A new emergency management plan will guide La Plata County’s response to future disasters.

La Plata County commissioners approved the first revision of the county’s Emergency Operations Plan in more than a decade on Friday, allowing local authorities and residents to respond more quickly and flexibly to emergencies.

“The Emergency Operations Plan is a road map and a pre-event plan, so we don’t have to make things up,” said Rob Farino, emergency management coordinator for La Plata County.

“It lines out not only what we do, but who are the key players,” he said.

The new framework brings together months of collaboration between government agencies, tribes, service providers and local stakeholders to streamline the county’s response to emergencies.

It outlines scenarios from airplane crashes and dam failures to hazardous spills and wildfires, identifying procedures that local leaders and first responders should follow to assist residents and protect property.

It also defines the roles of county officials and establishes the responsibilities of 15 teams that serve critical functions during emergencies, including transportation and communications.

“The reason we have an emergency operations plan is to be prepared to help support the primary responders when something happens,” said Shawna Legarza, La Plata County’s director of emergency management.

“The plan sets the foundation for having discussions and trying to get things coordinated and collaborated before the response, so when something does happen we’re more prepared to help residents,” she said.

The last major revision to La Plata County’s emergency plan was in 2007, though it is supposed to be updated every few years.

Colorado counties are required by law to have measures in place to prevent, mitigate, respond and recover from emergencies and disasters.

Since Legarza took over as the director of emergency management in 2020, she, Farino and other local stakeholders, such as the Durango Fire Protection District and Sheriff’s Office, have devoted months and dozens of hours to modernize emergency operations in the county.

The Emergency Management Department hosted about 60 three-hour Zoom calls seeking input about best practices for each scenario starting in August 2020, Legarza said.

“The 2007 plan was two thick 5-inch binders and (there) was a lot of information that wasn’t immediately accessible,” she said. “Our goal for this plan was to be adaptable and meet the needs of people on smart devices.”

The county hired outside consultants Dynamic Planning + Science to help create a more useful and accessible tool both for the public and for responders, becoming one of the first counties in the state to use a digital format for its emergency management plan.

“It's a living, breathing document that is reactive and far more useful,” Farino said.

The Emergency Management Department now will be able to revise the plan in real time as training exercises and disaster situations reveal kinks and better procedures, Legarza said.

Annual training exercises with local authorities will test the plan to ensure that the response is quick and thorough.

Last year, the fire department simulated a plane crash at the airport. After the recent wind and snowstorm on Dec. 15, the Emergency Management Department held a run-through of power outages.

“We do these exercises pretty regularly to flex the muscles, practice the plan and identify weaknesses and try to fix those before an actual event,” Farino said.

La Plata County residents don’t often see the work that goes into the emergency operations plan or realize its critical importance.

But in incidents like last summer’s Vosburg Pike Fire, it guides the response, including how resources are expended, who is financially response, and where evacuees go.

“We’re thinking about things so residents don’t have to,” Farino said.

“We’re constantly trying to be ready for those what-ifs, and I think that should be reassuring to the public,” he said.

Residents can visit the La Plata County’s Emergency Operation Plan online for more information.

ahannon@durangoherald.com