Glendale credits staff, volunteers as city restores power and clears storm damage after regional wildfires and windstorms

Glendale officials applauded city staff, first responders and volunteers for their emergency response after severe winds and region-wide wildfires prompted evacuations and widespread power outages in early January.

City leaders said the emergency operations center was activated Jan. 7 as high winds and red-flag conditions threatened neighborhoods. The city opened an evacuation center at Pacific Park Community Center and launched a multilingual emergency “splash page” on glendaleca.gov, city staff said.

The city manager and department directors told the council the coordinated response focused on evacuation safety, restoring electricity and clearing roadways. “GWP crews served over 33,000 customers affected by power outages or downed power lines, restoring service as quickly as possible,” the manager said in a staff briefing. Glendale Fire Department personnel and support teams handled thousands of emergency calls and assisted neighboring jurisdictions while keeping all Glendale fire stations fully staffed, Deputy Fire Chief Jeff Brooks told the council.

Why it matters: City officials said fast, multilingual communication and mutual-aid support reduced immediate risk to residents and allowed the city to reopen neighborhoods quickly. Council members and staff described the response as unusually intense and said lessons learned will shape future emergency planning and outreach.

City briefing and timeline

City staff said the emergency operations center was activated on Jan. 7 and evacuation orders for Glen Oaks Canyon and Chevy Chase Canyon followed hours later. An evacuation center opened within the hour; the city lifted evacuation orders two days later and implemented a repopulation plan once conditions were judged safe.

Staff provided these metrics to the council: Glendale Fire Department handled 3,431 emergency calls during the response period; the Emergency Information Center received 3,461 inbound calls from residents seeking updates and help; city crews responded to more than 700 incidents across Glendale. Public Works and Glendale Water & Power (GWP) crews worked block-by-block to clear debris and restore service.

Deputy Fire Chief Jeff Brooks said evacuation decisions were made "out of an abundance of caution" and explained warnings are based on specific risk factors including wind patterns, fire behavior and ember-cast impacts. “Evacuation warnings and orders are issued out of an abundance of caution based on specific risk factors,” Brooks said.

Cleanup, outages and next steps

Public Works reported 554 downed trees and limbs citywide; crews had cleared 309 as of the council meeting and estimated about 245 remained to be removed. The department estimated the full cleanup would take six to eight weeks if work continues at the current pace. Public Works Director (staff member) told the council the crews were "pacing slightly ahead of the 6-to-8-week schedule" but said he would return with options if the council wanted to accelerate removal — including the possibility of contracting additional crews.

GWP officials said nearly all power had been restored but work continued in some residential and commercial areas. The city prompted more than 6,400 new enrollments in its emergency alert system during the event and reported a surge in website traffic and social-media engagement while notifications were sent in multiple languages (Armenian, Spanish and Korean, staff said).

Council concerns and follow-up requests

Council members thanked staff and volunteers but asked for follow-up on several items: a memo quantifying the event’s greenhouse-gas emissions (CO2) for comparative analysis with the city’s electrification goals; a schedule and cost estimate for expediting brush and debris cleanup; and a review of the city’s emergency notification performance after reported false or duplicate evacuation alerts from outside agencies.

Deputy Fire Chief Brooks described how regional deployments were handled and said the department had personnel assigned to nearby fires while keeping Glendale stations fully staffed. He urged continued vigilance because relative humidity remained low even as winds subsided.

Public response and resources

Council members and staff thanked community donors and volunteer groups who helped supply food and support to evacuees at the Pacific Park shelter. City staff said four city employees also lost homes in the regional fires and the Glendale Fire Foundation had opened a relief fund for affected employees.

The city provided phone numbers for reporting hazards: public-works requests at (818) 548‑3950, power outages at (855) 550‑4497, and fire information at (818) 956‑4800. Residents were also urged to use the MyGlendale app to report downed limbs, power poles and other hazards.

Ending

Council members asked staff to compile a post‑event “lessons learned” memo and to return with budget or contract options if the council decides to accelerate recovery work. Several council members also urged a broader review of multilingual outreach, resident data gaps for heavily affected communities, and coordination with state and federal grant programs that could help with debris removal and resident recovery costs.