Coastal Conflagration

An Island Evacuation Tabletop Exercise

may 8 2009

After Action Report/Improvement Plan

After Action Report / Improvement PlanCoastal Conflagration Tabletop Exercise

Administrative Handling Instructions

  1. The title of this document is Coastal Conflagration Tabletop Exercise Report.
  1. The information gathered in this AAR/IP is classified as For Official Use Only (FOUO) and should be handled as sensitive information not to be disclosed. This document should be safeguarded, handled, transmitted, and stored in accordance with appropriate security directives.
  1. At a minimum, the attached materials will be disseminated only on a need-to-know basis and when unattended, will be stored in a locked container or area offering sufficient protection against theft, compromise, inadvertent access, and unauthorized disclosure.
  1. Points of Contact:

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For Official Use Only

After Action Report / Improvement PlanCoastal Conflagration Tabletop Exercise

County Emergency Management:

Pam Brownell

Franklin County Emergency Management Department

(Office) 850/653-8977

(E-Mail)

Exercise Director:

Chris Floyd

Disaster Resistant Communities Group

(Office) 850/241-3565

(E-Mail)

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For Official Use Only

After Action Report / Improvement PlanCoastal Conflagration Tabletop Exercise

Contents

Administrative Handling Instructions...... 1

Contents...... 2

Executive Summary...... 3

Section 1: Exercise Overview...... 4

Exercise Details...... 4

Participant Information...... 5

Section 2: Exercise Design Summary...... 6

Exercise Purpose and Design...... 6

Capabilities and Activities Identified for Demonstration...... 6

Scenario Summary...... 7

Section 3: Analysis of Capabilites...... 10

Citizen Evacuation...... 10

Communications ...... 15

Emergency Public Information and Warning...... 18

Firefighting Operations and Support ...... 21

Mass Care ...... 26

Onsite Incident Management ...... 32

Section 4: Conclusion...... 39

Appendix A: Improvement Plan...... 41

Appendix B: Participant Feedback (3 Ups–3Downs)...... 47

Appendix C: Acronyms...... 55

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For Official Use Only

After Action Report / Improvement PlanCoastal Conflagration Tabletop Exercise

Executive Summary

The Coastal Conflagration Tabletop Exercise was designed and facilitated as part of an ongoing effort to assess the response capabilities and capacity of Franklin County’s – County Emergency Response Team (CERT). In addition to the CERT members who participated in the exercise, emergency responders from a wide variety of state and federal agencies also partnered in the exercise. Together exercise participants established a unified On-Site Incident Management Team and a fully activated County Emergency Operations Center Team to coordinate and support the fire suppression, evacuation and human services missions outlined during the three hour exercise.

While the primary purpose of the exercise was to assess the capabilities of the county’s fire suppression and law enforcement as they coordinated an evacuation of St George Island. The exercise also served as an opportunity to bring together the various governmental, as well as community and faith based organizations that comprise the CERT’s Human Services group.

During the exercise participants:

  • Responded to a massive wildfire to conduct fire suppression activities.
  • Developed and executed an island evacuation plan.
  • Planned, coordinated and facilitated a wide variety of actions to meet the needs of individuals and families who were evacuated from the island.

The purpose of this report is to analyze exercise results, identify strengths to be maintained and built upon, identify potential areas for further improvement, and support development of corrective actions.

Incorporated in Section 3: Analysis of Capabilities of this After Action Report is a comprehensive listing of each Target Capability with its associated Major Strengths, Primary Areas for Improvement and Improvement Recommendations

