EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS TOWN HALL 3/31/25

TIMELY MEETING - Last night my wife and I attended the first of several Emergency Preparedness Town Halls scheduled for this spring.   This one was held at the Costa Mesa Senior Center and was 90 minutes well-spent.

SMALL TURNOUT - Once again, an important community outreach effort was sparsely attended.  From my seat I counted around 20 members of the public - outnumbered again by staff.  I hope a greater effort is made to expand outreach for the future meetings.

THE TEAM - The meeting last night was conducted by senior city staff members.  Fire Chief Dan Stefano guided the discussion.  We also heard from soon-to-retire Police Chief Ron Lawrence, Fire Marshall Jon Neal, Battalion Chief Tim Vasin, Mesa Water General Manager Paul Schoenberger and the Manager of Emergency Services, Delcie Hynes.  Also in attendance were City Manager Lori Ann Farrell Harrison, Brock Coward from her staff, City Council Members Arlis Reynolds, Andrea Marr and Mike Buley, as well as other staffers, including CMPD Public Information Officer Roxi Fyad.

THE SCHEDULE - Chief Stefano kicked thing off shortly after 6:00 p.m., gave us an overview of what was on the agenda and handed it off to Chief Lawrence to briefly address the Police Department's role in the emergency preparedness planning.  Stefano explained that, while the recent Southern California fires were catastrophic, Costa Mesa and our nearby region are more likely to be affected by an earthquake - like those experienced last week in Myanmar and Thailand.

CHIEF VASIN ON THE BATTLE - Stefano then called on Battalion Chief Tim Vasin - shown here in the center with Deputy Fire Chief Jason Pyle, and Fire Marshall Jon Neal -  who gave us a description, complete with real-time video, of his deployment as a Strike Team Commander at the Eaton Fire.  He explained in detail the frustration of not being able to save homes in a fire that was driven by hurricane force winds.  His explanation of how he and his team prioritized their actions, with Life Safety being #1, helped us grasp the situation.  While most of us have seen the videos of the Eaton Fire and the Palisades Fire that was occurring simultaneously the first week of January this year, Vasin's explanation of life on the fire line gave us a very new perspective. 

JON NEAL ON NEW FIRE MAPS AND PLANNING AHEAD - Fire Marshall Jon Neal gave us a summary of how the State Fire Maps aid in the planning for such disasters and explained the creation of brand new updates on those maps and how the use will enable homeowners to know how to "harden" their homes from fires.

STEFANO ON COSTA MESA'S PLANNING - Chief Stefano then took charge again and explained how all the City Departments work in concert when planning for these kinds of disasters.  He explained the synergy between the Costa Mesa Fire and Rescue Department and the Costa Mesa Police Department, plus other city departments like the City Manager's Office, Finance, IT, etc.  He praised the City Council and senior staff leadership for finding funding for critical equipment and creative ways to deal with these issues.  He mentioned upgraded equipment, re-building old fire stations and the creation of a new Training Center.

MESA WATER'S ROLE - Then Paul Schoenberger, General Manager of Mesa Water, stepped up and explained the role of that organization in preparation for disasters.  He told us about the sources of water provided by Mesa Water, the quality of the staff (365+ days without a lost-time accident), the maintenance of the 3383 hydrants and more than 300 miles of pipes.

DELCIE HYNES PRESENTS - Then Emergency Services Manager Delcie Hynes took over the program and provided an overview of the City's emergency preparedness plans, then circled back with greater details.  She spoke about how resources - water, food, emergency services - would be severely hampered if a big earthquake hit our area.  She spoke about the need to stockpile food and water and gather important identification paperwork for easy access.  At one point she asked how many in the audience had an emergency plan - only one person raised his hand.  She spoke about the training activities that are available - CERT, etc. - for residents of our city.  She explained, in detail, the importance of making plans.  There were several handouts available to us for our use in that process...She also explained the availability of Emergency Alerts - NIXLE and ALERT OC.  The thread throughout her presentation was PLAN - PLAN - PLAN!

Q & A - A few of us in the audience were given a chance to ask questions near the end.  Among those were planning for a Tsunami; how do we address the cost of preparedness?; the options available to us if FEMA goes away?

IMAGES - I've included many images, including photos of the slides used last night.  Take some time to view them and glean valuable information provided.  The City will review how this first meeting went and advise us of the dates and locations of future meetings on this important subject.  I'll post those dates on my Facebook page when available.

FEELING GOOD ABOUT OUR PREPAREDNESS - While most of us have not done enough to prepare our personal space in the event of a major disaster, I'm quite comfortable that our municipal team and their resources are positioned to help us survive should something happen.  We are fortunate to have outstanding staff leaders and a City Council that understands these issues and takes pro-active steps to help manage them.

A REMINDER - Almost 20 years ago, in the wake of the damage done by Hurricane Katrina, I contemplated what a major earthquake along the Newport-Inglewood Fault might do to our area.  I researched it and wrote a long essay, which I attached to my then-fledgling blog.  I present a link to that entry, which is still worth contemplating, but is out of date when you consider the population increase and changes in regional infrastructure that have happened in the last two decades.  All my numbers will be low.  Anyhow, here's the link for your reading pleasure.