Butte County Sheriff's Office

Procedures Manual

Evacuation Procedures
202.1 TERMINOLOGY
A. Evacuation Order: Requires the immediate movement of people out of an affected area due to an
imminent threat to life. Choosing to stay could result in loss of life. Staying may also impede the
work of emergency personnel. Due to the changing nature of the emergency, this Immediate
Evacuation Order may be the only warning people in the affected area(s) receive.

B. Evacuation Warning: Alerts people in an affected area(s) of potential threat to life and property.
People who need additional time should consider evacuating at this time. An Evacuation Warning
considers the probability an area will be affected and prepares people for a potential Evacuation
Order.

C. Shelter in Place: Advises people to stay secure at their current location by remaining in place as
evacuation will cause a higher potential for loss of life. People should do all they can to keep
themselves safe while sheltering in place.

202.2 SHERIFF'S EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT LIEUTENANT RESPONSIBILITIES

The Sheriff’s Office Lieutenant responsible for Emergency Management (Sheriff’s Emergency
Management Lieutenant), or his/her designee will be responsible for overall operations when evacuations
occur. He/she will coordinate with on-scene supervisors to assist with critical decisions during the incident
and will provide overall support to the on-scene supervisor relating to equipment and staffing resources,
notifications to county and partner agencies, and coordination of emergency alerts and mass notifications.
The Sheriff’s Emergency Management Lieutenant will keep the Sheriff's Office Administration updated
with evacuation information. The Sheriff’s Emergency Management Lieutenant will ensure the Far
Northern Regional Center is notified of pending or current evacuations so they can notify their partner
agencies/facilities.

202.3 ON-DUTY SUPERVISOR'S PROCEDURES

On-duty supervisors, when made aware of a potential threat to life or property, will respond to the area to
gather as much information as possible about the threat, area threatened, resources potentially needed to
evacuate the threatened area, and time needed to safely evacuate the threatened area.

The on-duty supervisor shall establish an Incident Command Post (ICP) and remain at the Command
Post. The on-duty supervisor will assume Incident Commander (IC) and enter into Unified Command, if
circumstances dictate. On-duty supervisors will maintain this role until relieved.

If evacuations are probable, the supervisor should request those resources necessary to safely conduct
evacuations. When the decision is made to evacuate a threatened area, the on-duty supervisor will direct
those resources needed to safely and efficiently evacuate the affected area, such as:

● Search and Rescue

● Public Works
● Allied law enforcement agencies

Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2021/06/16, All Rights Reserved.

Published with permission by Butte County Sheriff's Office
 Butte County Sheriff's Office
Procedures Manual

Evacuation Procedures

● Medical transport
● Communications Reserve Deputies
● North Valley Animal Disaster Group (NVADG)
● Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer (PIO) and County PIO
● CalTrans
● STARS
● CERT
● Any other city, county or state agency that may be deemed necessary for successful
evacuation operations

The on-duty supervisor shall request a representative from these agencies/resources to be

present in the command post for information sharing. On-duty supervisors shall use the Incident
Command Post (ICP) Agency Representative Checklist1 to ensure they have all the required
representatives requested in the ICP.

The on-duty supervisor will notify dispatch of the evacuation area and type (evacuation order or
warning). The public facing map will be updated to show what zone(s) are under evacuation
order or warning. When half the area (or more) in a zone is affected, the zones next to it are to
be changed to an evacuation warning in order to give the people living in those areas time to
prepare to evacuate if needed.

The on-duty supervisor will request dispatch to notify the Sheriff’s Office Emergency Notification
Group and the Sheriff’s Emergency Management Lieutenant of the evacuation. Texts will be
sent to the Sheriff’s Emergency Management team and the Sheriff’s Emergency Management
Lieutenant or his/her designee. The Sheriff’s Emergency Management Lieutenant or his/her
designee will be responsible for coordinating the release of emergency mass notifications to
alert the affected population as soon as possible. In the case of cell phone service being
nonfunctional, radio channel secure 15 will be used to communicate and coordinate.

