By Pamela Cruz. Peninsula 360 Press [P360P]
As wildfires rage and drought grips Northern California, San Mateo County officials are promoting a "know your zone" campaign so residents can learn a short code to help save lives in an emergency.
Emergency responders will use the code to direct evacuations or issue shelter-in-place orders for specific areas of the Peninsula. And with lessons learned from last year's CZU Lightning Complex fire, local officials are looking to avoid tragedy.
"Know your zone", that's how it works:
Emergency managers have divided the peninsula into more than 300 zones on a map available online, supported by Zonehaven, a California-based company. Each zone is assigned a short code and any resident can access to know their area.
For example: "SMC-E001" is the San Mateo Highlands, "MP-E008" is approximately Belle Haven of Menlo Park, and "DC-E004" is an area of Daly City near San Francisco.
Why approximately? Because the zones may not follow traditional neighborhood or even city boundaries. Instead, the zones are optimized for the best evacuation routes to avoid confusion over arbitrary boundaries.
In the event of an emergency, first responders will issue evacuation or other orders and warnings based on zones. This information will be sent through the media, social media such as Twitter, emergency alert notifications and other platforms.
"When it comes to emergency response every minute counts," said San Mateo County Supervisor Don Horsley, whose District 3 includes the coast from Pacifica to the Santa Cruz County border.
"Zonehaven gives emergency services the ability to develop perfectly localized evacuation plans quickly and collaboratively, and that can be shared with the public immediately," he added.
The Zonehaven platform can also be quickly updated with emergency shelter locations and other vital information if needed.
Emergency officials noted that last year's CZU Lightning Complex fire, the largest and most damaging in the county's recorded history, and the early start of the 2021 fire season make clear the need for all residents to "know their zone."
What should be done?
First, all San Mateo County residents should know their home, work and school zones, and then write those codes down in an easily accessible place.
In the event of an emergency, the Zonehaven platform is updated with real-time evacuation routes. Fire departments and other first responder agencies throughout the county will update the platform so that evacuation routes and other information is timely and localized.
As part of the "know your area" campaign, officials have urged residents to follow local emergency services on social media platforms in real time and sign up for SMC Alert, a free service that sends emergency text, voice and other messages to email accounts; cell and smart phones, tablets, landlines, home and work phones.
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