The city continues to encourage the community to be prepared before, during, and after a disaster
In recognition of the five-year anniversary of the Woolsey Fire and Malibu’s Annual Day of Preparedness, the city’s Public Safety Department hosted an Open House last week in the Public Safety Department’s expanded office area in City Hall.
Community members were invited to meet the Public Safety staff, representatives from the LA County Fire and Sheriff’s departments, the Malibu CERT Team and Arson Watch.
Emergency Service Coordinator Sarah Flores encouraged the community to be prepared with go bags but also know what to do before and during a disaster.
“It’s very important to be prepared, not just for wildfires but for any type of disaster, any time of emergency situation,” Flores said. “We focus on four main points for wildfires: Home hardening; it’s important to have [your] emergency go bags in place, so if you do have to evacuate your home, you can grab those before you leave; during any time of disaster, you want to make sure you’re monitoring on social media, emergency alerts, radio, as well as listening to any type of emergency personnel, fire department, sheriff’s departments; and knowing your evacuations and routes. We recommend to all the community to know their evacuation routes within their neighborhoods — a lot of the areas in Malibu have very small roads, so it’s really important to know your options on how to get out of your area.”
Attendees also received a free NOAA weather radio, and were able to schedule a home wildfire assessment from the city’s fire safety liasons.
City Fire Safety Liaison Bradley Yocum, was at the open house informing visitors of the free services they provide such as free home wildfire assessments. Home hardening, or fireproofing, is using fire-resistant materials and defensible space design to defend your home against wildfire and windblown embers. These fire-proofing material include roofing materials, vents, eaves and soffits, windows, garage doors, walls and siding, and decking
“We’re basically making the citizens of Malibu aware of our function, not just fire emergencies but other types of emergencies,” Yocum said. “Before I came I was pretty impressed with the City of Malibu, all the things that they’ve done since Woolsey, there’s so many things available to the public — for free. We come out to your house, we’re going to recommend to you, if my family lived here, this is what I would do, this is how I would protect it, for you and for the guys saving it.”
Yocum recommends knowing your evacuation locations and practicing when an emergency does come.
“When you practice and prepare, that brings a calm to you, so when an emergency does hit, you’re not spinning out of control,” Yocum said. “You’re calm, you’ve planned, and you’ve practiced.”
Last month, the fire safety liaisons and Public Works staff installed the last of the 47 “Beacon Boxes,” which the city had designed and built to address some of the recommendations following the Woolsey Fire. The boxes include maps and thumb drives with locations of fire hydrants, swimming pools, and other valuable local information to assist out-of-area firefighters responding to wildfires in Malibu. The boxes were installed at strategic locations throughout the city, such as at the entrances to canyon neighborhoods.
The city’s Community Emergency Response Team, also known as CERT, was created to help residents when disaster strikes.
Malibu CERT Team Leader Richard Garvey was at the open house answering questions and said their top priority is bringing communication to Malibu residents.
“We’re trying to bring information and internet connectivity to them, so we’re setting up at Zuma and City Hall, and some of our emergency locations are satellite-based wifi, so that anyone can drive up to PCH and do basic internet browsing, receive emails and text during an extended emergency event such as a PSPS,” Garvey said. “Since it’s a relatively new system, we’re only doing it for an extended PSPS; we may look at it and evaluate the system and if we need to do it more at a regular basis.”
Last month, the Malibu CERT Team, in coordination with the city, set up the city’s Emergency Information Station at Zuma Beach. The CERT Team outfitted two of the city’s seven emergency supply bins and one mobile unit with satellite phone and internet capabilities and solar power that will be hubs to provide emergency information to the community during widespread communications and power outages. CERT had radios with repeaters that can communicate across the city, a large TV monitor to display emergency information, laptops, printers, bulletin boards, and other communications equipment, as well as emergency and first aid supplies.
Garvey said they will provide more information when the locations and services are fully activated and available.
“It’s all a work in progress, so at this point, we’re trying to figure out the best way, and the most important way is to let the community know that at these locations — if there is a PSPS or any kind of power outage or emergency — that those services will automatically be on and to do that in advanced,” Garvey said.
CERT also offers training in basic first aid, search and rescue, use of fire extinguishers, disaster psychology, and more. To receive notification of future CERT training or other emergency preparedness classes offered by the city, go to MalibuCity.org/news and subscribe to the Emergency Preparedness Calendar. To learn more about Home Wildfire Hardening Assessments, visit malibucity.org/fire-safety.