Official applauds water company


Members of the operations staff of Oak Park Water Service were among the first to respond to the Woolsey fire, and I am so grateful to them.

After the appearance of a smoke plume to the southeast of Oak Park at around 3 p.m. Thurs., Nov. 8, staff went into action.

Per the emergency plan adopted by the board of Triunfo Sanitation District—which owns OPWS—they immediately started filling all five Oak Park potable water reservoirs to the top.

Control settings were changed to direct the booster pumps to keep reservoirs as completely filled as possible, no matter what the water use was.

An emergency operations center was set up shortly after by operations superintendent Richard Jones to direct staff in coordination with TSD general manager Mark Norris.

After the system settings were changed for maximum auto-fill, staff went out in the community to make sure district pumps and other equipment were working.

At around 6:30 p.m., operations director Matt Baumgardner received data showing that the Woolsey fire was moving toward Oak Park and expected to arrive soon. A short time later, fire trucks began rolling into the community.

All the while, OPWS workers continued to tour neighborhoods to ensure that the water system was working optimally.

And when firefighters started battling blazes, OPWS staff members would stop at the fire sites to make sure there were no water supply problems.

At around 10:30 p.m., flames crested the hill above Deerhill Park where the main OPWS pump station is located. Firefighters told staff that fire teams were moving back to Thousand Oaks Boulevard and advised our staff to evacuate as well, which they did.

However, at 6 a.m. Friday, supervisor Justin Robbins and his staff were back at work. They checked on the more than 20 houses destroyed in Oak Park, turning off the water at each. This was so that toxins from the fire, including from household cleaning products, would not run into the storm water system and contaminate it.

Staff then continued to drive around the community. They carried shovels in their trucks and put out hot spots when they saw them and even used water hoses to put out small fires.

As an Oak Park resident, I am so grateful for the dedicated work of OPWS staff members both on the ground and in the chain of command. Because of their preemptive action, water pressure remained strong in our community. And small fire outbreaks were put out and hot spots tamped down to keep us safe.

A huge thank you to these unsung heroes.

Janna Orkney
Oak Park

Orkney is the chair of the Triunfo Sanitation District board.