The Office of Emergency Management is the “disaster agency” within Elbert County tasked with emergency planning and disaster response. Colorado Statute (CRS 24-32-2107) states “each county shall maintain a Disaster Agency or participate in a local or inter-jurisdictional disaster agency.”
Primary responsibility includes having an emergency operations plan for the county. In conjunction with the operation plan, the emergency manager is responsible for activation and management of the local emergency operations center (EOC). This is the center of disaster management activities and includes disaster management such as public information, policy decisions, volunteer management, resource management, etc. The role of the EOC is to “provide a central location from which government at any level can provide interagency coordination and executive decision making in support of the incident response.
These responsibilities provide the framework for mitigating, preventing, preparing for, responding to and recovering from disastrous events. Other duties include managing grants, contracting, mutual aid agreements, network building, planning, public education, staff and jurisdiction training, report writing and much more.
The goal of emergency management is to save lives, prevent injuries, and protect property and the environment when an emergency occurs.
The activities and responsibilities of the Office of Emergency Management are conducted in stages:
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Mitigation – Activities that eliminate or reduce the chance of occurrence or effects of a disaster.
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Preparedness - The time prior to the onset of a threat, emergency, or disaster. It involves planning and activities that are focused on improving the overall capability of responding to and managing emergencies or disasters.
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Increased Readiness: - Responding to the forecast of a disaster. County departments monitor and assess conditions that could develop into a major emergency or disaster situation and keep the Office of Emergency Management informed of any potential problems.
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Response: - This starts at the onset of an emergency or disaster event and continues until the situation is stabilized or brought under control.
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Initial Relief and Recovery - This starts as soon as the situation becomes stabilized and continues until essential services are re-established and long term recovery planning and redevelopment activities can begin.
The burden of disaster management, and the resources to deal with it, requires a partnership among all levels of government, the private/business sector, voluntary organizations and the general public/community.
Current Burn Restrictions: Stage I – Effective 9/17/08
Click here for press release
Restricting Open Fires and Open Burning in the Unincorporated areas of Elbert County Ordinance # 06-01
Click here to see the PDF file
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