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Murrieta staff outline how the city activates its Emergency Operations Center and uses automatic aid
Summary
City fire and emergency management staff briefed the Murrieta City Council on how automatic aid, mutual aid and the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) work together, described recent activations (including the Fig Fire) and outlined training, public-notification tools (Genesis Protect and Alert Rivco) and remaining staffing gaps.
Murrieta — City emergency management staff gave council a high-level briefing on July 1 about how the city prepares for and manages large incidents, emphasizing regional partnership, EOC roles, and communication tools.
Deputy Fire Chief Mike Lopez told the council that mutual-aid systems and the Incident Command System (ICS) are the "glue" that allow nearby agencies to respond as one. "Automatic aid is exactly what it sounds like," he said, summarizing the city’s 2023 automatic-aid agreement with the City of Riverside that dispatches the closest available unit regardless of jurisdiction.
Disaster preparedness coordinator Rachel Hollinger described the city’s Emergency Operations Center as the primary hub for "information and data collection, distribution, resource coordination and cross-agency coordination." She explained activation levels — from "management watch" up to full Level 1 "all hands on deck" — and said the EOC was activated five times last year and twice so far this year.
Why it matters: Murrieta’s location and regional connectivity mean incidents frequently cross jurisdictional boundaries. Staff argued a trained EOC and interoperable mutual-aid agreements reduce response time and keep local events from becoming disasters.
Key details and next steps: Hollinger outlined training standards (FEMA IS courses, ICS 300/400 and localized EOC instruction), announced an August EOC exercise and said the city is updating its local emergency-declaration timeline to align municipal code with the state requirement (moving from a 14‑day review to the state minimum of 60 days). She also urged council members to promote the Genesis Protect app and Alert Rivco registration so residents receive zone-targeted alerts. Council members pressed staff on costs and staffing; Lopez said certain resource costs begin if incidents extend beyond 12 hours, with the city’s wildland protection agreement (WPA) covering a first 24 hours in many cases.
Council direction: Council asked staff to improve PIO coordination so council members receive timely, approved messaging during incidents and to include clearer templates and call-to-action language in alerts (stage/evacuation templates were cited as a post-incident improvement after the Fig Fire). Staff said they will add these steps to EOC standard operating procedures and pursue additional council training on public-information roles during incidents.
What’s next: Staff will run the August EOC exercise, continue localized training for EOC staff and develop message templates and council notification processes for future activations.
