Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Emergency Preparedness topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Nevada County promotes ‘Ready, Set, Go’ campaign and ZoneHaven mapping as wildfire season nears
Summary
Nevada County emergency staff launched Ready Nevada County outreach emphasizing a three‑stage wildfire preparedness plan—Ready, Set, Go—urging home hardening, go‑bags, neighbor check‑ins and use of ZoneHaven and CodeRED to know evacuation zones and receive alerts.
Nevada County emergency officials on Aug. 20 presented Ready Nevada County, a public education campaign built around the Ready, Set, Go model that aims to help residents prepare for wildfire and other emergencies. Staff described the three tiers—“ready” for education and home hardening; “set” when a threat is close; and “go” for an evacuation order—while urging steps such as creating defensible space, hardening vents and assembling a 72‑hour go‑bag.
County staff and community speakers emphasized specific preparedness steps for people with medical needs, including keeping spare batteries or portable power for CPAP machines and insulin pumps and noting that organizations such as 211 and the Fire Safe Council can help connect residents to resources. Ulysses Palencia, a 211 call‑center employee and Grass Valley resident, said 211 provides up‑to‑date information during incidents and receives official briefings from the Office of Emergency Services.
Officials also highlighted local alerting systems. CodeRED remains the county’s opt‑in notification system that dials affected phone numbers and sends texts and emails; staff said CodeRED and Nixle remain primary alerts. ZoneHaven is being rolled out as a supplemental tool that allows residents to look up a published evacuation zone for an address at community.zonehaven.com and then use that zone information to interpret whether a given evacuation message applies to them.
Emergency Services Director Craig Griesbach described how ZoneHaven complements vehicle‑mounted sirens and door‑to‑door notifications. He also outlined the county’s approach to marking evacuated homes (evacuation tags) so law enforcement and firefighters can quickly verify that residences have been cleared.
Officials urged community members to form small support networks—“Find Your 5”—to check on one another during incidents and reminded residents that public safety power shutoffs, red‑flag weather and ember storms require advance planning. The Office of Emergency Services said information and assistance are available through county offices, the Fire Safe Council and 211.
What’s next: County staff said they will continue ZoneHaven outreach and training, and encouraged residents to sign up for CodeRED and assemble go‑bags ahead of peak fire season.
