Medford/Ashland fires

[Juniper]

Today they had a press conference that confirmed that EAS was never given and the JaCo Sheriff alert was inconsistent.  At least we know it's being addressed.  The reporters said the interview was tense.   Probably meaning defensive.  Sheriff Sickler, who I like, doesn't feel that this is the time to address this since the emergency isn't over. That there is time after big events to assess and review what went well and what went wrong, and pointed out that law enforcement went into burning buildings to save people.  And that is the 'best kind of evacuation'.  I think I disagree with him on that point.  I do agree that there should be a time for a thorough investigation into this.  Apparently the same thing happened in Paradise.  What did we learn?  I can't agree that being pulled out of your burning home with no time to gather things and pets is the 'best' evacuation.  Nor do I believe that we should not be at least be putting a contingency plan into effect.  The State is burning.  I don't think we have time for a cozy chat up at a more convenient time.  It's unlikely, but it's possible another event could occur, and having at least a solid plan for how to notify citizens should be looked at.  I saw someone on Facebook suggest we have old fashioned air raid sirens for small towns like these. Sounds like at least it would have alerted people there was an urgent emergency.

I saw a small snip of that press conference on the news. He seemed very defensive, and kicking the can down the road for a future discussion is the sign of someone trying to come up with reasons why the shit failed so miserably in order to save face.

Save face? That implies the sheriff did something wrong. I don't think the fact that there were no  EAS warnings has nothing to do with the sheriff.

I imagine Sickler is exhausted and frustrated.  The last thing he needs is to be under the gun when he's trying to do his job. His choice of words was lacking but you can't be perfect. When you are working as hard as you can and don't feel appreciated it comes out that way.  His office was not the reason EAS wasn't sent.  And he is probably right. EAS would have perhaps been worse in terms of gridlock.