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For Official Use Only

After Action Report / Improvement PlanCoastal Conflagration Tabletop Exercise

Section 1: Exercise Overview

Exercise Details

Exercise Name: / Coastal Conflagration Tabletop Exercise
Type of Exercise: / Tabletop
Exercise Start Date: / May 8 2009
Duration: / 3 Hours
Location: / St George Island Florida
Sponsor: / Franklin County Emergency Management
Program:The Coastal Conflagration Tabletop Exercise was designed and facilitated as part of an ongoing effort to assess the response capabilities and capacity of Franklin County’s – County Emergency Response Team (CERT). In addition to the CERT members who participated in the exercise, emergency responders from a wide variety of state and federal agencies also partnered in the exercise. Together exercise participants established a unified On-Site Incident Management Team and a fully activated County Emergency Operations Center Team to coordinate and support the fire suppression, evacuation and human services missions outlined during the three hour exercise.
While the primary purpose of the exercise was to assess the capabilities of the county’s fire suppression and law enforcement as they coordinated an evacuation of St George Island. The exercise also served as an opportunity to bring together the various governmental, as well as community and faith based organizations that comprise the CERT’s Human Services group.
Exercise Purpose:The purpose of the Coastal Conflagration Tabletop Exercise was to evaluate the ability to:
  • Establish a Unified On-Site Incident Command.
  • Conduct Fire Suppression activities.
  • Warn residents and vacationers of life threatening wildfire and provide island evacuation instructions.
  • Evacuate St George Island.
  • Conduct Mass Care operations to support evacuees from St George Island.

Exercise Mission:The mission of the exercise was to assess the ability of emergency responders to work together using the National Incident Management System to establish a Unified Command in an effort to meet the disaster caused needs of island residents, vacationers and business owners during a significant event such as a large wildfire.
Capabilities /
  • Citizen Evacuation
  • Communications
  • Emergency Operations Center
  • Emergency Public Information and Warning
  • Firefighting Operations and Support
  • Mass Care
  • Onsite Incident Management

Scenario Type / Island Wildfire

Participant Information

Participant Organizations /
  • Apalachee Regional Planning Council
  • Capital Area Chapter of the American Red Cross
  • Capital Area Community Action Agency Inc
  • City of Tallahassee
  • Collins Realty Inc
  • Eastpoint Church of God
  • First Baptist Church of Apalachicola
  • First Baptist Church of St George Island
  • First United Methodist Church
  • Florida Department of Health
  • Florida Department of Law Enforcement
  • Florida Department of Transportation
  • Florida Division of Emergency Management
  • Florida Division of Forestry
  • Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
  • Florida Highway Patrol
  • Franklin County Animal Control
  • Franklin County District Schools
  • Franklin County Emergency Management
  • Franklin County Health Department
  • Franklin County Property Appraiser’s Office
  • Franklin County Seafood Workers Association Inc
  • Franklin County Sheriff’s Office
  • Love Center Holiness Church
  • Progress Energy
  • Resort Vacation Properties Inc
  • Salvation Army
  • St George Island Fire Department
  • St George Island United Methodist Church
  • St George Property Owners Assoc Inc
  • Trinity Episcopal Church
  • US Coast Guard
  • Water Management Services Inc

Number of Participants / 59

Section 2: Exercise Design Summary

Exercise Purpose and Design

The Coastal Conflagration Tabletop Exercise was designed and facilitated as part of an ongoing effort to assess the response capabilities and capacity of Franklin County’s – County Emergency Response Team (CERT). In addition to the CERT members who participated in the exercise, emergency responders from a wide variety of state and federal agencies also partnered in the exercise. Together exercise participants established a unified On-Site Incident Management Team and a fully activated County Emergency Operations Center Team to coordinate and support the fire suppression, evacuation and human services missions outlined during the three hour exercise.

While the primary purpose of the exercise was to assess the capabilities of the county’s fire suppression and law enforcement as they coordinated an evacuation of St George Island. The exercise also served as an opportunity to bring together the various governmental, as well as community and faith based organizations that comprise the CERT’s Human Services group.

Exercise Objectives, Capabilities, and Activities

Capabilities-based planning allows for the exercise planning team to develop exercise objectives and observe exercise outcomes through a framework of specific action items that were derived from the Target Capabilities List (TCL). The capabilities listed below form the foundation for the organization of all objectives and observations in this exercise. Additionally, each capability is linked to several corresponding activities and tasks to provide additional detail.

