Hermosa Beach leaders hear regional wildfire response, water-supply and evacuation briefings

Assistant Chief Brian King of the Los Angeles County Fire Department and regional partners on Jan. 28 updated the Hermosa Beach City Council on two large wildfires north of the city and on local preparedness steps for residents.

The briefing covered the Eaton and Palisades fires, firefighting staffing and containment, water-system readiness from California Water Service (Cal Water), county evacuation planning and the American Red Cross response and sheltering operations.

King said the Palisades incident was roughly "20,234–48 acres" with 6,834 structures destroyed and 1,016 damaged, and the Eaton Fire about 14,117 acres with 9,418 structures destroyed; he noted both incidents were not fully contained. "Containment is when we have a fire line constructed physically around the entire perimeter of the incident," King said, adding that gaps in the line explain why large-incident containment numbers may be below 100% even when active flames are not visible.

Cal Water Operations Manager Robert Thompson described the utility's emergency-preparedness measures, including annual hydrant and valve exercising, strategically staged emergency response trailers and a five-year program to replace undersized mains. He said crews have staged backup generators and portable booster pumps and that hydrants in the area are part of a regular inspection and maintenance cycle.

County disaster-management Area G coordinator Brandy Villanueva explained local evacuation planning tools, including the zone-based Genesis program and the Alert South Bay notification system. "Each one of them have a respective number. So the incident commanders ... are gonna call for evacuations by those respective zones," Villanueva said, urging residents to sign up for Alert South Bay so alerts reach people directly.

Gabby McCormick, disaster program manager for the American Red Cross, described sheltering and relief operations: the Red Cross had more than 500 responders on the ground for the region and had provided roughly 12,000 overnight stays and about 15,000 meals across Los Angeles County shelters during the height of evacuations. She said the Red Cross also is providing emergency supplies and opening cases for families in need of financial assistance and that people can request help at redcross.org/get-help.

City officials and speakers emphasized resident readiness: maintain a go bag, know Genesis evacuation zones, and act early if advised to evacuate. King and Thompson also urged residents to treat Level 2 and Level 3 evacuation notices as increasingly urgent: "Level 3 ... mandatory: leave immediately. Extreme danger is in the area or it's imminent to your respective area," King said.

The council did not take formal action on the updates; staff and the emergency partners said they would continue coordination on hydrant testing, potential equipment staging and public messaging as incidents evolve.