Staff Report

September 30, 2005

To: Board of Directors

From: George Haines, Asst. Fire Chief

Subject: Status Report-PBCSD Disaster / Emergency Planning

Recommendation:

This is an informational status report and no recommendations are being made at this time.

Issues:

Disaster / emergency planning has become a front- page topic recently, with the apparent breakdown in emergency response efforts in the Gulf Coast area, particularly in New Orleans, following Hurricane Katrina damage and the disastrous flooding that followed the failure of several levees that protect the city. Committees at all levels of government are studying where the breakdown in response occurred, and will be making recommendations for system wide improvements.

Discussion:

Within Pebble Beach-Del Monte Forest, day-to-day emergency responses are the responsibility of the Fire Department or Sheriff’s Office, depending upon the type of emergency. Obviously, sometimes both agencies respond to the same emergency (vehicle accident, coastal emergency, fire) and carry out their respective responsibilities. When local resources are overwhelmed, mutual aid plans are implemented, and these requests go through established channels, first to the county operational level, then to the Regional level, and finally to the statewide level for like resources (additional fire engines, police officers, etc). If the need is for more general assistance, such as occurred during the El Nino storms of 1995 and 1998, PBCSD would request assistance from the Monterey County Office of Emergency Services. (County OES) Monterey County would coordinate requests at the lowest possible levels, but would channel requests it cannot fill to the Coastal Region California Office of Emergency Services Operations Center (REOC). REOC would fill resource requests at its lowest level, before channeling requests to the state headquarters in Sacramento. This “bottom up” response plan is a key component of the Statewide Emergency Management System (SEMS) that was legislated and implemented following coordination difficulties encountered in the Oakland Hills Fire of 1991.

PBCSD administrative and fire department staff work closely with the Monterey County Office of Emergency Services and Monterey County Sheriff’s office in emergency planning. Topics include:

· Pebble Beach-Del Monte Forest Coordinated Emergency Response Plan

· Local events, such as the ATT golf tournament, the U.S. Open, equestrian events, etc.

· Monterey County Coastal Incident Response Plan (including the Tsunami Incident Response Plan, currently in development)

Locally, we have developed the Fire Defense Plan for Pebble Beach. This plan was initially developed following the 1987 fire, and is reviewed and updated approximately every two years.

Annually, PBCSD sends reminders and self-check pamphlets to all residents and owners to remind them of the requirement to provide defensible space around their properties. We also ask residents to respond if they feel they would need assistance in the case of an evacuation. From these responses, staff maintains a database, and these lists are carried on each fire engine and chief’s vehicles. In the case of a disaster or other emergency, the Sheriff’s Office is the agency responsible for evacuations. PBCSD administrative and fire department staff would work together with the sheriff’s office to facilitate evacuating these residents. In the case of the Pebble Beach hotels, the hotel staff would assist the Sheriff’s office, once the order to evacuate is given.

As part of the Tsunami Preparedness planning, a small group of Pebble Beach agencies has been working on our local implementation plan. The PBCSD administration, fire department, Monterey County Sheriff’s office, and Pebble Beach company security personnel are working to develop specific notification procedures, road closure procedures, and evacuation assembly points and shelters. One method of notification under study is a “Reverse 9-1-1” phone system, which would allow us to utilize a local computer server and phone lines to make phone calls to residents. The PBCSD emergency radio would also serve to inform residents, in conjunction also with the normal channels, such as commercial radio and television.

PBCSD administrative staff has produced a GIS based system of maps and parcel information that shows, in detail, which parcels within Pebble Beach might be inundated in the event of a significant Tsunami. These maps and database will allow first responders to know which areas to concentrate their efforts in order to inform residents and visitors of the need to evacuate.

Recent events have shown that first responders will be overwhelmed for the first days of a disaster. People need to be prepared to take responsibility for the safety of their families and to assist their neighbors when possible. Everyone needs to have his or her own emergency plan and disaster supply kit, and be prepared to “self-subsist” for at least three days.

Reviewed:

General Manager: RA Date: 9/23/05 Agenda no. 10