[{"_1":2,"_87":-5,"_88":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":56,"_74":56},"mediaId",6344534,"mediaKeyId","2250673-a509e59850119674c56746a7f33337c5","parentId",2250673,"title","Washoe County emergency management outlines regional alerting, perimeter mapping and evacuation planning","audioSeconds",4205,"startMs",1911000,"endMs",6116000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2250673-a509e59850119674c56746a7f33337c5&start=1911&end=6116","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2250673-a509e59850119674c56746a7f33337c5/thumbnail_1911000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6344534/Nevada/Washoe-County-emergency-management-outlines-regional-alerting-perimeter-mapping-and-evacuation-planning","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6344534-f165567ae3b1d070bfeaa8438003f8f6/orig.mp4?Expires=1771176010&Signature=HaU6vUMgHOYU4QNM5DG-2tlLR-cgJVlPEPe4Omj6k3UOwU-CTHJFCxgF5TBHxrZlby-jloxP1kriMLD83hh0i4CS0m2twdyNqsxxcthtoT88U9ICn7J5cM6PBd61ZJuzKRZPBipiiXeR7pEANVF5fBcG7NqQMoSoX4kr8GGBQcOx0j9i-ERINa7xFIfUGYMrZJWrBdsrTct7kjHSmGktYX-saod6~X8iyA6TkC0eU7SUtm7ZNWvqGq6S-zivGYYs156AC5T0DvT-tDmLMc4NaVEGE9~q9zZOzexoCdZver4Cblu4-aCaYWiyTsma8wcN1eExo4ZIvFYtHdGt~T4lzw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","","date","2025-02-07T08:03:01Z","article","Kelly Echevarria, Washoe County emergency management administrator, told the special concurrent meeting of Washoe County, the cities of Reno and Sparks and the Truckee Meadows Fire District that the office is seeking to strengthen regional preparedness with new tools and a sharper focus on evacuation planning.

“We are a twice accredited emergency management agency,” Echevarria said, noting the office is seeking a third accreditation in January 2026 and runs the regional Emergency Operations Center used by local jurisdictions and tribes.

Her presentation described the office’s organizing framework—five mission areas, 32 FEMA core capabilities and eight “community lifelines” such as safety and health, transportation and water—and spotlighted two operational tools introduced to the public this year: perimeter mapping and the Rave Smart 911 alert system. Echevarria said perimeter map provides a simple, low‑bandwidth public view of incident perimeters and evacuation zones, while Rave allows polygon alerts and extra notice for residents with access and functional needs.

The presentation stressed evacuation logistics, mass care and recovery as top priorities. Echevarria said evacuation coordination has been modernized: emergency managers now maintain a catalog of pre‑vetted temporary evacuation points and shelter options, and the office has expanded multilingual public messaging and created an English–Spanish–ASL evacuation video to set public expectations.

Echevarria described mitigation work already underway: a regional hazard mitigation plan covering 13 identified hazards (wildfire, flood, earthquake, volcanic hazards among them) is with the state for approval and will then go to FEMA; the plan includes specific action items and identified funding sources to speed future grant work. She also described fuels mitigation, chipping programs and educational efforts in the Lake Tahoe urban‑avalanche areas.

Public commenters told the boards that communication and traffic were critical gaps during the recent Davis fire. Hannah Hubier, who said she lost her home in the Davis fire, told the meeting she repeatedly asked whether evacuation was needed and was told “no” until she had only minutes to leave; she urged better evacuation messaging and crowd‑control at incident scenes. “There was a lot of communication issues,” Hubier said.

Sierra Club representative Olivia Tanager and THIRDAC Nevada facilitator Kathy Fulkerson urged officials to fold anticipated new industrial loads — data centers — into regional emergency planning, citing fire risk, heavy power demand and potential strain on utilities that could affect response.

Mayors and council members asked detailed operational questions about the new alerting technology and evacuation modeling. Councilwoman Durer asked how cell numbers get into the alerting system and whether residents who reported little evacuation time during the Davis fire should have received earlier messages; Echevarria responded that the region had recently deployed Rave and that the office uses every available technological channel (EMAS, Wireless Emergency Alerts, social media, voicemail, email and TV/radio) and continues to encourage multiple redundant means of receiving alerts.

Council members and commissioners pressed for an evacuation‑model study to identify chokepoints and inform roadway or egress improvements. Echevarria and other staff said the timeline for a study depends on funding and vendor selection; they noted comparable county studies took about a year when funded and staffed.

No formal action was taken on item B1; the presentation and questions were recorded as discussion only. Staff said they would continue to refine the perimeter map rollout, expand partner access and pursue mitigation plan approval with the state and FEMA.

The boards thanked the emergency management staff and many partnering agencies for the work and signaled continued support for the tools and studies Echevarria described. The session then moved to a separate agenda item on regional fire efforts.

