IN REVIEW—The Moorpark City Council heard an after-action report that detailed the community’s activities and overall lessons learned from the 2019 Easy fire. “This city is ready for emergencies,” said City Manager Troy Brown during the discussion. Acorn file photo
Whether it’s a fire, an earthquake or a flood, no city or county official wants to see residents faced with an emergency—but local leaders say the area’s response to the Easy fire in October is proof that the community is ready for when disaster strikes.
“This city is ready for emergencies. We certainly don’t want them, but we have the appropriate plans and are gathering the appropriate resources so we can at least sustain our service and be there for those who need them,” City Manager Troy Brown said.
Moorpark’s and the county’s response to the wildfire was discussed during a Feb. 19 City Council meeting at which officials presented an after-action report that detailed the community’s activities and overall lessons learned.
First responders’ quick response to the fire was due, in part, to their preparation for “critical fire weather” with low humidity and high winds. Throughout the incident, both the Ventura County Fire Department and Ventura County Sheriff’s Office beefed up their staffing as they put additional deputies and firefighters on call. In the early morning hours of Oct. 30, the sheriff’s Office of Emergency Services set up its emergency operations center (EOC) just one hour before the Easy fire broke out in Simi Valley.
“Leading up to this fire, we had several coordination calls over this week. We had an idea something was going to happen somewhere in the county because the weather and the wind and the humidity was all set up perfectly for an event like this to occur,” Moorpark Police Chief Capt. Victor Fazio said. “We had quite a contingent ready to go that morning. . . . They were ready to start evacuations almost immediately.”
Within 16 minutes of responding to the fire off of Easy Street near Madera Road, sheriff’s deputies were issuing their first evacuation orders for parts of Simi Valley, Moorpark and Thousand Oaks.
“To get that first evacuation order out in 16 minutes is something unheard of and something we are very proud of,” said Patrick Maynard, interim director of the county’s Office of Emergency Services.
Over the course of 30 hours, the Easy fire burned 1,806 acres and destroyed two non-residential structures, according to VCFD Division Chief Jeff Shea. Of the 11,276 residents evacuated during the fire, all were able to return to their homes by the following day at 10:14 a.m.
Lessons learned
The response, though, was not without a few speed bumps.
Much of Moorpark was without power during the Easy fire because Southern California Edison initiated a public safety power shut-off, where the company turns off power to targeted areas in high-risk weather situations.
Usually, the city will use generators to keep city hall and its EOC functioning during a power outage. During the Easy fire, though, the city’s generator experienced issues that left the command center with limited communications abilities and access to live broadcasts.
“When we went into the EOC we had limited power since our generator had a problem,” said Teri Davis, the city’s program manager. “We had portable generators brought in . . . and the problem was fixed by the afternoon.”
Through the experience, the city learned that it needs to have personnel on hand or nearby that can address technical or mechanical problems as they occur. The city also corrected its generator issue and installed a new radio system to improve communication.
“I am thankful that it was a small event because it gave a lot of real-world experience to our staff,” Councilmember Roseann Mikos said.
"easy" - Google News
February 28, 2020 at 10:03AM
https://ift.tt/32yIJnl
Easy fire response shows city, county ready for emergency, report says - Moorpark Acorn
"easy" - Google News
https://ift.tt/38z63U6
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Easy fire response shows city, county ready for emergency, report says - Moorpark Acorn"
Post a Comment