Politics & Government

County Emergency Services Need Improvement, Report Says

A grand jury report criticized San Mateo County's office of emergency services for some of its response to the San Bruno fire. Nearly two years later, improvements still need to be made, the report concluded.

A San Mateo County grand jury report has found that the county Office of Emergency Services is still not ready to properly handle a disaster nearly two years after the 2010 pipeline explosion in San Bruno.

During the explosion, the jury assembly room in the basement of the Redwood City Hall of Justice was used to coordinate the county’s response to San Bruno. But the fact that hundreds of people use the room, cell phone reception is spotty and electronic equipment is antiquated means that it would not be adequate to serve as an emergency operation center if another disaster struck, the grand jury concluded.

“In a county of nearly 750,000 citizens, located in a recognized earthquake zone, large-scale emergencies require a fully-equipped coordination site for emergency services,” the report said.

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Now, the county Board of Supervisors and the Sheriff’s Office have six months to establish a fully-functioning emergency center, according to the grand jury.

The county emergency services office is also being required to establish better communication with the Red Cross and follow through on improvements recommended after the San Bruno fire.

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Out of 13 improvements recommended in the aftermath of the explosion, the county emergency services office only followed through on four of them, the grand jury found.

The PG&E pipeline explosion in the Crestmoor neighborhood was San Bruno’s largest disaster in history and one of the county’s worst ever. Eight people died and 38 homes were destroyed, and dozens of others were injured. In all, there was about $55 million in damage to residents’ homes and $70 million in damage to the city’s infrastructure.

The disaster required a multi-agency response, and the county played a major role in coordinating the emergency response throughout and after the fire.

However, the grand jury found fault with the fact

  • there was no coordinated information center established during the disaster,
  • the county health department was denied access to use portable radios in the immediate aftermath of the fire, and
  • the person responsible for finding out solutions to the spotty cell phone coverage at the disaster site didn’t know that was his responsibility.

Sheriff Greg Munks, who oversees the county office of emergency services, said Monday that his department is working on finding a better location for a emergency operation center.

“The EOC’s current location in the basement of the Hall of Justice in Redwood City is functionally limited and not acceptable for serious and prolonged emergencies,” Munks said in a statement. “Despite the current budgetary constraints, the Sheriff is committed to finding a permanent solution to this issue.”

Despite the criticism, the grand jury recognized all of the county employees who helped respond to the San Bruno fire. In particular, the report noted the efforts of Marshall Wilson, the county director of communications, and Jeff Norris, the county office of emergency service’s district coordinator.

“We owe all of them our thanks,” the report said.

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