","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Special Concurrent Meeting | February 6, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","Kelly Echevarria, Washoe County emergency management administrator, told a special concurrent meeting of county and city officials that new tools and updated planning aim to close gaps in evacuation, alerting and mass‑care after recent wildfires.","taxTitle","City Council Meetings , Reno, Washoe County, Nevada","taxId",69270,"location","Nevada","headline","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":56,"_74":56},6344529,"Washoe County, Reno and Sparks direct staff to study regional fire options; chiefs urge shared dispatch and unrestricted automatic aid",4016,6066000,10082000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2250673-a509e59850119674c56746a7f33337c5&start=6066&end=10082","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2250673-a509e59850119674c56746a7f33337c5/thumbnail_6066000.jpg","/articles/6344529/Nevada/Washoe-County-Reno-and-Sparks-direct-staff-to-study-regional-fire-options-chiefs-urge-shared-dispatch-and-unrestricted-automatic-aid","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6344529-5cf8d2280ff9feaf5b11f86dd192b7fc/orig.mp4?Expires=1771176010&Signature=hxvVdQtxvnrlB8d7Tv1EOsSvgasVlo94kdQAIDFIMqM7nEPcaCDpTEtHJcsGKuKc6~vxo5zl-ucuFLnt~JUgzCJ0cA5~qYT1NLc4zS0ldho7RlrqFzqTUTorDEnbB4KhnV4bnAOTbo8Z3ehrXRHjM1JgzuDdrvz8FPatt6dvFtg~-976AMMry7KynLz6tLRvINSLIrKXZWGaAbcVh2HulWgv9mCOd7AwYPapuBD-QRtSDCgjMUe2lraCwM2uMiy2j~8oI~F~QIDfF8Gdt5WbXBC6R0d5QZTol0vMbjqpCrqSkyRVtuNqg8OsAsaB2hZDClBDpKwYDfg4sX4WjEB9hA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","City and county officials voted unanimously at a special concurrent meeting to direct local managers and fire leadership to gather additional information and cost estimates for “enhanced regional fire options,” a set of possible changes that officials and fire chiefs said could reduce response times and increase resilience.

The motion, adopted separately by the Truckee Meadows Fire District Board, the Washoe County Commission and the city councils of Reno and Sparks, instructs staff to work together with the region’s fire chiefs and other stakeholders to assess needs, costs and potential governance models for greater regional collaboration. The motions passed with unanimous voice votes in each body.

Interim Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District Chief Dale Way outlined the operational case for removing response boundaries, saying unrestricted automatic aid — where the closest unit responds regardless of jurisdiction — reduces travel time, improves medical and fire outcomes and reduces risk to responders. Way cited three early successes after recent auto‑aid expansion with Reno: a November pediatric cardiac arrest that responders said ended in full recovery, a structure fire confined quickly by coordinated crews, and a motor‑vehicle extrication where units from different agencies worked in tandem.

“We should be what we can be,” Reno Fire Chief Dave Cochran said, urging a continuing regional push. Cochran highlighted a shared computer‑aided dispatch (CAD) project that regional staff said is on track to go live around September or October and said a single dispatch and common policies could eliminate redundancies and let the closest, most appropriate resource be sent immediately.

Sparks Fire Chief Walt White described existing regional work — shared hazmat teams, a recent unified command response to the Sullivan fire, and Sparks’ public‑private ambulance partnership — and said pooled resources enable capabilities none of the agencies could sustain alone.

Elected officials and public commenters pressed for quicker action and clearer timelines, and raised operational constraints: public commenters and elected officials described traffic bottlenecks during evacuations and noted limited state law‑enforcement resources for traffic control. Commissioner Mike Clark suggested better use of trained volunteers to manage intersections during evacuations. REMSA, the regional ambulance provider, told the boards it has operated as a regionalized EMS provider for decades and supports cooperative models that dispatch the closest appropriate resource.

The motions stopped short of committing to a particular governance model or funding mechanism. Several elected members said they want immediate administrative steps — such as continuing and expanding enhanced automatic aid where technically feasible — while staff and managers study longer‑term options including possible consolidation, interlocal agreements or joint powers arrangements. A number of speakers also urged an independent feasibility study to ground financial and governance decisions.

Each jurisdiction asked managers to report back; Sparks’ city manager suggested an initial coalesced briefing for elected leaders and staff roughly 30 days after the meeting to identify low‑cost or near‑term actions and the requirements for any longer‑term structural options. The boards did not vote on specific legislation but several officials signaled interest in pursuing a legislative solution if required to enable regional governance.

","Following presentations from local fire chiefs, the three jurisdictions voted unanimously to direct managers and fire leadership to assess options for enhanced regional fire service, including shared computer‑aided dispatch, unrestricted automatic aid and other models to improve response times and reduce redundancy.","actionData","errors"]

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Washoe County emergency management outlines regional alerting, perimeter mapping and evacuation planning

Washoe County, Reno and Sparks direct staff to study regional fire options; chiefs urge shared dispatch and unrestricted automatic aid