L A F D
VALLEY VALLEYView View
Issue 4
Operations Valley Bureau
Sept/Oct 2015
PREPARING FOR EL NIÑO By Deputy Chief Daryl Arbuthnott
BUREAU COMMANDER Deputy Chief Daryl Arbuthnott ASSISTANT BUREAU COMMANDERS
When you think of the fire department, you naturally think of fire but we also prepare for other environmental emergencies as well. Every few years, winds shift in the Pacific Ocean along the equator, warming the water more than usual. These “El Niño” events trigger changing weather patterns globally and can increase chances of heavy rain and snow pelting California. Forecasters are predicting this year’s El Niño as the second strongest on record for this time of year, and it has the potential to be the most potent weather changer in 65 years. In 1995, the dry conditions prior to El Niño’s arrival created the perfect conditions for flooding, mudslides and flash floods—very similar to the heat wave we experienced this summer. Some are speculating that our region’s next El Niño may already be here—and when you talk to experts you will hear that the weather phenomenon sports a dual personality. El Niño may bring much-needed drought relief to our state, but it also brings torrential rains which can create disastrous flooding and mudslides. Please remember that floods are dangerous and should be taken seriously. Flooding can occur quickly in the mountain passes and valleys, and mudslides are common on hillsides with very little vegetation.
Assistant Chief Trevor Richmond Andrew Fox Emile Mack Gregory Reynar TRAINING OFFICER Captain II Richard Fields EMS OFFICER Captain I Danny Wu OFFICE 4960 Balboa Blvd. Encino, CA 91316 818-728-9921 818-728-9931 Fax
Email:
lafd.valleybureau @lacity.org
(See El Niño continued on page 2)
DRONES AFFECT EMERGENCY OPERATIONS Drones, or unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) as the Federal Aviation Administration labels them, are becoming more popular these days. These little aircraft are fun to fly and allow hobbyists the ability to see incredible sites. However they also can pose a flight hazard, so hobbyists need to know and follow Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) rules when operating these little flying machines.
fire suppression as well as commercial aircraft in their approach to their respective airports. Fire departments across California have been forced to stop or postpone critical air drops on fires, severely hampering fire suppression efforts. Likewise, when a UAS is identified in an LAFD brushfire incident, all helicopters in the area need to be grounded— resulting in a complete loss of valuable water dropping resources and severly hampering fire suppression efforts. Please be aware of your surroundings if you fly a UAS, and educate others about their impact during emergency operations.
UAS are considered “mechanized” equipment and consequently cannot fly over, take off from, or land in, congressionally designated Wilderness Areas. They are not permitted to fly in areas that have “Temporary Flight Restrictions” in place, such as wildfires. The FAA has authority over all airspace. Ensure that you comply with all FAA regulations and Recent reports have documented UAS being guidance for flying UAS by checking online at: operated over wildfires, thereby interfering with www.faa.gov/uas
Proudly serving the communities of: Arleta, Bell Canyon, Canoga Park, Chatsworth, City of San Fernando, Encino, Granada Hills, Lake View Terrace, Mission Hills, Noho Arts District, North Hills, North Hollywood, Northridge, Pacoima, Porter Ranch, Reseda, Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Sun Valley, Sylmar, Tarzana, Toluca Lake, Tujunga, Universal City, Van Nuys, Warner Center, West Hills, Winnetka, Woodland Hills.
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Los Angeles Fire Department automatic door opener in the case of INDOORS power failure. • Close all windows and doors around • Keep a flashlight and portable radio your home to prevent sparks from with you at all times and stay tuned to blowing inside. your local news station. • Close all doors within the house to slow fire spread inside the house. RUSH IRE OUTDOORS • Turn on the lights in all your rooms, REPAREDNESS on the porch, and in the yard. Your • Move combustible yard furniture away home will be more visible through the from the house or store it in the If you see smoke or fire in your area, smoke. garage. immediately report it by dialing 9-1-1. • Cover windows, attic openings, eaves, Remember to take note of the location Brush season is upon us and it is critical and vents with less combustible so that the dispatcher can send that you prepare your family and home material, such as 1/2-inch or thicker emergency responders to the correct to be ready. For more information plywood. location before you hang up. please visit: • Close window shutters and blinds if they are fire-resistant. www.lafd.org/brush EVACUATION MAY BE NECESSARY • Attach garden hoses to faucets and • Back your car into the garage heading situate them so they can reach all out with windows closed. Be sure to areas of your house. keep your keys with you so that you • Place a ladder against the house on can evacuate quickly should it become the opposite side of the approaching necessary. fire for roof access. • Close the garage door, leave it • Shut off butane, propane and/or unlocked, and disconnect the natural gas valves.
