By Rodd Cayton
Any number of incidents could create a need for residents to shelter in place, and a Placitas group is seeking to ensure they know the best ways to do so.
Placitas Resilience & Emergency Preparedness Alliance (PREP), to that end, is presenting its next community briefing on that topic. PREP President Allen Saville, a former Firefighter/EMT, and Sandoval County Emergency Manager Dan Heerding will discuss why a shelter-in-place order might be issued, potential scenarios that might unfold in those situations, what emergency supplies and equipment households might need, what residents can do now to get prepared and other topics.
Saville told the Sandoval Signpost that a flood or earthquake could call for a shelter-in-place order, because they could render roads impassable for quite some time.
“If evacuation routes are compromised, the best response to a wildland fire might be shelter-in-place,” he added. “Sometimes if a wildland fire is some distance away and not expected to actually pass through an area, but electricity is shut off and some of the area roads are compromised, shelter-in-place might be the best option.”
Other situations could include hazardous materials spills or active shooter incidents, Saville said. He said the length of sheltering in place could vary from hours to days. “If it is just an hour or two and the electricity does not go off, maybe not a big deal,” he said. “But, if it is days and there is no power, then this gets to be a significant challenge.”
The presentation is at 7 p.m. July 14 at Las Placitas Presbyterian Church, 7 Paseo De San Antonio Road. A Zoom like will be posted on the PREP website.