Oak Park town hall meeting discusses emergency issues

The message was clear at the recent Emergency Preparedness and Response town hall meeting in Oak Park: It took a community to save the community.

The public safety meeting hosted by Ventura County Superivisor Linda Parks, answered the questions residents had following the September Topanga Fire.

The supervisor gave commendations to a number of citizen-run emergency response teams, four of the county’s search and rescue teams, local service organizationsa ham radio operators club and two media outlets for their cooperation during the fire.

The fire started in late September and continued for over a week into October. It burned nearly 25,000 acres in East Ventura County and West Los Angeles County, forcing thousands of residents to evacuate their homesThe cause of the fire is unknown and still under investigation, police said.

The town hall meeting, which was held at the Oak Park Community Center, featured top-ranking officials from the American Red Cross, the Ventura and Los Angeles County fire departmentsthe Ventura County Sheriff’s Department and the California Highway Patrol. Each representative spoke about their agency’s role during the fire.

Public safety officials agreed that their success was the result of total cooperation from the area’s residents.

“We really appreciate the way the community came to our assistance,” said Sheriff Bob Brooks“We couldn’t have effectively done (the job) without the cooperation of the residents.”

Diana Starzak, head of Oak Park’s Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), said her team of 23 volunteers knocked on doors throughout Oak Park to help evacuate residents. Starzak said i“speaks volumes” about her team that they continued to help evacuate residents even when their own homes were threatened by fire.

Brooks said the Sheriff’s Department, which is stretched thin and in need of deputies, was helped immensely by residents’ willingness to evacuate their homes when asked by officers.

Ventura County Fire Chief Bob Roper called the Topanga Fire “dynamic” because of its ability to spread quickly. Roper said the firefighters had to maintain constant communication between the numerous fire departments to fight the blaze on multiple fronts.

He said residents benefited from the fact the blaze straddled the Los Angeles and Ventura county lines. The border location meant fast response from not only Ventura’s firefighters, but also support from departments in L.A. County and city.

To help fight the fires, a number of Los Angeles fire departments went “dark” to supply personnel to the Ventura’s department, which was fully-deployed throughout the entire fire.

Roper said fire officials used fire scouts and local media coverage to help monitor the fire’s movement. He disagreed with residents who said that during the fire only he “rich homes” were being pro

ected.

“That is absolutely not the case,” Roper said. “We do not discriminate whether you’re in a big house, small house or whatever may be your standard of living.” Roper stressed the importance of weed abatement around homes that border open space. He advocates the 100-foot minimum, but said that a 200-foot border around the house would significantly help firefighters.

Starzak said residents should always have an emergency evacuation plan in place.

“People should take advantage of every training opportunity thacomes along,” Starzak said. She recommends people become familiar with CPR and basic first aid skills, both of which are covered during CERT training

CERT training is a free service open to all residents.