Based upon the identified exercise objectives below, the exercise planning team has decided to demonstrate the following capabilities during this exercise:

Capability: Citizen Evacuation

  • Activity # 1: Direct Evacuation Tactical Operations
  • Activity # 2: Activate Evacuation
  • Activity # 3: Implement Evacuation Orders for General Population

Capability: Communications

  • Activity # 1: Alert and Dispatch
  • Activity # 2: Provide Emergency Operations Center Communications Support

Capability: Emergency Public Information and Warning

  • Activity # 1: Manage Emergency Public Information and Warnings
  • Activity # 2: Activate Emergency Public Information, Alert / Warning and Notification Plans
  • Activity # 3: Establish Joint Information System
  • Activity # 4: Issue Emergency Warnings

Capability: Firefighting Operations and Support

  • Activity # 1: Activate Firefighting Operations and Support
  • Activity # 2: Size Up (Assess Site)
  • Activity # 3: Direct Firefighting Operations and Support Tactical Operations
  • Activity # 5: Contain and Control

Capability: Mass Care

  • Activity # 1: Direct Mass Care Tactical Operations
  • Activity # 2: Activate Mass Care
  • Activity # 3: Establish Shelter Operations
  • Activity # 5: Shelter General Population
  • Activity # 9: Distribute Food

Capability: Onsite Incident Management

  • Activity # 1: Implement On-Site Incident Management
  • Activity # 2: Establish Full On-Site Incident Command
  • Activity # 3: Resource Management
  • Activity # 4: Develop Incident Action Plan (IAP)

Scenario Summary

It is 3:37PM on a hot and dry Saturday during a long Memorial Day weekend where most of the residences on St George Island are occupied by either their owners or vacationers enjoying the beginning of the summer season with friends or family away from their daily lives. Everyone is enjoying their much need time off relaxing and swimming on the island’s beaches or taking advantage of the amenities of St George Island State Park. Young and old alike are bicycling and hiking the roads and paths throughout the island. Some residents and visitors have taken to the gulf and bay waters for sailing, canoeing and fishing.

The many restaurants, stores and rental agencies on the island are enjoying an increase in business due to the high number of individuals and families visiting the island during this year’s Memorial Day weekend. The country’s economy is good and business owners are looking forward to a very profitable summer vacation season.

The Southeastern United States has been suffering through a severe drought for the past nine months. The current weather conditions on St George Island are 98 degrees Fahrenheit, hotter than normal for early summer, with an extremely low humidity of only 11 percent. A very strong breeze has been blowing from the east all day long, sometimes gusting to as high as 30 miles per hour. Florida’s Division of Forestry’s (DOF) Keetch-Byram Drought Index (KDBI) for Franklin County has been in the 745 to 785 range daily for the past 9 days. These KBDI readings are higher than the 1998 readings during the worst wildfire season in Florida’s recent history.

At the present time Florida’s Division of Forestry and other fire suppression agencies are working numerous wildfires through the state. Since Tuesday a wildfire has been burring in the eastern portion of Franklin County on St James Island. This fire has consumed approximately 2,400 acres and is now approximately 85 percent contained. The wildfire was limited to the uninhabited portions of St James Island so there has not been a need for any evacuation orders to be issued for any of the residents or visitors to the leave area. The DOF Incident Commander (IC) estimates that the fire should be 100 percent contained by Sunday evening and that plans are in place to begin mop-up operations on Monday along with releasing some of the resources (men and equipment) that were deployed to the St James Island wildfire. The IC has also stated that the entire wildfire response team should complete mop-up operations by Wednesday or Thursday and the remained of the resources will be released from this incident.

The Franklin County Emergency Management’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC), located at the Apalachicola Airport, has been at Level 1 since the wildfire was reported on St James Island. While at a Level 1 their hours of operation have been from 7:00AM until 9:00PM. There has not been a need for the EOC to remain operational overnight. However the various EOC liaisons have remained on call in case there is an unexpected flare up of the wildfire during the overnight hours. Because the wildfire is expected to be fully contained by Sunday evening, county emergency management officials have changed the EOC operations to a Level 2. Level 2 requires a partial staffing of the EOC to monitor conditions and activities. On Saturday the EOC only has one staff person assigned.

Local law enforcement organizations, such as the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Highway Patrol are at their normal holiday weekend operational levels with deputies and troopers patrolling the neighborhoods and roads in Franklin County.

