Eagle County officials ready to adopt plans for hazards and emergencies
Did you know Eagle County has an active volcano?
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Eagle County is required to update its emergency and hazard plans every few years. The plans are good to have in case of disaster, but can also come in handy for planning for the future.
Birch Barron, the county’s director of emergency management, and Fernando Almanza, the deputy emergency manager, informed the Eagle County Board of Commissioners on Monday on the updated hazard and emergency plans. The hazard plan is far longer because the county has a lot more potential hazards than you might imagine.
“We’re immune to very little,” Barron said. While the county is isolated from tsunamis and hurricanes, there is a volcano, just north of Dotsero. And, while that volcano hasn’t erupted in about 4,000 years, federal rules state a volcano has to have been quiet for 12,000 years to be considered extinct.
The biggest hazard is wildfire, of course, followed by flooding. Flooding can be along flood plains and along burn scars. But, Barron said, flooding these days can occur in unexpected locations, “more than we’ve seen historically … it’s difficult to map.”
In addition to those natural hazards, Barron noted that there are transportation hazards, along Interstate 70, of course, but also along the railroad tracks that run through Glenwood Canyon and along the Colorado River through the northern portion of the county. There are also potential hazards from aircraft.
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Terrorism and active shooters are other potential hazards.
Barron said the county and other local and regional agencies sign on to the plan. That includes local towns and metropolitan districts. But it also includes special districts ranging from fire and sanitation districts to recreation and library districts.
In case of emergency, all those districts can apply for state and federal assistance.
The same is true for the more concise county emergency plan.
Almanza noted that the emergency plan helps ensure that local agencies are “all on the same page” when it comes to hazard and emergency response.
But Commissioner Matt Scherr noted that in many cases the county doesn’t have the assets — roads — it would like to have to effectively respond to emergencies. Scherr asked how plans like the emergency plan might help show how an interchange serving the Eagle County Regional Airport might help. In addition to easing traffic congestion, local officials see the potential interchange, and its third local portal to I-70, as a safety valve for local traffic in case of an emergency.
Barron said there are safety-focused grants, and being referenced in an emergency plan can lend weight to a grant application for a project.
On the other hand, he added, emergency plans have been seen as reasons to deny projects elsewhere, particularly in flood-prone areas.
The plans are currently available on the county’s website.
