In an opinion piece, Grass Valley (California) resident and former Nevada County Coalition of Firewise Communities Chair Robert Long urged the city council to require RV park owners to train staff in fire safety and preparedness.
“Yes, fire is unpredictable, but a plan to be ready is not. Part of the permit process should require RV park owners to annually train park personnel in fire safety and preparedness, with regular fire department reviews,” Long wrote.
The opinion piece came about after the planning commission approved a controversial RV park proposed near the Nevada County Fairgrounds.
“As Chief Buttron said, sheltering in place may be an option to evacuation. But is the RV park staff trained for such an event? Are they prepared to respond to frightened visitors? Are they prepared to manage spot fires?” Long continued.
As per the column, Grass Valley Fire Chief Mark Buttron addressed the Grass Valley Planning Commission in December about the proposed RV park.
While Long acknowledged the fire chief’s “excellent advice” about personal responsibility during a wildfire event, he said there was no study cited about the impact an additional 150 large vehicles will have during an emergency evacuation.
He then suggested PRISIM Engineering to conduct a study. According to the column, the firm sent Long’s group a proposal that described seven tasks.
Task Five suggested reviewing the access of RV park traffic in an emergency scenario such as evacuations.
The task will “look at full buildout of RV park traffic exiting on to McCourtney Road and Auburn Road, and what kind of impact that would have to real-world evacuation conditions, a condition not studied in the RV park traffic study.”
After relaying the part from the proposal, Long called on the Grass Valley City Council to conduct a fire evacuation study for the proposed RV park, saying “now is the right time for the Grass Valley City Council to act.”
Millennium Engineering plans to develop a 150-site RV and glamping resort on a property on McCourtney Road, directly across the street from the Nevada County Fairgrounds.
The proposal will be considered today at the regular Grass Valley City Council meeting.
The plan also calls for 15 glamping areas, camping in a pop-up camper, or unique shelters like a yurt, tepee, dome, or safari-style tent accommodations.