The county’s various Volunteer Fire Departments, who were heavily involved in the first few days of the St James Island wildfire response, have been looking forward to a nice quiet Memorial Day weekend with many of their volunteers taking long weekend trips of their own.

Due to the extreme drought conditions, Franklin County’s Board of County Commissioners has issued a Burn Ban restricting all outdoor fires. Information regarding the Burn Ban has not been aggressively circulated throughout the county. Very few of the weekend residents and vacationers on St George Island for the long Memorial Day weekend are even aware of the extreme high threat of wildfires in Florida’s Big Bend Region. Even fewer know about the Burn Ban which includes outdoor charcoal fires.

As a vacationer, renting a beach front home between west 9th and 10th streets, begins preparations for a luau that a group of her friends and relatives are looking forward to latter in the day, she ignites the homes outdoor charcoal grill. After making sure the fire is burning, she returns inside the rental house to ready the pork ribs that she plans to cook for the evening’s festivities.

Within minutes of the vacationer going inside a strong gust of wind blows sparks from the charcoal fire into the extremely dry palmetto bushes just behind the grill. Almost instantly the palmetto bushes explode into flames and begin to spread to nearby undergrowth. With a steady wind of 23 miles per hour blowing from the east the wildfire jumps across West Gorrie Drive and begins to spread towards Apalachicola Bay intensifying as it burns.

Beach homes begin to go up in flames as St George Island begins to be consumed by a COASTAL CONFLATGRATION!

The first 911 call is made to the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office reporting the wildfire and asking for help. Within 10 minutes over 100 calls to the Sheriff’s 911 Communications Center have been received notifying emergency response personal that the wildfire on St George Island is moving very fast and that residents and vacations downwind from the fire may be trapped because the fire has burned across all of the east west roads on St George Island.

The Sheriff’s 911 Communications Center begins to dispatch the county’s emergency responders to St George Island.

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For Official Use Only

After Action Report / Improvement PlanCoastal Conflagration Tabletop Exercise

Section 3: Analysis of Capabilities

This section of the report reviews the performance of the exercised capabilities, activities, and tasks. In this section, observations are organized by functionality. Each function is ranked by an overall and specific evaluator level of performance. Following the functional performance level are the narrative observations of specific evaluators.

Citizen Evacuation
Performance / Target Capability
Adequate / Activity # 1: Direct Evacuation Tactical Operation
Associated Critical Tasks
1.1: Make the decision to evacuate.
Strong / Evaluator # 1
Comments /
  • Fire Department established Incident command and Unified Command.

Strong / Evaluator # 2
Comments /
  • Decision to evacuate was made by the Franklin Emergency Operations Center with input from the Unified Command.

Associated Critical Tasks
1.2: Implement evacuation decision.
Adequate / Evaluator # 1
Comments /
  • Coordinated effort among Fire Department, Franklin
    County Sheriff’s Office and Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission.
  • Contingency plan to evacuate residence by boats.
  • Evacuation location established via bay and beach.

Strong / Evaluator # 2
Comments /
  • Decision was made for evacuation and communicated to County Commissioners.

Associated Critical Tasks
1.3: Identify populations and locations at-risk.
Strong / Evaluator # 1
Comments /
  • Emergency routes identified quickly.
  • Local knowledge of area and residence by emergency personnel was a tremendous asset.

Adequate / Evaluator # 2
Comments /
  • Populations were identified.
  • Information needs to be provided timely to the PIO.

Associated Critical Tasks
1.4: Identify emergency evacuation routes.
Adequate / Evaluator # 1
Comments /
  • Emergency routes identified quickly.
  • Bridge coming onto the island shut down to emergency traffic only.

Strong / Evaluator # 2
Comments /
  • The evacuation routes was identified and communicated to responders.

Associated Critical Tasks
1.5: Identify evacuee pickup points.
Adequate / Evaluator # 1
Comments /
  • Fire Department evacuation request through the county EOC.
  • Evacuation (Shelter) locations identified quickly, however these locations were not shared with the Fire Department and county EOC.