Council Study Session November 30, 2020 Agenda Item Almeda Fire Public Engagement Survey Presentation From Tina Gray Human Resource Director Contact [email protected]; (541) 552-2101 Item Type Requested by Council ☐ Update ☐ Request for Direction ☐ Presentation ☒ SUMMARY Following the devastating Almeda Fire, the City requested public input from citizens for use in an After Action Review. Constructive feedback from citizens regarding the Almeda fire will help the City of Ashland improve our response to future emergencies. The City received an impressive number of responses to the survey. Staff has summarized the 534 responses to help guide Council policy and planning around Emergency Preparedness in 2021. POLICIES, PLANS & GOALS SUPPORTED N/A BACKGROUND AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION The City posted a survey on our website under the Engage Ashland portal to hear feedback from citizens regarding the City's response to the Almeda Fire. The survey focused on two critical areas: Communication during the Almeda Fire emergency and the evacuation process. Hearing directly from our citizens on what went according to plan and what needs to be improved is essential to advance our prevention, preparedness, and response to future emergency events. With extreme weather events and natural disasters on the rise, Ashland must anticipate and plan to respond to different emergencies. Lessons learned from the Almeda Fire event will help shape the response to emergencies in the future and better define areas of vulnerability. It is not enough to know what didn't work as expected; this event must become a springboard to creating a more resilient community that can withstand and recover more quickly from disaster by implementing operational, structural, and policy changes. FISCAL IMPACTS N/A DISCUSSION QUESTIONS • Is Council interested in pursuing additional community engagement regarding the fire event or subsequent local recovery assistance efforts? • Does the Council have additional direction for staff? SUGGESTED NEXT STEPS In addition to this excellent community input through this survey, staff continues to coordinate collection of key data from regional partners (Jackson County EOC is the primary point of contact) that will assist in completing the overall After Action Review. This information will be incorporated with Emergency Operations Center Incident Action Plans, Department level operational review reports and an overall summary analysis and recommendations report to complete the After Action Review. The timeline for incorporation of Jackson County EOC related data is not currently known. Page 1 of 2 REFERENCES & ATTACHMENTS Attachment 1: Summary of Responses from the Emergency Preparedness 2021 Almeda Fire Response Page 2 of 2 Emergency Preparedness 2021 October 21, 2020, 8:28 AM Contents i. Summary of responses 2 ii. Survey questions 6 iii. Individual responses 7 1 | www.opentownhall.com/9809 Created with OpenGov | October 21, 2020, 8:28 AM Emergency Preparedness 2021 Emergency Preparedness 2021 Summary Of Responses As of October 21, 2020, 8:28 AM, this forum had: Topic Start Topic End Attendees: 672 October 5, 2020, 3:59 PM October 21, 2020, 8:27 AM Responses: 534 Hours of Public Comment: 26.7 QUESTION 1 Were you enrolled in Nixle before the Almeda Fire on September 8? % Count Yes 83.7% 447 No 13.7% 73 Unsure 2.6% 14 QUESTION 2 Did you find the level of communication through Nixle to be adequate during the Almeda Fire's active phase? % Count Yes 25.8% 138 No 51.3% 274 Other 22.8% 122 QUESTION 3 How did you access any of the Almeda Fire resources or informational updates from the City of Ashland? 2 | www.opentownhall.com/9809 Created with OpenGov | October 21, 2020, 8:28 AM Emergency Preparedness 2021 Emergency Preparedness 2021 % Count Nixle Alerts 65.2% 348 City Website 18.9% 101 City Facebook Page 7.9% 42 City Twitter Page 3.4% 18 Other 49.8% 266 QUESTION 4 Thinking of your specific needs for communication during the Almeda Fire, how could the City have improved its notification process for you? Answered 464 Skipped 70 QUESTION 5 Do you have any other comments or feedback to share to help us better understand the best way to communicate with the citizens of Ashland during an emergency? Answered 356 Skipped 178 QUESTION 6 During the Almeda Fire, were you ever personally advised to evacuate immediately? (Either by a knock at the door by Public Safety officials or a Nixle alert) % Count Yes 9.4% 50 No 90.6% 484 3 | www.opentownhall.com/9809 Created with OpenGov | October 21, 2020, 8:28 AM Emergency Preparedness 2021 Emergency Preparedness 2021 QUESTION 7 If applicable, what were your personal experiences with leaving your neighborhood? Answered 200 Skipped 334 QUESTION 8 Have you discussed an evacuation plan with members of your household? % Count Yes 86.7% 463 No 13.3% 71 QUESTION 9 Did you decide to evacuate your place of residence in Ashland, even though you were not required to do so? % Count Yes 18.5% 99 No 81.5% 435 QUESTION 10 If you answered yes to the last question, what prompted you to evacuate? Answered 134 Skipped 400 QUESTION 11 What specific recommendations do you have for the City regarding evacuations of neighborhoods that could improve safe evacuation during an emergency? 