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Emergency manager urges clear declaration rules, message discipline in wildfire tabletop
Summary
Teton County Emergency Manager Rich Oakes led a joint town-county seminar and tabletop exercise that walked elected officials through the emergency operations plan, declaration thresholds, delegation of authority and coordinated public messaging for fast-moving wildfires.
Rich Oakes, Teton County emergency manager, told the Jackson town council and Teton County commission that clear lines of authority and consistent public messaging are key in fast-breaking disasters.
"The incident commander is the person that is on scene that's managing the tactics and the life safety issues," Oakes said, describing how the NIMS/ICS structure separates on-scene command from the Emergency Operations Center (EOC). He said the EOC's role is to "facilitate resource requests" and synthesize information for elected officials rather than manage tactical operations.
The presentation laid out three planning documents — the Emergency Operations Plan (EOP), the…
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