Ready, set, go

Commissioners review proposed Big Horn County Shelter Plan

Emergency Management Manager LaRae Dobbs and Public Health Response Coordinator DeAnna Calvin presented Big Horn County’s shelter plan earlier this month to the county commission.

Dobbs said she and Calvin looked at other plans and used them as templates for their own, “putting pieces and parts together, trying to make it useable rather than just a government document.” 

 Within the purpose portion of the 14-page document, definitions such as local shelter, provisional shelter and animal shelter were detailed. 

Some situations that would activate the plan include extreme heat or cold, fire, flooding, evacuation, and/or a mass causality event. Dobbs said the responsibility to open an emergency shelter lies with the emergency management manager, public health response coordinator, public health nurse manager and the county sheriff. 

The type of shelter to be opened will be based on the event, the community’s anticipated need, the anticipated length of sheltering and resources available.

Red Cross-identified shelter locations throughout the county included the fairgrounds, schools, National Guard Armory and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints between Basin and Greybull. 

Dobbs said pet sheltering is also a factor in planning and livestock could be a concern as well. When there were ice jams on the Big Horn River a few years ago, some families brought their livestock to the fairgrounds. 

Dobbs, as part of the Wyoming All Hazards Association, has formed a committee to work with the U.S. Forest Service, which has an evacuation plan called “Ready, Set, Go.”  While the evacuation plan has been in place for years, there has been little communication between agencies. 

The committee is working on a process for “Ready, Set, Go” that would standardized across the state of Wyoming in all counties. A representative from the Forest Service is on the committee. 

The commissioners indicated they were pleased with the plan.