Sonoma County Grand Jury
• 2020-2021
• Agency Response
Response to:
City of Cloverdale - Chief of Police
Heah Ann Oon$idered Clov Cit E Y (ofdale //s/w
⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Recommendations 1
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R15Page 48y October 37,2027, the nine cities update their Emergency Operations Plon to incorporate the most up-to-date informotion ond lessons leorned since the disasterc of 2077 and post it on their websites. fi) fhe recommendotion has been implemented. Response R15: ln August of 2019, the Cloverdale Police Department began the process of updating the City of Cloverdale's emergency operations plan which was last updated in 2007. Although the outdated plan includes the functions and principles of the California Standardized Emergency Management System (EMS), National Emergency Management System (NIMS), and lncident Command Structure (lCS), it lacked a comprehensive approach to identifying strategic goals and objectives necessary to address significant emergencies the community has experienced within the past five years. The City of Cloverdale has experienced threats of wildland fires, floods, Public Safety Power Shutoffs, and a pandemic thus, increasing the need for an updated emergency operations plan that includes the tools necessary in responding to these specific extraord inary events. As part of the strategic goals and objectives, the updated emergency operations plan incorporates Wildfire, Earthquake, Flood and Power Safety Shutoff Annex's designed to ensure a coordinated response for city departments, community groups such as Resilient Cloverdale, and allied stakeholders and provides direction per the California Emergency Service Act, and the Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS). Additionally, the Annex documents serye as a planning document to support further development of major incident plans with city departments and agencies and provide an overview of the threats these emergencies pose to the city. The updated emergency operations plan also addresses how the city will respond when looming disasters are imminent and evacuations are necessary. Before the update, the city did not have an evacuation plan identifying zone boundaries or evacuation routes that are critical fortraffic safety and emergency response. Through a coordinated effort with Sonoma County and the Cloverdale Fire Protection District, the plan provides for an evacuation zone map outlining six evacuation zones within the incorporated city and identifies a primary and secondary evacuation route for each zone to ensure efficient traffic flow. The updated emergency operations plan addresses how the City will respond to extraordinary events or disasters: from preparation through recovery. A hazard analysis is also included in the plan. The responsibilities of each department are identified in matrixes, which are based on each identified hazard or emergency. The updated emergency operations plan and Evacuation Plan incorporates lessons learned from the 2019 Kindcade Fire (see Lessons Learned below). A copy of the EOP and evacuation plan can be found on the City of Cloverdale and Cloverdale Police websites at ,/v'll\, -':C /e -:ar l:,r,).j,.. G CLOV CIT E Y (OFDALE IEsSO,VS LEARN ED.KI N UDE F I RE On October 23,20L9, PG&E initiated a Public Safety Power Shutoff or PSPS. On the evening of october 23,20L9, a fire broke out near Geyserville in northeast Sonoma County close to pG&E's Electrical Transmission Lines. The fire, known as the Kincade Fire coupled with pG&E's pSpS and subsequent gas outage, along with the risk of expansion of the Kincade Fire resulted in the City Manager, acting as Director of Emergency Services, activating the City's Emergency Operations Center (EOC). On October 25,20t9, the City Manager/Director of Emergency Services supplemented an earlier October 9,20L9 proclamation of emergency by including the Kincade Fire and additional Public Safety Power and Gas Shutoffs by PG&E. On October 25,2OL9, Governor Gavin Newsom issued an emergenry proclamation for the County of Sonoma due to the effects of the Kincade Fire, which threatened the City of Cloverdale and surrounding jurisdictions. At the time, the National Weather Service and PG&E advised the City of other weather events in the immediate future that may require further Pubtic Safety Power Shutdowns which presented new high-risk fire conditions. Due to ongoing high fire risk weather conditions, sudden cessation of electrical and gas service, and the uncertainty of the duration of time that the City was going to be without electricity and gas service, a proclamation declaring the existence of a local emergency was executed because the conditions were beyond the controt of the services, personnel, equipment, and facilities of the City. On October 31st, the City Council held a special meeting and adopted Resolution No. 103-2019, which confirmed and ratified the Emergenry Proclamation issued by the City Manager, acting as Director of Emergenry Services. The Kincade Fire in conjunction with PG&E power and gas outage created a chatlenging emergency scenario for the City of Cloverdale. Except for limited backup generators, the entire city was without electrical power and naturalgas. Communication services including internet service were also impacted by the power shutoff for severat residents. Finalty, due to the closure of Highway 101 between Cloverdale and Santa Rosa coupled with the lack of availability of gas or diesel fuels, the City became an island for approximately five days. During this time, the City of Cloverdale along with many not-for-profits such as the Citrus Fair and community organizations including the Cloverdale Lions and Kiwanis Clubs and Latinos Unidos, Del Condado De Sonoma came together and worked tirelessly to support the needs of both our most vulnerable residents including seniors, non-English speakers, children, migrant farmworkers and stranded travelers/guests/temporary residents as well as hundreds of people from the surrounding region. With the likelihood of future PSPS events and other potential emergency events in our immediate or near future, City Manager David Kelley and Police Chief Ferguson convened a Public Debrief Meeting ("Debrief')to bring together affected agencies and organizations in order to document lessons learned about how the City and community responded to the events. ..".. c L orl'E"floA L E The goal of the Debrief was to attain feedback from the community on the need for the development of a strategy to provide Cloverdale with a roadmap to ensure that the City of Cloverdale and its resident's businesses and community organizations are well prepared for future events that will inevitably impact our community again. The Debrief was attended by over 50+ individuals representing, state and local agencies, residents and stakeholders, community organizations, and individuals. During the Debrief, a detailed presentation and overview of the emergency events that impacted Cloverdale was provided with ample time provided for feedback by debriefing participants on how the City and community of Cloverdale can improve our response efforts to emergencies. Emergency preparedness professionals Daniel and Diana Homsey facilitated the meeting. Both Daniel and Diana are professional emergency managers. Following the Debrief, City staff with the assistance of Diana Homsey prepared a Kincade Fire and PG&E Power and Gas Shutoff After Action Review report to outline the City's response to the Kincade Fire and PG&E power/gas outage and summarize the input provided during the Debrief and outline key