As firefighters, search and rescue teams, and utility crews continue to pick through the rubble of destroyed neighborhoods in Phoenix in Talent, some residents are asking why they did not receive notice to evacuate before the Almeda Fire was already on their doorsteps.
John Vial usually heads Jackson County's Roads and Parks departments. At a press conference on Wednesday, Vial said that he'd been tapped as director of Jackson County Emergency Operations on Tuesday afternoon.
"This is a new role for me," Vial said.
Vial described the County's emergency notification system as one that may have been ill-equipped to handle the pace at which the Almeda Fire progressed, as it moved at "lightspeed" north from Ashland, and through multiple jurisdictions — but did not seem sure that there were better alternatives available.
Under Oregon law, only law enforcement officials have the authority to implement an evacuation, Vial said, but they depend on information from the field.