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Bannock County emergency management outlines wildfire preparedness, communications upgrades and community drills
Summary
The county's emergency management office described wildfire planning including a community wildfire preparedness plan, fire detection cameras, geofenced alerts and training/drill schedules; the office said it will coordinate burn-ban decisions with local fire districts.
Bannock County Office of Emergency Management staff presented a broad update on wildfire preparedness, communications redundancy and community drills, noting a forthcoming community wildfire preparedness plan, additional fire-detection cameras, and use of geofenced alerts for urgent public notifications.
Vice Jones of the county Office of Emergency Management said the county moved its operations to the Southeast Idaho Council of Governments on Sept. 1 and is monitoring a scheduled county burn ban set to lapse Oct. 1. Jones said staff will consult local fire districts and commissioners to determine whether to extend the ban even though federal agencies have lifted their restrictions.
The office described multiple notification tools used during recent local incidents: the county’s AlertSense mass-notification platform, a county app tied to the sheriff’s office that can receive geo-targeted notices, social media managed by municipal officials, and door-to-door notifications using trained volunteers. Jones said the county used two or three of these methods to notify residents during a recent boil-water advisory in McCammon and scheduled a critique session to evaluate the notification process.
Jones outlined the county’s Community Wildfire Preparedness Plan (CWPP), developed with federal partners and Idaho State University’s GIS program, to map wildland-urban interface zones, evacuation routes and critical infrastructure. He cautioned that pre-identified evacuation routes are guidelines and that incident commanders (often a fire chief) may change routes during an event.
On detection and monitoring, emergency management described continued deployment of wildland-fire detection cameras (one at Chinese Peak, a planned camera at Sedgwick in coordination with Caribou County, and plans for a third camera at Ken Port once operations transfer). Jones said the county is exploring placing cameras at communication tower sites and in partnership with Idaho Power and state lands.
Communication redundancy was a theme: the county plans to sustain interoperable radio systems and maintain ham-radio (RACES/ARES) capability as a last-resort backup. Jones said a regular ham radio net will be established the first and third Thursday of each month to exercise operators and retain certifications.
Jones also summarized recent and upcoming exercises: a tabletop drill with voluntary organizations active in disaster (VOAD) to coordinate sheltering and resource requests; a tri-annual Pocatello Regional Airport drill; and cybersecurity trainings and tabletops intended to bring lessons back to county departments.
The emergency management office asked commissioners for continued support on mapping and training priorities, and encouraged elected officials to attend local preparedness events on Sept. 20 and Sept. 27.
Ending: Jones said the county is finalizing CWPP components and will continue building notification and detection capacity with federal and academic partners.
