DISASTER/EMERGENCY: SOAC, the Siskiyou
Operational Area Council held its’ bi-annual informational meeting last week. The County
Office of Emergency Services (OES) has been reorganized under the new Public Health and
Community Development Department. Rob Rowley, formerly of the Sheriff’s Dept., will
head the unit which combines Public Health and other efforts under one umbrella.
Rowley indicated that OES continues to work on maintaining and
improving the County Emergency Operations Center; training in NIMS/SEMS/ICS (integrated
systems for multi-entity emergency management); updating the new Emergency Operations
Plan; and implementing the Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan. OES will continue to hold
drills and exercises. All cities, districts, etc. within Siskiyou County are expected to
be trained and to operate under these integrated systems.
Siskiyou County has been invited to apply for a grant to install a
Telephonic Emergency Notification System (TENS.) This will allow dispatchers to send out
emergency messages to telephones and enrolled cell phones, faxes and PDAs. The system
allows the dispatcher to target receivers in a specific geographic area. Depending on the
incident, from 24 to 1,000 calls can be made in the span of a minute. When will TENS be
used? The system would have helped to notify people of fire conditions and evacuation
notices in last year’s Happy Camp Fire. It could be used for bridge or road washouts.
It could be used if there is a missing child or to notify parents of a snow day at school.
The County is awaiting news of when the grant will be awarded.
County Fire Warden Bernie Paul gave an update on this summer’s
fire conditions. It is an unusual year, but it is anticipated that areas below 4,000 feet
will have an above normal fire season. Because of the winter snow pack, areas above 4,000
feet will have a below normal fire season. However, there is a theory created out of
experience that the evaporation at higher levels may attract heavier lightning storms.
Temperatures are anticipated to be above normal in July and August and precipitation below
normal. In the end, the weather predictors cover it all by assigning only a 60% confidence
rating to their prediction.
A presentation was also given on the Sacramento Regional Terrorism Threat
Assessment Center. (Terrorism is the use of violence to further social or political
objectives.) Our North State Representative spoke about the network of regional threat
assessment and joint terrorism centers, where the objective is to share intelligence.
Information is gathered and shared among FBI, Homeland Security, Sheriff, police, CHP,
fire, Fish and Game, Dept. of Justice, Dept. of Corrections, immigration and other
sources. Early warning groups affiliated with the FBI concentrate on protecting the food
supply, water systems, energy and transportation systems.
PARENTING CLASSES: The Siskiyou County Community Services Council has
received Oregon State’s highest rating for its “Enhancing the Skills of Siskiyou’s
Parents” (ESPP II) program. The collaborative effort by County agencies, schools, the
College of the Siskiyous and First 5 provides parenting classes at local Family/Community
Resource Centers for parents of small children, adolescents, teens and teen parents. It is
funded by a grant from the Ford Family Foundation. (This is Roseburg not Ford truck.)
In a collaborative spirit of supporting the effort, Siskiyou Child
Support Services has donated $2,000 to the County library system for parenting books. If
you would like to add to this donation fund to create a nice parenting section in every
local library, please contact your local librarian or County librarian Besty Emry at
841-4179. |
