EOP Appendix J

March 4, 2007

Town of Vail

Emergency Evacuation Plan

Introduction:

The purpose of the Vail Emergency Evacuation Plan is to educate the citizens and guests of Vail on how to respond to an emergency requiring evacuation and also serves as a guide for the Town of Vail emergency responders. The Emergency Evacuation Plan includes plans for both a partial and a full evacuation of the town.

Notification:

The residents of Vail should be presented with the information in this plan twice a year, in June and December. The Community Information Office will provide the information through local media and the Town of Vail website (www.vailgov.com). The information provided will include emergency broadcast information, recorded information available by phone, neighborhood pick-up locations, evacuation center locations, shelter locations and a notification for citizens with special needs. This will ensure the community understands how to obtain information and understand the critical steps to the evacuation process.

When implementing the Emergency Evacuation Plan, the Vail Communications Center will utilize the Emergency Phone Notification, also known as Reverse 911, the Emergency Alert System via AM/FM radio stations and Roam Secure text messages to the homes, hotels, and businesses in the affected area(s). The message will contain emergency and evacuation instructions. When time and personnel allow, first responders will drive through neighborhoods and make public notifications on the emergency vehicle loud speakers or go door-to-door.

Recorded Information: The Town of Vail will provide the public with a telephone hotline to receive updated information. The road conditions phone number will be used during evacuations for the hotline (970) 479-2226. It will be a recorded update in an attempt to reduce a possible overwhelming call volume to the dispatch center. The recording will be made by the Town Public Information Officer (PIO), who will be designated by the Incident Commander. Whenever possible, the updated information will also be posted on the Town of Vail website (www.vailgov.com) and on the Eagle County website (www.eaglecounty.us).

Evacuation Centers and Procedures:

Evacuation Center Check-In Locations(one or more may be designated):

1. Village Transportation Center

Alternative locations:

2. Lionshead Parking Structure

3. Donovan Park Pavilion

4. Battle Mountain High School

Evacuation Instructions:

A. Self-Evacuation by Vehicle:

1. Exit the area/neighborhood in the safest direction

2. Respond to the predetermined Evacuation Center check-in location

B. Evacuation by Public Transportation:

1. Respond to the nearest neighborhood bus stop

a. Citizens will then be transported to the evacuation center

to check-in.

C. Shelter in Place:

1. During some types of incidents, such as a hazardous materials spill, or communicable disease, the public may be asked stay to inside and not evacuate, or due to the rapid spread of a wildfire they may not be able to leave. For these reasons citizens should be prepared to stay in their homes for a minimum of 72 hours and have enough supplies on hand to support the number of residents living there. See www.ready.gov for more details. Homes should be made Firewise to increase the safety of sheltering in place during a fast moving wildfire. See www.firewise.org for more details.

Citizens who self-evacuate or evacuate by public transportation will be asked to indicate that they have already evacuated their residence by displaying a large, white object, such as a sheet, inside the residence, in a visible, conspicuous location, in the front, street-side of their home and to turn on their porch light.

Neighborhood Bus Stops: The current neighborhood pick-up locations are the Town of Vail bus stops. If possible, the buses will follow their regular route. If a resident or guest is unable to make it to their neighborhood bus stop location, then they should respond to the nearest alternative bus stop or alternative pick-up location for a safe evacuation, see below:

Alternative Pick-up Locations:

1. Fire Stations

2. Schools

3. Village Transportation Structure or Lionshead Parking Structure

Pets: Domestic pets may accompany evacuees as long as they are on a leash or contained so they will not injure other evacuees or their pets. Pets will not be allowed at public shelters and the town will work with the Eagle County Animal Control to house pets of individuals that are housed in shelters.

Evacuation Center Check-in: There will be a system in which evacuees will check-in and be assigned to a temporary shelter, or be released to take care of their own shelter needs. The required check-in information will consist of the person’s name, birth date, home address, cell phone numbers, and, if needed, in which temporary shelter the person will be placed. Evacuees will be assigned to shelters based upon the area of their residence. Buses will then transport evacuees from the check-in location to their assigned temporary shelter. The Red Cross or Salvation Army will conduct check-in operations and set up a phone system whenever possible to assist those needing to locate family members.

Special Needs Population: These are citizens and guests that will require assistance leaving their residence or those who have medical needs that require electricity in the case of a power outage. This is only for those who do not have transportation and cannot make it to the designated evacuation center or neighborhood pick-up bus stop location. The citizen provided information will be relayed to the Vail Police Department and Eagle County Ambulance District in order to preplan and determine how many special needs persons require assistance, their location and how best to transport them appropriately during an evacuation.

Vail Mountain: People who are on Vail Mountain when an emergency situation takes place in the Town of Vail should remain on the mountain, as long as it is safe. Vail Resort employees may then reroute them across the mountain or shelter them in one of the buildings on the mountain. Vail Resorts Security will be responsible for organizing sheltering on the mountain or rerouting guests into town.

Vail Valley Medical Center (VVMC) Evacuation: Due to the massive coordination required to evacuate the hospital all efforts will be made to defend and protect it from whatever the nature of incident. If the hospital is evacuated the VVMC plan will be put into action.

Evacuation Incident Command Structure: Evacuations will be organized through the Incident Command System.