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(El Niño continued from page 1)
Southern California’s dry rivers, creek beds and deep slot canyons can be especially dangerous for those caught by a rapidly moving flash flood. Los Angeles is a semi-desert area of mountains, canyons, ravines and basins. Problems are created when thunderstorms, high winds and other bad weather strike suddenly because: Just six inches of rapidly moving flood water is enough to knock a person down. It only takes two feet of water to float a large vehicle. Mudslides can easily travel faster than 10 miles per hour. Flash floods can turn a calm landscape into a raging river in a matter of minutes. Flash floods can move boulders, rip out trees, knock down bridges and destroy buildings. • If you receive a warning or are caught in a flash flood, move immediately to higher ground.
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Halloween is almost here. Make sure to keep your trick-or-treaters safe. Kids are more than twice as likely to be hit by a car and killed on Halloween than on any other day of the year. To protect your children, make it easier for drivers to see kids. Give your child a flashlight or glow stick to carry, or attach retro reflective hang-tags, wristbands or tape to their costumes. Also, when choosing a costume, stay away from trailing fabric that could catch on fire.
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Here’s what you can do to prepare yourself for this year’s El Niño:
• Clear trash and loose items from gutters and alleys that could potentially interfere with storm drainage. • Don’t place trash and recyclable containers directly on drains and/or in gutters. • Do not rake leaves, grass clippings or yard debris into the street or alley or gutter. • If you see a clogged catch basin, call the City’s Storm Drain Hotline at (800) 9749794 to report it so that LA Sanitation can get it cleaned out before the rains begin. • Prepare to harvest rain. Big storms mean big returns on rainwater that can be captured in rain barrels and used at a later date for irrigating outside landscaping. The Metropolitan Water District is still offering a rebate on rain barrels for City residents. If you already have rain barrels, make sure they’re in good working order before the rains begin in earnest. For more information about preparing for El Niño please visit: www.lastormwater.org
Operations Valley Bureau SEPTEMBER IS NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS MONTH! This year we are asking you to take action now—make a plan with your community, your family, and for your pets. Plan how to stay safe and communicate during the disasters that can affect your community. We are asking everyone to participate in America’s PrepareAthon! and the national day of action, National PrepareAthon! Day, which culminates National Preparedness Month on September 30th. Together with planning, preparation, and action we can ensure safety for our families and communities.
DEVELOPING YOUR FAMILY ESCAPE PLAN You know that family escape plan you keep meaning to draw up and finalize? You know the one, where you make sure you’ve mapped out two ways out of your bedroom and two ways out of you home? And you’ve chosen a safe meeting place where every one in your family will go in case you have to escape in a fire or other disaster? That plan you keep meaning to go over with everyone in your household? The one you keep meaning to practice? If there’s one thing an emergency will teach us, it’s that everyone rises to the level of their own preparedness. Or perhaps more truthfully, sinks to the level of their own unpreparedness. If you wait until an emergency to come up with a family escape plan, things are bound to go badly. Emergencies and disasters are scary things. You can’t expect every member of your family, or yourself, to behave calmly and escape your home in an efficient and timely manner when the world is crashing in around you. But if you have an escape plan in place, and you’ve practiced that plan once a month, every member of your family will have a much better chance of escaping your home without injury. You’ll have a plan. Everyone will know what to do. You’ll know how to get out -even in the dark, even with the smoke alarm blaring. And everyone will know where to go outside of the home to meet the rest of the family and await first responders. Protect The first step in making a family escape plan is drawing a map of your home. your family...Create a Family Escape Plan today! For more info please visit: www.mysafela.org