The on-duty supervisor will designate a staging location and staging manager (preferably
Search and Rescue Liaison and additional Search and Rescue personnel) to manage incoming
resources and communicate that information to dispatch and incoming resources. Search and
Rescue (SAR) will keep track of the areas evacuated and the areas that need to be evacuated,
they will then report this to the staging manager.

The on-duty supervisor will ensure Sheriff’s Office Administrative personnel are aware of the
evacuation being prepared for or carried out. The on-duty supervisor will coordinate and direct
the evacuation efforts of first responders.

Each patrol supervisor shall have a Butte County Evacuation binder and refer to the information

1 See Additional resources page for ICP Agency Representative Checklist

Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2021/06/16, All Rights Reserved.
Published with permission by Butte County Sheriff's Office
 Butte County Sheriff's Office
Procedures Manual

Evacuation Procedures

in the binder frequently to ensure the best possible outcome for the circumstances being dealt
with at the time. Information in the binder includes, but is not limited to, the following:

● Various Community Evacuation Plans and Maps

● Sheriff’s Office Initial Fire Response Checklist2
● ICP Agency Representative Checklist
● County Evacuation Passes
● Various types of blank ICS forms

Consideration shall be given for those persons with access and functional needs in the
impacted area. As of September 2021, the supervisor will have dispatch use RIM-SNAP
(Special Needs Awareness Program) Interface to run a query in the effective area for any
persons who have access and functional needs in the impacted area. The supervisor will then
request/direct resources (such as B-Line buses, medical transport units) to assist with the
evacuations if needed.

The supervisor will coordinate with California Highway Patrol (CHP) or the local law
enforcement agency having jurisdiction to coordinate road closures, evacuation routes, and
ingress/egress routes for first responders.

When mutual aid resources assist BCSO those resources should be assigned a BCSO deputy
to ensure each team has communications with staging, the Incident Command Post, and
dispatch.

The supervisor will ensure units/resources assisting with evacuations are briefed about the
operation, hazards, communications, temporary refuge areas, and procedures prior to being
sent into the impacted area.

The supervisor will begin planning for future areas that may be impacted by the threat, potential
for shelter in place, and identifying public assembly points.

The supervisor will document decisions made and actions taken on the appropriate ICS forms
(201, 204, 214) if possible, at the time decisions are made. The supervisor will turn those
completed ICS forms in when relieved. ICS form 214 will be used for signing in and out of
incidents/emergencies and must be updated upon being relieved.

202.4 DEPUTIES' PROCEDURES

2 See Additional Resources Page for Sheriff’s Office Initial Fire Response Checklist
Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2021/06/16, All Rights Reserved.
Published with permission by Butte County Sheriff's Office
 Butte County Sheriff's Office
Procedures Manual

Evacuation Procedures

Deputies will respond to the area of staging without delay to receive their assignment unless
directed otherwise by the supervisor.

Deputies will work as two person units while evacuating the public from the affected area unless
circumstances dictate otherwise.

Deputies need to be aware of escape routes and locations that can be used for temporary
refuge if the threat overtakes them or prevents their escape.

Deputies shall utilize lookouts to prevent the threat from overtaking the units evacuating the
threatened area.

While conducting evacuations deputies shall utilize the Hi/Lo siren while going door to door
within the evacuation area.

Deputies will use the radio channel identified by the Command Post while evacuating the public.
Deputies may use car-to-car channels to communicate non-evacuation information.

Deputies will also be mindful of those persons who may have access or functional needs by
using those techniques designed to alert those persons. Such techniques include, but are not
limited to, ringing the doorbell (hearing impaired may have lights in the home that signal the
doorbell was activated), knocking loudly on the door(s), looking through windows (look for red or
green colored Special Needs Awareness Program (SNAP) or In Case of Emergency (ICE)
signage/packet in window on refrigerator), and/or looking over fences to identify anyone who is
unaware of the pending threat. When a deputy identifies a person(s) with access and functional
needs they will ensure the person(s) can evacuate and understands the threat. If the person
cannot evacuate on their own or with the help of another, the deputy will request the appropriate
resource (ambulance/ Merit Medi-Trans/B-Line/Search and Rescue/NVADG) to assist with
evacuating the person(s).

When a person who has been warned of the threat chooses to remain at their location, deputies
will attempt to gather pertinent information about all the people who will be remaining at that
location along with next of kin information. That information shall be provided to dispatch for
inclusion into the incident log and is to be recorded on the deputies ICS 214 form as soon as
practical.

Deputies will advise dispatch or staging when their assignment is completed or additional
resources such as an ambulance, B-Line, Merit Medi-Trans, NVADG or animal control are
needed and location(s) needed. When deputies become aware of a person’s limitation to
evacuate (i.e. intoxication) the deputy will request those resources needed to assist the
person(s) to evacuate if the deputy is unable to assist.

Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2021/06/16, All Rights Reserved.

Published with permission by Butte County Sheriff's Office
 Butte County Sheriff's Office
Procedures Manual

Evacuation Procedures

Deputies will advise the Command Post and other deputies of additional threats, such as:
downed power lines/trees/washouts/flooding/explosives/severely damaged/blocked roads, etc.

Deputies will patrol those areas that are under an evacuation order until relieved by another law
enforcement unit or the evacuation order is lifted.

Deputies may be required to fulfill various roles (traffic control, supervising the evacuations,
staging manager, etc.) during and after evacuations until relieved by another authorized person.

Deputies will complete the ICS 214 form and turn it in prior to signing out of the incident. If
assisting another agency with evacuations deputies will take a photo of their completed 214 and
the sign in/out roster prior to leaving the incident and will submit those to the BCSO Sheriff’s
Emergency Management Lieutenant for documentation.

202.5 DISPATCH RESPONSIBILITIES

Upon notification of an incident requiring evacuations or an incident that could potentially require
evacuations, dispatch will notify the on-duty supervisor and the Sheriff’s Emergency
Management Lieutenant.

Dispatch will attempt to obtain information about the location of the incident, area(s) threatened,
type of threat and location of Command Post/Incident Commander. Dispatch will contact the
Sheriff’s Emergency Management Lieutenant or his/her designee and provide the information
about the incident.

When directed by the on-duty supervisor or the Sheriff’s Emergency Management Lieutenant,
dispatch will send internal alerts via CodeRED to the Emergency Notification Group, Search and
Rescue, Communications Reserves, and North Valley Animal Disaster Rescue Group.

Dispatch will assist the on-duty supervisor in notifying agencies and personnel of the pending or
immediate threat and coordinate their response to assist.

If possible to do so and staffing allows, dispatch will access the SNAP list maintained by
Department of Employment and Social Services (DESS) by running a search query on the
RIMS-SNAP Interface and ascertain the location of any persons from the SNAP list that are
potentially inside the impacted area. If possible, Dispatch should contact DESS and coordinate
with them to confirm if DESS has already contacted those SNAP registrants within the impacted
area. Once this information is collected, forward it to the on- duty supervisor or the staging
manager so deputies can be assigned to check those persons not contacted or in need of
assistance, if possible.

Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2021/06/16, All Rights Reserved.

Published with permission by Butte County Sheriff's Office
 Butte County Sheriff's Office
Procedures Manual

Evacuation Procedures

When an incident grows beyond normal size and threat, dispatch will provide (staffing
dependent) a tactical dispatcher(s) to the staging location to assist with the event. The tactical
dispatcher(s) will be responsible for the following:

● Relaying information to and from the field units with the Incident Commander
● Prioritization of calls for service
● Assisting with check in/out of personnel as needed
● Documenting information relating to the event
● Coordinating information with dispatch

Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2021/06/16, All Rights Reserved.

