Fire Chief Addresses Town Evacuation Plan

By Adam Swift

Fire Chief Scott Wiley addressed some questions about the town’s emergency evacuation plan at last week’s town council meeting.

“There were questions as to whether or not we have an evacuation plan,” said Wiley, adding that he has been asked by some people in town if one is in place.

The chief said the emergency evacuation plan has been in place for 12 years and is updated every five years. Because of the sensitive nature of the plan, Wiley said the entire plan is not made public.

However, Wiley did hit upon some of the highlights and major themes of the plan at the council meeting.

“We talked about the 72 hours people should be prepared to shelter in place,” said Wiley. “This comes up multiple times in this document. Strategy one will be to shelter in place. It is the fastest protective action to employ; it’s less costly and disruptive and it’s preferable in poor weather conditions.”

Sheltering in place is not safe in all hazards, Wiley added, and is a short-term protection depending on the resources available.

While the document recommends sheltering in place in many circumstances, Wiley said the town does have the ability to move people within the town when an emergency or disaster strikes.

Moving people from one part of the town to another is far more likely to happen than evacuating tens of thousands of people from the town entirely, Wiley said.

“It is extremely unlikely that that would ever happen … but moving people from point A to point B, from an incident in the Highlands to a shelter at the Cummings School … from Point Shirley due to a storm to the Cummings School is possible,” said the chief. “The thought that we would evacuate tens of thousands of people at any time is extremely unlikely.”

Wiley noted that he also met recently with the chief of Boston’s emergency management department and that they are both looking to bring in more agencies for a larger meeting regarding evacuation and emergency management plans for the region.