THE GREAT CALIFORNIA SHAKEOUT THE WORLD’S LARGEST EARTHQUAKE DRILL Everyone should know how to protect themselves during an earthquake. On October 16 at 10:16 a.m., more than 9 million people in schools, businesses, nonprofits, government agencies, neighborhoods, organizations and households all across California will practice “Drop, Cover and Hold On” and other aspects of their emergency plans. The Great California ShakeOut began in California in 2008 and is the world’s largest earthquake drill. Participation is free and may take only a few minutes, depending on your drill plans. The primary purpose of ShakeOut is to encourage people and organizations to be prepared to survive and to recover quickly when the next big earthquake happens. Learn more and register to participate at: www.ShakeOut.org/california
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L A F D
VALLEY VALLEYView View
VALLEY BUREAU INSIGHTS OPERATIONAL RESPONSE TIMES
2014 TOTAL TYPES OF CALLS
From Station Notification to Time On-scene
Advanced Life Support
2015 July/August All Incidents
Basic Life Support Fires/Alarms Other
5 Minutes 28 Seconds
BATTALION 12 SPOTLIGHT Fire Station Number and Community Served
7 24 74 98
Panorama City Shadow Hills/Sunland Tujunga/Sunland
75 Mission Hills 77 Sun Valley 91 Sylmar
Pacoima
59 On-Duty Personnel Daily
69,045 39,757 12,995 7,633
2014 TOP 5 MEDICAL SERVICE CALL TYPES Calls per 1,000 Residents
Call Type
Number
Sick
15,157
10.4
11,031 10,960 9,394 9,057
7.5 7.5 6.4 4.2
Fall Difficult Respiration Unconscious Chest Pain
EVENTS Sept 11 Patriot Day Ceremony
7:00PM - 9:00PM
20 Congressman Brad Sherman Town Hall Meeting
3:00 PM
30 NFPA Horse and Pet Preparedness Press Conference
9:30AM - 11:00AM
30 Valley Public Safety Advisory Committee
6:00PM - 8:00PM
3 Annual Valley Disaster Preparedness Fair
10:00AM - 2:00PM
Oct
10 Reseda Tree Giveaway
10:00AM
LAFD Fire Station 88, Sherman Oaks Birmingham High School, Lake Balboa Orcas Park, Lake View Terrace Fire Station 87 Training Center, Granada Hills Fire Station 87, Granada Hills One Generation Center, Van Nuys
11 45th Assemblymember Matt Dababneh Northridge Community Coffee 15 Great California Shakeout
2:00PM - 4:00PM 10:16AM
Wilkinson’s Senior Center, Northridge Locations throughout the Valley
17 Fire Station 7 Grand Opening
10:00AM-2:00PM
Fire Station 7, Panorama City
27 LAFD Leadership Empowerment Advisory Panel
8:30AM - 12:00PM
To be determined
FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT OPERATIONS VALLEY BUREAU AT (818) 728-9921
LAFD RETIREMENTS
LAFD FIRE COMMISSION
Name
Rank
Station/Community
Richard Brunson
Captain
8 / Porter Ranch
Paul Gamez
Captain
84 / Woodland Hills
Philip Gonzales
Firefighter
Mike Jacalone
Captain
James Kwasigroch
Captain
114 / Van Nuys Airport
Richard Pearson
Captain
106 / West Hills
John Virant
Captain
100 / Lake Balboa 39 / Van Nuys
28 / Porter Ranch
The Los Angeles Fire Department is overseen by a five-person civilian board appointed by the Mayor and affirmed by the City Council. The Board of Commissioners establishes goals and provides direction to the Department. Fire Commission public meetings are held on the first and third Tuesday of each month at 9:00 AM in Room 1820 of City Hall East. If you need assistive listening devices, sign language interpretation, auxiliary aids and/or translation services, please contact LAFD, (213) 978-3838, 72 hours in advance. For Board Reports please visit: http://ens.lacity.org/lafd/lafd_board_report.htm Audio recordings are at: https://www.youtube.com/user/lafirecommission
Operations Valley Bureau (OVB) encompasses the entire San Fernando Valley portion of Los Angeles. Battalions 10, 12, 14, 15 and 17 report to the Valley Bureau Commander, Deputy Chief Daryl Arbuthnott. The primary responsibility of Emergency Operations, which includes the OVB, is to direct, coordinate and control the line functions of the LAFD. To request LAFD resources at public events (community fairs, school visits, etc.) , please send an email to LAFDrequest@lacity.org with the details of your event (date, time and duration, location, etc.). As a covered entity under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the City of Los Angeles does not discriminate on the basis of disability and, upon request, will provide reasonable accommodation to ensure equal access to its programs, services and activities.
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