A new siren system designed to warn residents of an immediate evacuation order will be tested in the town of Paradise for the first time on June 15. It’s part of a daylong emergency drill during which emergency officials will practice responding to a simulated wildfire.
For many in the community, the sirens have been a long time coming.
Nearly five years ago, the Camp Fire killed 85 people in Paradise and devastated the town. Many fire survivors say they did not receive adequate advance warning to evacuate. An investigation by The Mercury News found that thousands of the town’s critical early-warning text messages and calls failed to reach residents.
A year after the fire, in 2019, the town created a long-term Camp Fire recovery plan and included an early warning system as a priority. But, town officials say, applying for funding and approval from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) delayed the project for years.
Funding for the construction of the siren system was finally awarded nearly three and a half years later in April of 2022.
Colette Curtis is Paradise’s Recovery and Economic Development Director.
“We worked as fast as we could, but we had to wait,” Curtis said.
Just five of the 21 sirens planned will be operational in time for the test, with the rest coming online this summer, according to Curtis. Town officials say the entire system will be ready sometime this summer.
Residents won’t have to evacuate
On the morning of June 15, the siren system will broadcast a voice message at 10 a.m. saying, “This is a test of the Paradise Early Warning Sirens.” Then, a siren will sound for 30 seconds. Finally, another voice message will say, “This has been a test of the Paradise Early Warning Sirens”.
Town officials say people in Magalia, Butte Creek Canyon, and some parts of Chico will also be able to hear the sirens.
“We are not really asking the public to do anything emergency exercise wise,” Curtis told NSPR. She said it’s more for the benefit of town staff than it is a drill for the public.
“We are doing internal training where we go through a pretend scenario [or] when we pretend there's a fire somewhere. We go through all of the pretend actions as if we were reacting to an emergency,” Curtis said.
During a real emergency, the siren would sound first for one minute, followed by evacuation orders.
The siren system is designed to operate during a power outage.
Traffic control
During the Camp Fire, in addition to problems with the early warning system, the lack of evacuation routes also impeded people’s escape. As the blaze bore down on the town, traffic on Skyway formed an impassable bottleneck and people were trapped in their cars.
During the June 15 exercise, first responders will practice detouring traffic from Skyway to Wagstaff and Clark roads from 10-11 a.m.
Jim Broshears, Emergency Operations Coordinator for the town, said, “Lessons we've learned from the Camp Fire are also being applied and tested during an exercise like this.” He urged people to plan an evacuation route in case of a real emergency and to consider destinations besides Chico to help avoid traffic jams.
How to help
Paradise officials are asking people to let them know whether they hear the sirens on the morning of the exercise.
“We really need your help. Everyone who can hear the sirens: we want to know if you can hear them and where you are when you hear them and what you hear,” Curtis, who works on fire recovery for the town, said.
Curtis said the town will publish a survey and host a town hall so people can provide feedback.
Starting in July, Curtis said, the early warning sirens will be tested on the first Saturday of the month for at least six months.
On the day of the exercise, Curtis said emotional support will be available at the Paradise Community Park for people who are surprised or upset. Residents can also call the following hotlines to speak to a counselor or find more resources on the town’s website.
- Butte County Department of Behavioral Health 24/7 Crisis Line – (530) 891-2810
- The Crisis Text Line – 741741
- Veterans Crisis Line – (800) 273-8255
