First responders present new disaster evacuation plan to Colorado Springs City Council

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- As Colorado Springs City Council continues to review a proposed ordinance on wildfire evacuations, first responders laid out the city's new game plans for disaster evacuations to council members during a work session on Tuesday.

Colorado Springs Police Chief Vince Niski told city council members, first responders can do a better job when it comes to educating the public on disaster evacuation preparedness. However, Niski and other authorities said that doesn't mean they aren't putting in the work to make sure the city's most wildfire-prone neighborhoods can get out in time.

“Do we have an evacuation plan? Yes, we do. We’ve had one for a long time,” said Jim Reid, the Director of the Pikes Peak Regional Office of Emergency Management.

Reid said the Office of Emergency Management has consolidated thirty evacuation plans into one, and their efforts are ongoing.

At Tuesday's Work Session, authorities discussed new tech like Zonehaven. Zonehaven is meant to break down municipalities into smaller more optimal evacuation zones.

“Firefighters realize 'Hey, this thing is going to move a little further south than we want," Reid said. "Alright, I’ll kick off the next two adjoining zones. In other words, I am not kicking off fifty thousand people all at once. It will decrease the amount of evacuees at any one point.” 

City Council President Tom Strand told 13 Investigates the issue the contract between the city and Zonehaven will be discussed and potentially voted upon starting in April. Strand says Zonehaven will initially cost the city $70 to $80 thousand, while annual upkeep costs will span from $30 to $40 thousand.

Reid spoke alongside other emergency leaders like Colorado Springs Fire Chief Randy Royal, Fire Marshall Brett Lacey, and Chief Niski.

The proposed ordinance, from the citizen group Westside Watch, includes a requirement for the city to identify the current evacuation times within Colorado Springs neighborhoods and requires the city to provide evacuation studies for all new developments. The ordinance would also require the city to release evacuation maps for hazards from all cardinal directions and place a moratorium for all buildings in certain fire-prone neighborhoods throughout the city, or at least until the ordinance is passed.

“I think we do a very good job at planning for disasters I think what we don’t do and we don’t do it across the board is educate the community about what we are doing. We kind of do it in a silo,” Chief Niski said to council Tuesday.

Niski fears releasing evacuation maps to the public would lead to public safety risks for his officers, first responders, and members of the public.

Presenters said they will send fire mitigation and evacuation notices to homes within the most fire-prone neighborhoods. However, some on council fear it's not enough.

“We can’t give them the evacuation locations or routes but we're going to send out cards," Colorado Springs council member Bill Murray said. "I see this as an absolute work in progress.”

City Council President Tom Strand says he feels evacuation plans are well in place. However, Strand wanted to hear more about the new development can potentially impact evacuation times.

“I do not simply want to give a head fake to the proposal that came from the community on the west side," Strand told 13 Investigates. "I think we ought to study it a little bit. See how it aligns.”