South Pasadena reviews emergency response and recovery after early‑January windstorm

Chiefs from South Pasadena’s police and fire departments gave the Public Safety Commission an overview of the city’s response to the windstorm event that began Jan. 7 and the recovery work that followed.

The presentation described activation of the city’s emergency operations center (EOC), large‑scale mutual aid, extensive calls for service and an initial damage estimate of about $2.9–3.0 million. "This presentation is an overview of the windstorm event that we experienced in early January," Police Chief Brian Solinski said.

The nut graf: the storm produced widespread downed trees, power outages and emergency incidents that required overtime staffing, EOC coordination and mutual‑aid support. City officials told commissioners the council issued a city emergency proclamation at its prior meeting and that state and federal disaster declarations make certain reimbursement programs available.

Police, fire and public‑works officials described immediate actions taken. Solinski said the police department ramped up staffing, deployed officers for traffic control and evacuations, and sent about 20 additional officers during the event. Fire Chief Greg Lloyd said the department pre‑positioned resources and that South Pasadena units were first on…