Laguna Beach council approves 2025 wildfire mitigation update and funding priorities; action list includes emergency operations upgrades and outreach

Laguna Beach City Council approved a revised wildfire mitigation and fire safety report that expands the city’s operational, technology and community-preparedness work and sets funding priorities for the next several years.

Staff and an external ad hoc committee presented an update to the 2019 wildfire mitigation plan. The committee — which included council members, city staff, water district representatives, emergency‑management volunteers and outside partners — condensed prior actions, added lessons learned from recent fires and the July Rancho Fire, and assigned funding and implementation timeframes to 76 action items.

Key items adopted or funded at the meeting include: an update to the city’s Emergency Operations Plan and annexes; expansion of the outdoor warning system (additional speakers and sirens guided by a gap analysis); purchase of TabletCommand or similar vehicle‑location/incident-management software; IT and cabling upgrades for the new Emergency Operations Center; investment in a Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) update supported by a grant; and a part‑time community preparedness educator to support CERT academies, neighborhood preparedness and outreach. Council also approved funding for a redundant emergency operations capability, and evaluated drone deployments and traffic‑signal priority systems to improve emergency response times.

Staff said the city has approximately $4.0 million allocated in the current fiscal budget for wildfire safety and that the ad hoc group assigned short‑term (1–2 year), medium‑term (3–5 year) and long‑term (5+ year) classification and recommended funding sources for each action item, including identifying items that will be funded by partners (e.g., water districts), rule‑28 credits associated with utility undergrounding and items requiring further funding identification.

Chief Niko King and Police Chief Jeff Calvert explained how proposed technology — including emergency vehicle signal priority, drones as first responders for rapid situational awareness, and consolidated EOC dispatch consoles — would supplement existing personnel and increase response efficiency. Council members praised the cross‑agency collaboration and moved to adopt the recommended funding and implementation approach. Staff will begin hiring the community preparedness educator and continue implementation and quarterly reporting to the ad hoc group and council.