Placer County law enforcement, fire crews train together to coordinate disaster response
About 100 firefighters, deputies and officers in the Placer County area got together for critical training on Wednesday to make sure that when disaster strikes, they can work together quickly and effectively to respond.
"We're doing some joint unified command training," Placer County Sheriff Wayne Woo said.
They trained as a team at the Placer County Office of Emergency Services in Auburn.
"To have that collaborative approach, to be on the same page and to make sure we're unified as quickly as possible during a rapidly evolving incident," Woo said.
The Placer County Sheriff's Department and Cal Fire's Nevada-Yuba-Placer unit hosted the annual training to allow crews to prepare their response with real-life examples, like a mudslide in Colfax and the Mosquito Fire near Foresthill.
"Any decision that's gonna impact your partner, you make that decision together because the mitigation and suppression of a fire affects evacuations, evacuations affect law enforcement," said Cal Fire NEU Chief Brian Estes. "Our main goal is to not let things slip through the cracks."
This is the first time this training in Placer County has included the Emergency Operations Center, too.
"Ninety-five percent of people involved have never worked in the Emergency Operations Center for the county," said Placer County Sgt. Ty Conners. "This is to kind of give them an idea of the other side of it."
The EOC can help coordinate efforts like connecting people with resources if they have been evacuated during a wildfire or if they are recovering and rebuilding afterward.
"The public deserves the highest level of emergency management, emergency services, and that's what we're here to train for, so we can give 'em that," Estes said.