Published with permission by Butte County Sheriff's Office
 Butte County Sheriff's Office
Procedures Manual

Evacuation Procedures

Additional Resources Pages:

BCSO Initial Fire Response Checklist

Locate Fire IC and obtain briefing ● Emergency Notification Group and
Emergency Manager (first option- contact via
● Location dispatch)
● Estimated size ● Evacuation Orders
● Rate of Spread ● Ensure messages went out
● Significant Hazards ● Evacuation warnings
● Long range spotting ● Ensure messages went out
● Erratic Fire Behavior ● Document all notification requests on ICS
● Anticipated Wind Events 214
● Threatened residences
● Locations Logistical Needs- (Sgt. Eric Lyon)
● Numbers
● Evacuation Requests ● Shelters
● Evacuation Order area(s) ● Flagging
● Evacuation Warning area(s) ● Water
● Traffic Control Points
● Locations Documentation

Determine and Communicate Staging Area ● Begin ICS 201 and 214 Forms
● Designate scribe (if available)
● Appoint Staging Manager
● Check in all Personnel Reassess
● Issue assignment/keep status
● CodeRED AND IPAWS any additional
Request Resources Needed For: messages needed advise Emergency
Manager
● Evacuations ● Sufficient resources for current and
- Local agency mutual aid anticipated needs
- SAR ● Logistics to support operations
- Comm-Reserves (radio and Star- ● Water
runner) ● Food
- PIO (Megan) ● Command Post
● Access and Functional Needs (Snap) ● Dispatch advised of progress/changes
- Ambulances and ICP Rep
● Traffic Control Plan for next operational period
● Animal Evacuation (NVADG)
● ICP Outside Agency Representatives
● Potential assignments
- Public works, CalTrans
● Evacuations
- Neighboring Threats
● Security Patrol
- Jurisdictions (i.e. CPD, YSCO, etc)
● Administrative needs
● Staffing Needs
Request CodeRED and IPAWS -ASAP ● Logistical needs

● Notify Dispatch of notification need

Evacuation Zone Radio Load

Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2021/06/16, All Rights Reserved.

Published with permission by Butte County Sheriff's Office
 Butte County Sheriff's Office
Procedures Manual

Evacuation Procedures

1. BSCO MAIN (new main)

2. BSCO CH 2
3. BSCO NET 1
4. SAR 1
5. CPD 1
6. PPD
7. OPD
8. GPD
9. BOAR (used for traffic control)
10. Public Works 1 (Butte County)
11. VTAC37 (patchable channel)
12. VTAC38 (patchable channel)
13. VLAW31 (outside agency car to car)
14. SECURE 1
15. SECURE 15 (unified command and staging comms)
16. BSCO OLD

Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2021/06/16, All Rights Reserved.

Published with permission by Butte County Sheriff's Office
 Butte County Sheriff's Office
Procedures Manual

Evacuation Procedures

EMERGENCY MANAGER CHECKLIST

1. INITIAL PROCEDURES FOR SENDING EMERGENCY ALERTS
● When notified of evacuations pending/in progress find out the area being evacuated and
what the threat is
● Confirm BCSO has a representative with fire IC
● Send evacuation alert information to Sgt. Evans to disseminate to the Emergency
Notification Group and advise the reason (fire or flood) and whether it is an order or
warning. If this is a fire event with high winds (35+ MPH) evacuate a larger area than
normal
● First tehnician to advise they are at a computer and can create the message will begin
working on the message. If another technician is available to create the map this will cut
down on time significantly and should do so. PIO MCMAnn (530-693-7054) will begin
social media messaging (English initially then Spanish and Hmong when translators can
be contacted). Kendra Parker (530-917-4439) or Suanne Preader (530-712-7193) will
begin finding translators and recording the long message (initial message in English) on
the bulletin board number.
● Have Dispatch/SAR look up SNAP list on the Department of Employment and Social
Services (DESS) website to identify any people that have access or functional needs. That
information needs to be given to staging/deputies ASAP. After September 2021 use RIM-
SNAP interface to run a search of any people with access or functional needs in the
affected areas.
● Make sure social media, Facebook, local alerts, and bulletin board messages have all
been posted/recorded.
● Confirm with Technician the message has begun sending and have them notify dispatch
to put it in the log. Find another Technician to respond to staging and take over
emergency messages from staging.

