Page 22 - College Planning & Management, April/May 2019

Safety & Security PREPARE AND BE AWARE
Wildfires Go to College
It doesn’t happen often, but every now and then a
wildfire threatens lives and property at a college or
university campus.
BY MICHAEL FICKES
IS YOUR COLLEGE or university campus located in an area near forests or open lands where a forest or wildfire might break out? If so, have you added procedures related to wildfires to your emergency operations plan? How will you protect your
students, faculty, visitors, and administrators should a wildfire break out near your cam- pus? Worse, what if a wildfire strikes your campus?
Of course, a number of the precautions taken to protect students in the event of a large- scale fire are the same as you would employ to prepare for and, if necessary, escape severe weather, floods, active shooters, and other life-threatening emergencies.
It Takes a Village
For instance, one key precaution is to get to know the first responders that cover your area: firefighters, police, and other emergency responders. Visit these folks and invite them to visit and inspect your campus. When they arrive, show them around, go over the steps you plan to take should a forest fire or other large fire break out somewhere in the surrounding area. Ask for their help and advice with your emergency planning.
Do you know when and how a fire might threaten your campus?
“In addition to fire safety, you should have a protocol or plan to prevent people on your campus from suffering smoke inhalation, a major concern with large-scale forest fires near populated areas,” says Michael Dorn, executive director of Juliette, GA-based Safe Havens Inter- national, Inc., a nonprofit organization that promotes campus safety and crisis preparedness.
Smoke from large-scale fires can travel great distances, depending on the strength and direction of winds active in the area.
If smoke but not fire is coming toward your location, you might urge those with access to cars and other vehicles to take off for an unaffected area and wait out the situation.
For those that have no transportation and cannot leave, impose a curfew and require everyone on campus to stay inside until the smoke threat has passed.
“Most schools in the U.S. face risks
of hazardous materials events including building and structural fires, chemical releases, and other atmospheric releases that may be dangerous,” Dorn says. “When protecting your campus for a shelter- in-place event, remember to shut down systems that bring air into buildings.” These might include systems pulling air through kitchen exhaust systems as well as air conditioning systems.
Then again, if the authorities warn that a dangerous fire is on its way, you must evacuate—as early and as fast as possible.
Transportation Concerns
How will you transport those that need rides? K–12 schools facing fires can draw on school buses. “If you need to move a lot of people, you will need access buses,” says Joyce Lopes, vice president for administra- tion and finance at Sonoma State Univer- sity in Rohnert Park, CA.
Where will the buses come from? Area K–12 school buses will, of course, be oc- cupied moving their own school students and teachers.
What other transportation services might you be able to tap? There may be tour bus companies near you. A daily bus service may operate in your town or city. Is there a local train service? Visit these com- panies and talk to them about getting their help moving students in an emergency.
Questions you must answer before a crisis erupts: What steps will you need to take to gain access to transportation in
an emergency requiring evacuation? How quickly can you gain access to transporta- tion? Where will you direct the buses to take students and faculty?
More questions: What if you will need to stay overnight—a likely prospect. What kind of sleeping arrangements will be available? You’ll need to feed everyone, too. Is there a way to store food at your destination? If not,
22 COLLEGE PLANNING & MANAGEMENT / APRIL/MAY 2019
WEBCPM.COM
PHOTO © STOCKPHOTOSLV