Finally, it touches on being ready to go with evacuation checklists and steps.

You can access the plan at readyforwildfire.org.

Review your area’s specific guidelines

There are seven individual area evacuation plans available at the back of the document that residents can review.

The following jurisdictions provide plans:

• Alpine County
• Carson City
• Douglas County
• El Dorado County
• Placer County
• Truckee Police
• Washoe County

Lingren says some jurisdictions have been included even though they may not directly touch Lake Tahoe since an evacuation event will impact those areas.

The document also divides the Tahoe Region into five evacuation planning areas with maps and evacuation routes.

The chief also notes that fire districts respond to special events with extra planning. They also regulate event sizes.

The evacuation plan is a living document located on El Dorado County’s Emergency Services website that districts can update and the need arises.

The recent Davis Fire just outside of the basin is a good reminder for those in the basin to take a look at the plan and take steps to be prepared.

“The biggest point that I want the public to know is that we have a plan, we communicate and we work together and we all help each other regardless of whether we’re in Nevada, California or what county we’re in,” Lindgren says, “and we’re going continue to up our information to make sure that it’s the latest and greatest.”

The evacuation plan is available online at laketahoeregionalevacuationplan.pdf.

The public can comment on the plan for a sixty day period that ends on Nov. 20.