Involved Departments:

Primary Responsibility – Unified Command

Police Department

Transportation Department

Community Information Office

Secondary Responsibility

Fire Department

Public Works Department

Eagle County Ambulance District

Staffing Evacuation Center Check-In Locations

Administration/Human Resources Department

Library staff

Shelter Operations

Salvation Army

Vail Valley Cares

Red Cross

Town of Vail Housing Administrator

Section # 2 Checklist

Emergency Evacuation Checklist

Vail Police Department Incident Command System

Emergency Evacuation Checklist

This checklist is intended to provide a reminder to responding officers, supervisors and an incident commander at the scene of a major disaster. It is recommended that unified command be established to insure coordinated response with other involved agencies. During a major disaster, law enforcement and the Transportation Department are primarily responsible for the evacuation of the town or part of the town for safety reasons. Additionally, law enforcement is responsible for the protection of a crime scene and they are responsible for the traffic control and recovery following the disaster.

Situation Assessment

¨ Location of disaster.

¨ Type of disaster.

¨ Size of involved area, actual and potential.

¨ Specific area that needs to be evacuated.

¨ Additional assistance needed, Police, Fire, medical, federal, military, CDOT, VR security.

¨ Location of Command Post.

¨ Select radio frequency to be used.

¨ Best available ingress/egress routes for emergency personnel and vehicles.

¨ Contact Eagle County Emergency Management, Barry Smith.

Special Considerations

¨ Potential for disaster area to spread. i.e.; fire, chemical spill.

¨ Potential for explosion.

¨ Population of town in peak season of 45,000.

¨ Population of town in off season of 4,600.

¨ I-70 closures at Copper Mountain and/or Minturn/Dowd Junction.

¨ No incoming traffic into the evacuation area, except for police escorts for people picking up children or special needs persons.

¨ Traffic control, crowd control.

¨ Determine if disaster is a crime scene.

¨ Contact schools.

¨ Contact Eagle County Animal Control and Animal shelters.

¨ Contact CDOT for sign information and TOV VMS signs

¨ Contact Salvation Army (Vail Valley Cares) Greg Osteen or Tsu Wolin.

¨ Assign Police Officers at shelters and check-in locations resources allowing.

¨ Set up containment/perimeter.

¨ Consider traffic control at Buffehr Creek and Chamonix.

¨ Set trigger points for evacuation and warning of evacuation.

Alerting the Public

¨ Reverse 911. (location of disaster, evacuation directions for people with transportation, staging areas for people w/o transportation, location of shelter) RoamSecure.

¨ PIO or Comm. Center contact media with evacuation info.

Section # 3 Transportation

Evacuation Transportation

Some buses have handicap access.

¨ 35 Town buses; capacity (75pp) Standing and sitting room. Mike Rose

¨ ECO buses

¨ Avon/BC buses

¨ CME

¨ Eagle County School District Buses contact person: Melony McMichael

Section # 4 Pick-up Location

Emergency Evacuation Pick-up Locations

The pick-up locations are the current TOV bus stop routes.

S #	NEIGHBOR-HOODS	PICK-UP LOCATIONS/ BUS STOPS
1	EAST VAIL	- Aspen Lane - Racquet Club - Columbine/Bighorn - Booth Falls - Bighorn Park - Lupine/Bighorn - Pitkin Creek - Meadow Lane East - Pitkin Creek - Falls at Vail - Meadow Dr - Falls at Vail - Lupine / Bighorn - Main Gore/Juniper - Booth Falls - Columbine / Bighorn - Main Gore/ Bighorn - Bald Mountain Rd - Streamside Circle - Racquet Club Townhomes - Timber Falls - Streamside E/Bighorn
2	GOLF COURSE	- Hanson Ranch Rd. - 1610 Sunburst Dr. - Golden Peak - Club House - Soccer Field - Pulis Bridge - Ptarmigan West - Ford Park - Ptarmigan East - Gore Creek Dr. - 1448 Vail Valley Dr.
3	VAIL VILLAGE IN-TOWN	- Gold Peak - E. Meadow/ Vail Valley Dr - E. Meadow/Covered Bridge - E/ Meadow/Crossroads - E. Meadow/Vail Rd
4	LIONSHEAD IN-TOWN	- W. Meadow . - W Lionshead Cir/Concert Hall Plaza - W. Meadow/ VVMC - W Lionshead Cir/ Marriot - W. Meadow/ Dobson/Library - Lionshead Mall
5	SANDSTONE	- Middle Creek - Vail View Red/ Sandstone - Vail Run - Sandstone School - Sandstone Creek Club - Red Sandstone Rd - Simba Run
6	WEST VAIL/ SOUTH SIDE	- Vail Muni Building - Intermountain - Cascade Crossing - Meadow Creek - Cascade Village - Spruce Creek - Matterhorn - Ptarmigan - Underpass
7	WEST VAIL NORTH SIDE	- Chamonix - Upper Buffehr Creek - Holiday Inn - Timber Ridge - West Vail Mall - Lower Buffehr Creek - Vail Commons

Section #5 Shelter Locations

Shelter Locations

In Vail:

¨ Vail Chapel

¨ Town of Vail Council Chambers if not being used for the Joint Information Center or Vail Valley Medical Center Alternative site

¨ Red Sandstone Elementary School Red Cross approved

¨ Vail Mountain School

¨ Dobson Ice Arena, if not being used as a hospital surge capacity facility

¨ Donovan Pavilion

West of Vail:

¨ Battle Mountain High School

¨ Minturn Middle School

¨ Avon Elementary School

¨ Eagle Valley Elementary

¨ Eagle Valley High

¨ Vail Bible Church

¨ Trinity Church Edwards

¨ Avon Recreation Center

¨ Avon Municipal Building

¨ Homestead Court Club

¨

East of Vail:

¨ Copper Mountain Chapel

¨