A perspective from Waldo Canyon Fire

1. That Was Soooo 30 Seconds
Ago:

2. While You Are Here
• Set the Stage
• The Incident
– Waldo Canyon Fire
• Opportunities
• Lessons Learned
– Crisis Communications
– Technology / Social Media

3. Set the Stage
• Social Media drove the transition from
Information Age to Attention Age
• The public is looking for, distributing,
and influencing information with or
without you!
• 1st on scene
• Prepare now
3

4. The Incident
Waldo Canyon Fire – June 2012
• Background
• Statistics
• Response
• My Involvement
Your Challenge
4

5. Background
• Started mid‐day on
June 23, 2012
• In town for the
DHS/FEMA
Chemical Stockpile
(CSEPP) Workshop
in Pueblo the
coming week
5

6. Official Statistics
• Type I Incident
• June 23 to July 10, 2012
(100% contained)
• Evacuation of approx.
32,000 residents
• Partial evacuation of
the Air Force Academy
• 347 homes destroyed &
46 homes damaged
• 18,247 acres burned
(approx. 11K on June 26th alone)
6

7. The Growing Fire
7

8. The Growing Fire
8

9. Joint Information Center
9

10. Joint Information Center
10

11. The Reality Is…
11

12. The Players
• Traditional Media
– Appropriate
– Reliable or ?
– Timely
• Citizen (Public) Journalism
– Appropriate
– Reliable
– Timely
12

13. The Players
• Government Publishing
– Appropriate
– Reliable
– Timely
13

14. The Opportunity
Go Green! The goal is to make our
information publishing:
– Appropriate (pertinent to the incident)
– Reliable (government agencies)
– Timely (quicker to the public)
This is where social media comes in!!
14

15. Response Agencies
15
• Colorado Springs Fire
Department PIO
• Colorado EMA
• US Air Force Academy
• FEMA (IMT & VIII)
• El Paso County Sheriff's
Office
• Pike/San Isabel National
Forests
• Colorado Public Health
and Environment
• Mayor
• Colorado Springs Police PIO
• City of Colorado Springs
• READY Colorado
• Pikes Peak Red Cross
• Colorado Springs State Patrol
• Colorado State Patrol PIO
• Pueblo Chemical Depot
• Pueblo West Fire
• And many more…
Active Accounts

16. Messaging
16
Advisory
• Please reserve cell phone use for emergencies only to keep the
networks free for emergency personnel use #waldocanyonfire
Evacuation
• MANDATORY EVACUATION: All Areas N of Garden of the Gods
between I‐25 and Western city limits. #WaldoCanyonFire
Incident Impact
• Current #WaldoCanyonFire #s (9:00pm): 6,200 acres; 5%
contained; 20,085 residences/160 commercial structures
threatened; 764 personnel
Volunteering
• HOW YOU CAN HELP: visit http://t.co/FJLQaMCq for ways to
donate/volunteer. #WaldoCanyonFire

17. Messaging
17
• Time Sensitive Information
• Inadvertent broadcasts of expired information
• For example:
1. “Effective immediately, Mountain Shadows is under
mandatory evacuation”
2. “6/26 5:20pm Mtn Shadows is under mandatory
evacuation”
• The inclusion of time stamps into the actual content
helped prevent accidental misinformation.

18. Messaging
Online data during the event
Courtesy of University of Colorado, Colorado Springs
18
Data Type Characteristics
Keyword (Official Hashtag) #waldocanyonfire
Tweets 100,134
Unique users (6/25‐6/29) 25,672
Targeted Accounts 16
Targeted tweets (6/1‐7/9) 4,578

19. The Opportunity
19
Remember ‐ We want to Go Green!
– Appropriate (pertinent to the incident)
– Reliable (government agencies)
– Timely (quicker to the public)

20. Lessons Learned
• Acquire social media knowledge and tools NOW!
• You have to be able to operate within social media
• Establish an incident social media policy
– Which venues will you use? Test cross‐posting
– Prepare strategy statements for the community
• Dashboard (HootSuite, Tweetdeck, etc.)
– Unified messaging across SM platforms
– Scheduling messages
– Personal use for familiarity
– Analytics may be built in for post‐evals
20

21. Lessons Learned
• Regular Communication is key
• Footage of burned residences prior to official release
• Citizen journalists photos and video of response efforts
• Official Hashtag established “late” after variations
already existed
• No established phone bank at the JIC
– Denver area codes
– Caused confusion
21

22. Lessons Learned
• Be a part of the community, but remember that you are only
a part
– Flow with the conversation
– Stay engaged (don’t retreat)
– Don’t recreate content—share it
– Be as responsive and appropriate as possible
– Remember that everyone is under stress
• Keep a finger on the pulse
– If a question is asked a few times, be proactive
– Acknowledge and engage community hubs
– Dispel rumors
• Don’t tell them what you want to tell them… tell them what
you need to tell them
22

23. Your Challenge
• Look Inward
• Really Look
23

24. What Now?
• Don’t collect “digital dust”
• Be present before, during, and after incidents
• Map out a clear, workable crisis communication plan early
(and revised it often)
• Implement communications strategies that integrate mobile
and social media technologies into their emergency plans
24

25. In Closing
25
Been There…
Done That…

Got the…