| | Published September 28th, 2011
| Emergency Planning Moves Forward
| | By Sophie Braccini | | |
The three Lamorinda communities are getting closer to establishing workable emergency plans. The Moraga Orinda Fire District (MOFD) recently hired an Emergency Preparedness Coordinator, Dennis Rein, and according to Moraga Police Chief Bob Priebe, the City of Lafayette has expressed an interest in joining forces in planning, testing and enacting emergency response.
A recent Moraga Town Council meeting began with the Council issuing a Proclamation in support of a program hosted by the Lamorinda Wildfire Forum on October 12, 2011 at 7:00 pm in the Orinda Library Auditorium to commemorate the 1991 Oakland Firestorm. The proclamation was given by the Council to Canyon Fire Council and emergency preparedness activist Jonathan Goodwin.
Priebe acknowledged that regionalism is a great thing in case of emergency and he believes that the City of Lafayette will seek to enter a Memorandum of Understanding with its two neighbors.
"We will establish a functional Emergency Command Center, we will organize exercises and drills, coordinate with CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) volunteers, and we will have an emergency plan," said Chief Bradley, "but we will not take the responsibility of the response from you - this is a greater community effort."
Bradley was echoed during the public comment period by Goodwin, who added, "There are all kinds of policy decisions that have to be made. In a serious earthquake, what will happen to people who need oxygen? How are injured people going to be identified? The sewing together of the staff, the people in the neighborhoods, and the volunteers, has yet to be done. City councils should make the policies and should have an implementation group to test them."
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA