City fire chief outlines training, partnerships in update to Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan

Fire Chief Bailey told the Public Safety Committee on Feb. 18 that the city's updated Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan, or CEMP, will emphasize staff training, renewed external partnerships and a revived Community Emergency Response Team as it moves to the full council for approval.

The plan "is a living document," Fire Chief Bailey said, and staff are proposing a year of exercises and classroom training so new and existing personnel understand roles and how the emergency operations center would function.

The CEMP matters because it sets how the city organizes response during floods, fires, hazardous incidents and other emergencies, and the committee voted to move the update to the regular city council agenda under public safety for a full presentation.

Bailey described a four-part training schedule for 2025: an early spring orientation to the emergency operations center for department heads and supervisors; departmental role-and-responsibility reviews; a third-quarter tabletop flood exercise with directors; and a year-end citywide exercise to open and operate the EOC in a full drill. "We're really focusing on training," he said, noting the city has seen substantial staff turnover and limited recent opportunity to exercise the EOC.

City Administrator Mike Chambliss has directed staff to complete National Incident Management System/Incident Command System training. Bailey said staff will be required to complete ICS-100 and ICS-200 and the IS (independent study) courses commonly used for whole-community coordination (IS-700 and IS-800), while directors and supervisors will complete ICS-300; ICS-400 is planned for fall instruction. "We're actually going to be bringing those classes to the city in a couple months," he said.

Bailey also emphasized rebuilding external relationships. He said the city has begun reconnecting with neighboring emergency managers, including North Bend and the King County Emergency Operations Center in Renton, and plans outreach to the school district, local businesses and community organizations. He said he will present on preparedness to the local chamber of commerce in mid-to-late February and has scheduled meetings with regional emergency managers.

The presentation described steps to reactivate and refresh the local CERT program. Bailey named Tom Walker, a retired responder and volunteer, as the new CERT lead and said Walker completed FEMA training to be a CERT manager. Bailey said the city will update CERT policies and run refresher trainings once or twice a year so volunteers retain skills and can participate in teaching.

Mayor Catherine Ross and council members praised the emphasis on exercises and public outreach. Council Member Kat Cotton asked whether departments maintain contact rosters and evacuation resource lists; Bailey said much department-level detail exists but some EOC binders are outdated and the planned exercises will expose gaps to be assigned and remedied. "Part of it is we're looking for not only what we're currently doing, but we're going to be looking for, you know, as we said, it's a work in progress," Bailey said.

Council Member Cara Christiansen asked whether second- or third-in-command staff would be included. Bailey said training will be available to multiple staff levels and that drills will test contingency leadership when primary personnel are unavailable. Mayor Ross asked that King County Search and Rescue and local volunteer leadership, including Carrie Gagnon from Fall City, be included in exercises; Bailey said he would add them to the outreach list.

Chair Rob Watton asked whether there were objections to placing the CEMP on the regular council agenda under public safety; none were raised and the committee agreed to send the presentation to the council for a full briefing.

The committee did not take further action on the CEMP at the Feb. 18 meeting. Bailey said the city will track plan revisions annually and include a revision log required for the state's five-year review cycle. He also said staff will continue to refine training metrics and consider adding data reports, such as transport-billing revenue and unit-response counts, to future reports.

Bailey closed by offering to respond to follow-up questions and to provide the committee any additional detail requested before the council presentation.