All of Paradise, Magalia and Stirling City are under an evacuation warning due to the Park Fire.
With memories still fresh from the Camp Fire evacuation in 2018, authorities are particularly concerned about ensuring a safe and orderly exit for residents on the Ridge.
Go southbound on Skyway, Clark or Pentz
Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said many residents might consider alternative routes when evacuating, such as going up the Skyway through Magalia and over to Butte Meadows, but he strongly advises against this saying you’d be heading to an area that’s likely impacted by the fire.
“If there is a need to evacuate from Paradise, we need you to first evacuate utilizing one of the three main roads out of Paradise — Skyway, Clark or Pentz,” Honea said. “Do not go up the Skyway because you’ll be heading into a more dangerous situation.”
Honea said this at a press conference yesterday afternoon where he acknowledged issues during the past disaster.
“I know many, many people in our community have the experience of trying to evacuate from Paradise during the Camp Fire,” he said. “They’re well aware of how congested the roads were to get out there.”
Many road closures are in place due to the Park Fire. Honea advised residents to check closure locations before going out on the road.
Sirens would be “the last effort” during an evacuation order
The town of Paradise finished installing and testing its new early warning siren system this year.
Colette Curtis, the town’s recovery and economic development director, told NSPR the siren system was designed as a redundant means of communication to help residents evacuate from a wildfire or other emergencies before it’s too late.
“We would only use the sirens if we had evacuation orders issued within the town of Paradise,” Curtis said. “We do not utilize them for warnings.”
She said this is to ensure that people know what the sound means if the sirens are activated.
“Which is kind of twofold,” Curtis said. “They know it is for evacuation orders only, and that they need to look for further information on potentially which way to evacuate, anything like that if they don’t already have that information.”
Paradise would use all other means of communication before sounding the sirens, Curtis said. This includes posting to the town’s website and social media, talking to local media outlets, and sending out emergency alerts — these go out as phone calls, text messages and emails.
(Both the town of Paradise’s and Butte County’s emergency alerts are opt-in. Only residents who have signed up will receive them.)
Watch out for misinformation
Paradise Councilmember Steve Crowder said something that’s concerned him during the incident has been confusion about the situation, which has emanated from social media.
“Unfortunately social media is a problem because there’s so much false information out there, and it gets people all worried,” he told NSPR.
Crowder has heard and seen rumors about important roads being closed that aren’t, and about Sierra Pacific Industries. Earlier this week, the logging company opened one of its gates to a property in Cohasset so a group of people could get away from the fire.
“Next thing … social media’s got out there, ‘well if you have a problem [Sierra Pacific] is helping evacuate,’” he said. “No, that’s not true. They did it once.”
Crowder says residents should stay alert.
“The one thing I can say is, if we do get an evacuation order, get out. Don’t stay,” he said, noting that staying diverts resources away from fighting the fire. “You’re not helping if you stay behind,” he said. “Plus you run a huge risk of losing your life.”
He also advised residents to leave early, if they don’t feel safe.
“Don’t wait for somebody to tell you to go,” Crowder said. “Go if you feel uncomfortable.”
Officials say under the current evacuation warning residents in the area should be preparing to evacuate, or if they need extra time, they should begin evacuating now.
If an evacuation order is issued, officials say all residents should leave immediately.
The town of Paradise has a list of emergency services for residents.
Both Paradise and Butte County are updating emergency information on several communication platforms.
