www.montereycountynow.com MAY 28-JUNE 3, 2026 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 11 When Carmel Police Chief Todd Trayer suggested to local law enforcement and emergency response colleagues that the tiny town of 3,100 residents mount a major disaster evacuation drill, some looked at him askance. Was he sure? He was, and eight months later that drill is set to come to fruition at 9am on Saturday, May 30. “I had to buy a lot of people lunch,” Trayer jokes about the quest for buy-in from numerous local partners. The idea for the drill originated from Carmel Councilmember Hans Buder, who initiated a Wildfire Preparedness Committee in the months after the Los Angeles fires last year. He suggested the drill, with the goal of testing the city’s emergency evacuation systems “and build muscle memory,” Buder says. Trayer bought into the idea and began working on it in earnest last September. “I had no idea how much work it would be,” he says. He looked for an example of a similarly sized town that had done such an exercise and found one in Mill Valley in Marin County, which has a larger population but a similar geography. He reached out to Mill Valley Police Chief Ignacio “Rick” Navarro, who told him it would be a tremendous task but worth it to expose cracks in the system. Trayer began reaching out to groups and agencies inside and outside of Carmel, including neighboring law enforcement agencies, Monterey Fire, the County of Monterey’s Department of Emergency Management and the Sheriff’s Department, the California Highway Patrol, plus many others including SPCA Monterey County, for 19 stakeholders in all. They met weekly online to plan. As of mid-May, nearly 60 households had signed up, representing two to four people each. Some of the participants will walk to a meeting location at the corner of Ocean and Junipero, where Monterey-Salinas Transit buses will take them to a designated safe zone. Others will drive, meeting at Monte Verde and Ocean, and will be escorted by police in a caravan to the zone. The city is using reverse 911 alerts to send notices to the town both in advance of the drill and at 9am. Participants will leave their homes or businesses and gather at the meeting spots. Forty-five volunteers from the Community Emergency Response Team and Volunteers in Police Service, plus Carmel police officers, will be on hand to help. Trayer, his team, and County emergency personnel will be in the City’s Emergency Operations Center monitoring the exercise, which he expects will take about 45 minutes. The drill is followed by a community safety fair at Devendorf Park from 11am-2pm. Open to the entire community, it will feature free hot dogs and 14 booths from safety agencies. Trayer says one important outcome is that he now has contacts from neighboring cities, the county and other agencies on speed dial. Buder thinks those relationships will be invaluable. “Honestly, we’ve already won,” Buder says. Bug Out Carmel prepares for disaster with a full-scale drill in quickly evacuating the entire town. By Pam Marino Carmel Police Chief Todd Trayer spent eight months preparing for the evacuation drill with the goal of finding cracks in the emergency system and building muscle memory for an actual emergency. NEWS As of mid-May, nearly 60 households had signed up. DANIEL DREIFUSS Grove Market proudly carries only the freshest meats and produce. Time to Celebrate! 242 Forest Avenue, Pacific Grove (831) 375-9581 Mon-Sat 8am-7pm • Sun 9am-6pm Voted BEST NEIGHBORHOOD MARKET and BEST BUTCHER SHOP CONGRATULATIONS 2026 GRADUATES!
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