2. NOTIFICATIONS
● While waiting for messages to be posted notify COunty DEM-Cindy Dunsmoor (530-
624-4729), County PIO Miranda Mcafee-Bowersox (530-282-2146), Oroville CHP-L.t.
Marc Stokes (530-990-3775), Public Works Radley Ott (530-854-0029), Department of
Employment and Social Services (shelters) Shelby Boston (530-864-1696), SAR Sgt.
Ennes (530-854-0036), Comm Reserves Sgt. Gsell, CalTrans? Neighboring Jurisdiction?
Text message is most efficient.
● Notify Far Northern Regional Center by email at codered@farnorthernrc.org so they can
forward BCSO messages through their system to their clients/facilities in the impacted
area. Daphne Wood (530-515-3029)

Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2021/06/16, All Rights Reserved.

Published with permission by Butte County Sheriff's Office
 Butte County Sheriff's Office
Procedures Manual

Evacuation Procedures

● Contact CERT Grant Hunsicker (Cell: 530-966-0185, Home: 530-873-1867, Work: 530-
552-3471) or Ted Cochran (530-282-2298) to activate GMRS/Amateur radio operators to
update those communities of the incident.
● Notify Sheriff and all three captains of incident
● Notify Sgt. Lyon and Sgt. Beller so they can begin working on logistics and staffing if
the incident will be prolonged

3. FOLLOW UP WITH IC
● Staging location and Staging Manager identified
● Estimate how many people will be evacuating (DESS will need to anticipate housing
needs)
● Location of traffic control points
● Star Runner requested to staging
● NVADG requested
● Is B-line/Merit Medi Trans/Ambulance needed/requested?
● Snap list provided to staging
● Outside agency reps requested/arrived
● IC have a scribe to assist with notetaking and phone calls
● Does IC need a tac dispatcher (preferable to have one imbedded)?

4. CONFIRM AND REASSESS

● Confirm IPAWS and CodeRed messages went out and dispatch logged it
● Sufficient resources for current and anticipated needs
● What things are logistics working on ?
● Do we need plans to work on the next operational period?
● Do OPs have what they need for resources?
● Make sure Finance (Kate Abouzeid) is aware of the incident and if she has any needs.
● Dispatch advised of updated information about the incident
● Admin and stakeholders advised of updates

Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2021/06/16, All Rights Reserved.

Published with permission by Butte County Sheriff's Office
 Butte County Sheriff's Office
Procedures Manual

Evacuation Procedures

INCIDENT COMMAND POST- EVACUATIONS AGENCY

REPRESENTATIVE REQUEST CHECKLIST
● Cal-Fire
● CHP (Evacuation-traffic)
● Search and Rescue (Evacuation assistance)
● Butte County Public Works (Roadblock-Evacuation assistance)
● First Responder Ambulance (assist with Access and Functional Needs [SNAPS] Evacuation)
● Cal-Trans (Evacuation assistance- Highways)
● Possible threatened city jurisdiction(s) (Chico PD, Orovilles PD, etc)
● Comm-Reserves (radio/Podrunner)
● NVDAG (Animal Rescue/Evacuation)
● PIO (Megan)
● STARS
● Railroads (If RR near evacuation areas)
● B-Line/Merit Medi Trans (Access and Functional Needs (AFN))
● Other:________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
________

Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2021/06/16, All Rights Reserved.

Published with permission by Butte County Sheriff's Office