4 | www.opentownhall.com/9809 Created with OpenGov | October 21, 2020, 8:28 AM Emergency Preparedness 2021 Emergency Preparedness 2021 Answered 407 Skipped 127 QUESTION 12 Is there any additional information you would like us to know? Answered 268 Skipped 266 5 | www.opentownhall.com/9809 Created with OpenGov | October 21, 2020, 8:28 AM Emergency Preparedness 2021 Emergency Preparedness 2021 Survey Questions QUESTION 1 • No Were you enrolled in Nixle before the Almeda Fire on September 8? • Yes QUESTION 7 • No If applicable, what were your personal experiences with leaving your • Unsure neighborhood? QUESTION 2 QUESTION 8 Did you find the level of communication through Nixle to be adequate Have you discussed an evacuation plan with members of your during the Almeda Fire's active phase? household? • Yes • Yes • No • No • Other QUESTION 9 QUESTION 3 Did you decide to evacuate your place of residence in Ashland, even How did you access any of the Almeda Fire resources or though you were not required to do so? informational updates from the City of Ashland? • Yes • Nixle Alerts • No • City Website • City Facebook Page QUESTION 10 • City Twitter Page • Other If you answered yes to the last question, what prompted you to evacuate? QUESTION 4 QUESTION 11 Thinking of your specific needs for communication during the Almeda Fire, how could the City have improved its notification What specific recommendations do you have for the City regarding process for you? evacuations of neighborhoods that could improve safe evacuation during an emergency? QUESTION 5 QUESTION 12 Do you have any other comments or feedback to share to help us better understand the best way to communicate with the citizens of Is there any additional information you would like us to know? Ashland during an emergency? QUESTION 6 During the Almeda Fire, were you ever personally advised to evacuate immediately? (Either by a knock at the door by Public Safety officials or a Nixle alert) • Yes 6 | www.opentownhall.com/9809 Created with OpenGov | October 21, 2020, 8:28 AM Emergency Preparedness 2021 Emergency Preparedness 2021 Individual Responses at a stand still. Need more emergency routes. Name not available inside Ashland Question 12 October 6, 2020, 1:02 PM No response Question 1 Name not available • Yes October 6, 2020, 1:05 PM Question 2 Question 1 • No • Yes Question 3 Question 2 • Nixle Alerts • No • City Website • City Twitter Page Question 3 Question 4 • Other - police scanner and other FB page I did not receive any communications. Question 4 Question 5 Sirens and directions to tune into specific information channels (internet, radio, etc.) No response Question 5 Question 6 There needs to be neighborhood oriented communications of some kind • No set up to reduce the confusion of what to do doing a severe emergency. Our narrow valley and few routes of emergency escape set up catastrophic circumstances. Perhaps well trained volunteers placed at Question 7 critical intersections and routes; each fire will have it's own No response characteristics and so all contingencies (not just head down a road marked "evacuation route") need to be addressed Question 8 Question 6 • Yes • No Question 9 Question 7 • Yes No response Question 10 Question 8 Size of fire • Yes Question 11 Question 9 It was impossible to get out of town once I-5 closed. All main outlets were 7 | www.opentownhall.com/9809 Created with OpenGov | October 21, 2020, 8:28 AM Emergency Preparedness 2021 Emergency Preparedness 2021 I didn't have to leave • No Question 10 Question 8 No response • Yes Question 11 Question 9 People in Ashland have absolutely no idea where to go during an • No emergency, especially a fire or an earthquake.......just having signs saying it's an evacuation route falls woefully short; people need to know which Question 10 direction to go to first leave, and then which way to go on arterials (across the freeway, toward the freeway, north?, south?, etc)........we are a No response potential time bomb of confusion, with roads blocked, and people dying trying to escape. Question 11 I don't know what the city's proposed evacuation route is. Is it a free for Question 12 all? If it's not, a map or signs before fire season hits would help No response Question 12 Name not available this was a unique and difficult situation and I'm sorry the citizens are October 6, 2020, 1:07 PM giving The City such a hard time.