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10 | SUN LAKES LIFESTYLES | JANUARY 2020 | The EPAP Team met with the County of Riverside Emergency Management Department (EMD) to understand the evacuation orders that many residents received during the recent Wolf Fire. Senior Public Information Specialist Shane Reichardt, and EMD Program Supervisor Eric Cadden explained that only a portion of Sun Lakes homes received the emergency evacuation order. Our entire community was not shown as one entity on the grid of homes that were in the designated alert area. This resulted in "panic in the streets" by some Sun Lakes residents within the affected (and alerted) area, while other residents slept on undisturbed. The EPAP Executive Team is working with the EMD to remedy the confusion that resulted because only part of Sun Lakes was alerted. Another misunderstanding was caused by the actual wording of the alert. Reichardt explained that Riverside County public safety agencies are now being trained on standardized evacuation terminology recommended by the State of California. Three levels of warning vocabulary will henceforth be used to alert residents: An EVACUATION WARNING means that there is a potential threat to life and/or property. Those who require additional time to evacuate, and those with pets should leave the area now. That includes the disabled, the physically compromised, and those with oxygen and other devices. An EVACUATION ORDER means that there is an immediate threat to life, and those alerted should leave now. The area will be lawfully closed to public access. An order to SHELTER IN PLACE means that everyone should go indoors immediately, shut and lock doors and windows, and prepare to self-sustain until further notice. The best way to get up-to-the-minute information is to follow any of these entities on Twitter: @CalFireRivCo, @calfirerru, EMD@ rivcoready, or @caltrans8. Residents can also call the Fire Call Center at (951) 940-6985, or contact Justin.gardiner@rivco.org. EPAP recommends that you register your telephone numbers with the Riverside County Alert System. Go to rivcoready.org to register your landlines and cell phones for alerts from the County of Riverside. To register with the city of Banning to receive alerts, go to nixle.com. EPAP is ready to help. Our teams are updated as new and unforeseen situations arise. If you have any questions, call the EPAP line at (951) 524-3126. Happy New Year everyone! Our next meeting is Mon., Jan. 20 at 10 am in the Main Clubhouse Multipurpose Room. Our guest speaker will be Elaine Joly Hollman with Save a Small Dog Rescue. She will be speaking on the importance of volunteering and fostering. I'm sure it will be interesting so mark your calendars and save the date. We are overloaded with old pet items and are not accepting donations for the time being. If you have any, please donate them to the local shelters and rescues. We will be doing the same. Thank you for all the past donations. Hope to see everyone at the January meeting. Info., Sandra Burgon, (909) 855-0226. Be Prepared In Case Of Evacuation Orders