“Fire Evacuations: Know & Go” is the topic of this month’s free Community Forum to be held from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. on Friday, August 28th. The live, one-hour panel discussion will be held at the Sierra College-Nevada County Campus in the Building N-12 auditorium.
Guests are Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon and CAL FIRE Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit Chief Jim Hudson.
“Preparedness begins with understanding,” said Sheriff Moon. “This upcoming forum gives our community an opportunity to learn more about wildfire evacuations, ask questions, and take important steps to ensure they’re ready if an evacuation becomes necessary.”
Areas of discussion will include: How will the Caltrans Highway 49 Corridor Improvement Project affect emergency evacuations, now and in the future? What are the benefits and disadvantages of Nevada County’s new alert system that replaced CodeRED in April? What are the expectations of the ESCAPE partnership (Evacuation Safety Corridor and Protection Enhancement) between Nevada County and the US Forest Service? What data originating from the CAL FIRE grant-funded 2024 Nevada County Evacuation Study has been implemented?
Regardless of new evacuation protocols, one recommendation has not changed.
“When an evacuation order is issued, leave early. Don’t wait. We will be there protecting your property,” says CAL FIRE Unit Chief Hudson.
Local journalist and Community Forum Steering Committee member Lorraine Jewett will moderate this month’s discussion.
Sponsored by the Sierra College-Nevada County Campus Foundation, the Community Forum hosts hour-long, in-depth informational events nine times each year, presenting local issues and topics of interest to both our community and neighboring counties. The moderator of each session reserves time for guests in the audience to pose questions to the panel of experts.
Each of these speaker series is free and open to the public. Free parking is provided on campus and directional signs inform guests where to park and how to access the Building N-12 auditorium.