Photo By Sgt. Cheri Cramutolo | View from the sky of the southern California wildfires that burned the western region...... read more read more
CARSON CITY, Nev. - The horrendous wildfires that burned thousands of acres across Idaho, Utah ,California and Nevada, underscore how important it is for states to share resources' and work together during emergencies.
The Emergency Management Assistance Compact, established in 1996, is the cornerstone of mutual aid and is a model compact for disaster response. Since ratification by Congress in 1996, 50 states and 4 United States territories have enacted legislation to join EMAC. EMAC is the first national disaster agreement since the Civil Defense Compact of 1950.
Historically, EMAC served as the overarching governance for state emergency aid, but with the onslaught of everyday concerns such as wildfires, earthquakes, mudslides, hurricanes and floods, states have seen the need for something more. An agreement that allows states to share resources during emergencies that are not state declared.
EMAC offers state-to-state assistance during governor-declared state emergencies. It is a responsive and straightforward system for states to send personnel and equipment to disaster areas. Although EMAC has proven to be a very critical part of emergency management, local disasters such as the Angora fire in Lake Tahoe reiterate the importance for standing mutual aid agreements between states. Maj. Jeff Zupon, Director of Military Support for the Nevada National Guard states, "Lake Tahoe is a perfect example of the importance of Memorandums of Understandings. Nevada is better positioned along the California/Nevada border in the Lake Tahoe region to fight fires". During the Angora fire, once California requested the resources, the state of Nevada responded immediately, providing fire, law and medical aid to California.
"Disaster response begins at the local level. If a county can't handle the emergency, it will ask the state for help. If the scope or scale of the event requires additional resources the emergency management agency will ask for outside resources," said Col. Mathew J Brady, Branch Chief for the National Guard Bureau.
In an effort to fill in the gaps were EMAC has fallen short, many states have created compacts and or agreements with their neighboring states. For Nevada, these types of agreements are pivotal during the fire season. "There are many small fires that don't constitute a state declared emergency but are considered a county emergency", said Maj. Jeff Zupon. During emergencies, response is the key to saving life, limb and property MOU's enable states to gain assistance in an expedited manner.
During the southern California fires, Nevada sent multiple resources to California. "In total we sent 6 aircraft, one UH 60 Black Hawk helicopter, one CH47 Chinook helicopter, two OH 58's Kiowa helicopters, two C130's Hercules airplanes, half a dozen vehicles and 56 Nevada Guardsmen supported the California fire mission", said Master Sgt. Dean Long from the Nevada Joint Operations Center.
In addition to sending resources to other states, Nevada also is on the receiving end of recourse sharing. "The state of Nevada receives assistance from other states on a yearly basis especially during fire season. We have an automatic aid agreement that extends 25 miles into all of the states around Nevada. During fire season, Nevada gets aid from each of the surrounding states," said Gary Derks from Nevada Department of Emergency Management.
The key to dealing with any emergency is response. The earlier the response, the lower the impact an incident has on a community. MOU's enable states to share resources' with ease, without the governor declaring a state of emergency.
Gary Derks states, "The concept is neighbor helping neighbor and the primary goal is saving lives".
| Date Taken: | 01.11.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 03.11.2008 13:24 |
| Story ID: | 17248 |
| Location: | CARSON CITY, NEVADA, US |
| Web Views: | 205 |
| Downloads: | 190 |
This work, Sharing Recources, by SGT Cheri Cramutolo, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
