Teton Co., Wyo. unveils new wildfire evacuation plan
The Teton County, Wyoming Emergency Management office will unveil a new evacuation plan for the county during a meeting Monday night.
The plan, Ready, Set, Go, is based off a national model that encourages preparedness prior to an evacuation order.
“We are a tourist town and since this is based on a national model, if folks come from other communities to visit our community and there is a wildfire, they may already be familiar with this program,” Rich Ochs, Teton County Emergency Management director, said. “This may be a program they have seen at home.”
In the ready phase, which the county is currently in, residents should pack up supplies and know escape routes. If a wildfire were to break out and threaten homes and property, the county would move to the set phase. In this phase, residents need to pack up the car and prepare to leave. If you have to leave, you should be prepared to not have the option to return, which means you should take all important things with you.
“(In set phase) certain areas of the community may be at risk for evacuations and approaching danger of a wildfire,” Ochs said. “You want to stay up to date; you want to watch local media and see what is going on to stay on top of the situation.”
The third phase of the program is go. In this phase, evacuations are ordered. They may come with no notice. In some cases, the go phase will come without the set phase.
“You should already have some stuff ready as far as a plan and emergency supplies and communications plan with your family,” Ochs said. “There are incidents where we will not have time to give you warning. There may be times when we can’t tell you that we are going into the set stage. It may just be a deputy knocking on your door saying, “You need to leave now.'”
Once up and running, Ochs said he hopes to use to program for other emergency situations like flooding. The program will be unveiled to the public Monday night.
