Fire Evacuation Exercise At College of Marin Saturday Morning

The Marin County Sheriff’s Office and Kentfield Fire Protection District are holding an emergency evacuation exercise Saturday morning.

The 9 a.m. drill is in response to the recent fires in Lake County that left an estimated 3,000 people homeless and destroyed more than 1,900 structures.

A number of Marin County residents have been selected to take part in the mock evacuation to the College of Marin parking lot, Kentfield Fire Chief Paul D. Smith said.

The Marin County Office of Emergency Services, Fire Safe Marin and a local Boy Scout troop will provide preparedness tips to the residents at the parking lot.

The Kentfield Fire Protection District and neighboring fire agencies will deploy their firefighting apparatus as they would in a real event, Smith said.

“We learned from the recent evacuations during the Lake County and Butte County fires,” Smith said.

“Neighborhood communication is crucial during an emergency, especially a fast-moving wildfire. If neighbors know how to evacuate quickly and help others, the chances of fatalities is greatly reduced,” Smith said.

--Bay City News Service, photo via Shutterstock