DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT Sean Snider reported during the Sierra Plumas Joint Unified School District and Sierra County Office of Education Board meeting held Tuesday, September 10th in Loyalton. He talked on the Bear Fire stating he attended all the fire briefings and called the incident a well-coordinated effort and felt very fortunate and thankful to all who helped save the community. Snider spoke on the facility project list, which he called lengthy, but after the power outage during the Bear Fire, he wanted to have a generator for each school. He stated they were fortunate not to lose food, after just receiving commodities.One of the major facilities projects is the roof project for each school. He still meets with FEMA every Wednesday to try and get funds. He called it a long, tedious, process. His main focus for this fall is the roof at Down-ieville School. Snider assured the Board it won’t jeopardize funding to do the roof replacement ahead of FEMA. He wanted to move forward with the bidding process, adding they will get reimbursement, just not sure how much yet.Snider reported good news with first day enrollments up, which means more funding for ADA funded schools. During staff reports, Loyalton High School Principal Cali Griffin stated one of her favorite things is being in the hallway with the kids. They are working on no cell phones and hats. Board President, Kelly Champion remarked that parents appreciate them being more strict on cell phones.Homecoming Week was celebrated this week with the theme being Greek Mythology. Dress up days included Toga Day, Medusa Hair Day, teachers dressing as students and students dressing as teachers.Downieville Principal James Berardi reported he missed the first day of school due to being in the hospital after tangling with a bear. He was having a community meeting on Wednesday this week to address the playground he has locked due to people using it as a dog park. Loyalton Elementary Principal Staci Armstrong talked about Back to School night on August 28th. Students had dress up days this week in support of Loyalton High School’s Homecoming week. Loyalton Elementary was also making signs for the Homecoming parade on Friday.
PROTOCOLS AND PROCEDURES during the evacuation of Sierra Brooks in response to the Bear Fire was explained to the Sierra Booster by Sierra County Sheriff and Office of Emergency Services Director Mike Fisher. He described the use of a 4-prong approach to evacuate residents. Social media, wireless emergency alert (WEA), Everbridge, and door to door. They began at the most critical area first, with residents on Bear Valley Road. Fisher said those who chose to leave, left, and for those who chose to shelter in place, it was their right. They set up a road closure at Smithneck Road and Highway 49 with Sierra County Probation helping to serve as escorts to those with legitimate reasons for needing to go home, such as forgotten medication or to check on a pet. Fisher stated he initiated a law enforcement mutual aid request and Plumas County, Yuba County, Paradise Police Department, Nevada County Probation, Truckee Police Department and CHP all patrolled neighborhoods at night to protect property. Fisher stated he had many meetings about an evacuation shelter. Opening a shelter requires a lot of ancillary work, like security and staff to run it. Loyalton was also in danger of having to evacuate and with the fire camp using Sierraville Ranger District, Sierraville School and the rodeo grounds, a shelter would have to be located in Portola, Truckee or Reno. At the time, Fisher didn’t think they needed one based on the amount of people evacuated. He held stakeholder meetings daily with the school district, senior center and social services. The school district was in the process of setting up breakfast and lunch service to students in need, Social Services was helping on a one-on-one basis. Fisher acknowledges it was a very emotional situation and said if at any point he felt there was a dire need, he would have opened a shelter. He wanted people to understand they have a small sheriff’s office and do the best they can in a rural county with limited resources. Fisher said no evacuation is ever perfect and will build on what went right and work on what went wrong. He asked, “Were there things that could have been done better?” He answered, “Yes.” If and when they have another situation, he is going to look at putting up an information center staffed with county personnel who have the most updated information. Fisher felt this would have alleviated some anxiety and given the community easy access to information and help. All in all, there were some lessons learned and Fisher said he would strive to do better if the situation arises again.This should also be a good lesson to all residents to have personal preparedness with an evacuation plan and Go Bag. Fisher stated they were very fortunate to have the wind shift, dozers in place, air attack and night helicopters. He praised the phenomenal work of all agencies on this fire and stated both the Sierra County Sheriff’s Office and US Forest Service are conducting a joint investigation into the cause.
PROTOCOLS AND PROCEDURES during the evacuation of Sierra Brooks in response to the Bear Fire was explained to the Sierra Booster by Sierra County Sheriff and Office of Emergency Services Director Mike Fisher. He described the use of a 4-prong approach to evacuate residents. Social media, wireless emergency alert (WEA), Everbridge, and door to door. They began at the most critical area first, with residents on Bear Valley Road. Fisher said those who chose to leave, left, and for those who chose to shelter in place, it was their right. They set up a road closure at Smithneck Road and Highway 49 with Sierra County Probation helping to serve as escorts to those with legitimate reasons for needing to go home, such as forgotten medication or to check on a pet. Fisher stated he initiated a law enforcement mutual aid request and Plumas County, Yuba County, Paradise Police Department, Nevada County Probation, Truckee Police Department and CHP all patrolled neighborhoods at night to protect property. Fisher stated he had many meetings about an evacuation shelter. Opening a shelter requires a lot of ancillary work, like security and staff to run it. Loyalton was also in danger of having to evacuate and with the fire camp using Sierraville Ranger District, Sierraville School and the rodeo grounds, a shelter would have to be located in Portola, Truckee or Reno. At the time, Fisher didn’t think they needed one based on the amount of people evacuated. He held stakeholder meetings daily with the school district, senior center and social services. The school district was in the process of setting up breakfast and lunch service to students in need, Social Services was helping on a one-on-one basis. Fisher acknowledges it was a very emotional situation and said if at any point he felt there was a dire need, he would have opened a shelter. He wanted people to understand they have a small sheriff’s office and do the best they can in a rural county with limited resources. Fisher said no evacuation is ever perfect and will build on what went right and work on what went wrong. He asked, “Were there things that could have been done better?” He answered, “Yes.” If and when they have another situation, he is going to look at putting up an information center staffed with county personnel who have the most updated information. Fisher felt this would have alleviated some anxiety and given the community easy access to information and help. All in all, there were some lessons learned and Fisher said he would strive to do better if the situation arises again.This should also be a good lesson to all residents to have personal preparedness with an evacuation plan and Go Bag. Fisher stated they were very fortunate to have the wind shift, dozers in place, air attack and night helicopters. He praised the phenomenal work of all agencies on this fire and stated both the Sierra County Sheriff’s Office and US Forest Service are conducting a joint investigation into the cause.
