Solano County Grand Jury: County ill prepared for emergencies
A Solano County Grand Jury report released earlier this month calls into question the county's ability to handle future public safety emergencies.
Tellingly, it's titled: “Solano County Is Not Prepared For Future Emergencies.”
Grand jurors explained that, in a case of a potential large-scale disaster, like the LNU Lightning Complex Fire a few years back that devastated rural Vacaville and resulted in a loss of lives, the county doesn't have a centralized base to coordinate emergency response.
“Cities in Solano County have approved emergency response plans to support people within a specific jurisdiction. However, disasters such as wildfires, hazardous spills, or earthquakes often impact properties across legal boundaries. A weakness in plans in one community can affect people in another,” reads the report. “Over the last decade, several agencies have presented studies and reports related to disaster prevention and fire protection to various county jurisdictions in Solano County.
“Those reports clearly described weaknesses and proposed solutions. Yet the realities have not changed.”
The group delved into after-action reports of prior disasters — four fires, two extreme weather situations and two pandemic-related disaster declarations — since 2017.
The issue, grand jurors said, is that residents in each community “rely on their city departments, including police, fire, public works, and water treatment, for much of their protection,” and a “patchwork of special districts, county departments, and individual property-owner initiatives” serve rural Solano County. There is no, single, overarching agency to tie everyone together.
Take the LNU fire. Though rural Vacaville was damaged, Vacaville city and Fairfield were also threatened. Evacuation attempts led to gridlocked thoroughfares such as Peabody and Vanden roads.
Following a plethora of interviews with members of various public safety agencies throughout Solano as well as exhaustive research and report analysis, the Grand Jury Found:
• Solano County needs a countywide approach to emergency management to coordinate emergency planning and response activities before, during, and after a major disaster or emergency incident. The recommendation is to consolidate all existing emergency management, planning and prevention services into a Department of Emergency Management.
• A coordinated city and countywide evacuation plan is needed. The recommendation is to “develop compatible evacuation zones and routes throughout the county” and “create public awareness of evacuation zones and routes.”
John Vasquez, chair of the Solano County Board of Supervisors, praised the Grand Jury for a thoroughly-researched document.
“I think this report is a fair report,” he said, adding that he agrees with the recommendations.
Back in the day, a Disaster Council existed to discuss such needs, he said, and it needs to be revisited.
The county has long discussed radio interoperability issues, or the ability to talk to each other. Right now, several agencies operate on different frequencies, making that hard.
Progress has been made with some agencies operating on the same frequency, and additional radio towers erected across Solano.
There's also been discussions regarding consolidating Solano's rural fire districts, Vasquez said, and fire chiefs have said they're on board with the plan. Now, it's about making that happen and figuring out logistics.
Following the LNU fire, the county did update its Solano County Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan. But, more can be done.
“The Grand Jury is saying it's time,” Vasquez continued. “And yes, it is time. It's not just for (rural) Solano County, but all of Solano County. … “We need to do something different, something more.”