Fitch Mountain evacuation drill planned for wildfire preparation

Fitch Mountain residents will flee their homes Saturday morning as if they’re escaping flames that are fast approaching their community just outside Healdsburg.

Beginning at 8 a.m., they’ll be participating in an evacuation drill on the 900-foot hillside that's covered in vegetation and often designated as an at-risk environment susceptible to wildfires.

At the sound of a SoCo alert sent to participants’ cell phones, residents will drive to the Healdsburg Community Center on the west side of town. A Sonoma County sheriff’s deputy also will activate a hi-lo siren to launch the drill.

Priscilla Abercrombie, a Fitch Mountan resident of eight years, said more than 100 residents may be participating and she’s “super pumped about that.”

“It’s really, for us, to see what it’s like when everyone tries to leave the mountain together,” said Abercrombie, co-leader of Fitch Mountain’s Citizens Organized to Prepare for Emergencies group.

Evacuation drills for Sonoma County fire-prone areas developed in 2019 in response to the wildfires that have ravaged the North Bay in recent years. Drills took place in Mill Creek and Cavedale-Trinity before others were delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Another evacuation drill is scheduled this month for June 19 in Occidental and Camp Meeker. Sebastopol Center for the Arts, 282 S. High St., will be the evacuation center.

Drill sites were targeted for being “more challenging” areas impacted by dense vegetation and limited access, said Jeff DuVall, deputy director of the Sonoma County Department of Emergency Management.

Fitch Mountain has been identified as an at-risk area for years, and last month the California Coastal Conservancy approved a $505,000 wildfire prevention grant to reduce vegetation on Fitch Mountain.

The project is expected to last into 2024 amid California’s drought that has most of Sonoma County in the “exceptional drought” category, leaving North Bay residents concerned about a devastating fire season.

During Saturday’s drill, two evacuation routes will be used. From North Fitch Mountain Road, residents will go on to Powell Avenue before turning right on Healdsburg Avenue toward the community center. Anyone on South Fitch Mountain Road will go on to Matheson Street before turning right on Healdsburg Avenue.

“We don’t know what a fire’s going to do. That’s why it’s important to know more than one way out,” DuVall said.

Previous Sonoma County wildfires spared Fitch Mountain but still forced residents to evacuate. That experience, however, may have had a negative impact that could discourage people from participating in Saturday’s drill.

“You’ve got this mentality of ‘we’ve done this before,’” Abercrombie said.

An emergency preparedness resource fair will be held at the community center following the drill, and participants are encouraged to share details about their experience with organizers and residents.

Abercrombie said neighbors need to help one another prepare for wildfires, especially elderly residents who may need assistance.

“Maybe there’s someone on the corner you need to check on,” she said.

Sonoma County Supervisor James Gore added, “Exercises like this one for Fitch Mountain allow residents to work with emergency managers to stage a drill that will result in faster and safer evacuations when that is critical to keeping our families and neighbors safe.”

You can reach Staff Writer Colin Atagi at colin.atagi@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @colin_atagi.