Laguna Beach unveils new emergency operations center, honors preparedness advocate
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Longtime Laguna Beach resident Matt Lawson has often used the phrase “a spark and a gust away” to advocate for wildfire mitigation efforts in his hometown.
So it was somewhat ironic — given the persistent warnings of the former emergency disaster preparedness committee chair — that the initial use of the city’s first standalone emergency operations center came in response to coastal flooding.
Community members and public officials gathered to celebrate the opening of the city’s new emergency operations center, dedicating the South Laguna-based facility in Lawson’s name with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“To my former colleagues at [the emergency disaster preparedness committee] and to my fellow [community emergency response team] volunteers, it is with the utmost pride, gratitude, humility and appreciation that I accept this unique award,” Lawson said. “The city’s first fully-equipped, dedicated, properly kitted out emergency operations center.
“I can’t tell you how important that is to a city that is effectively the disaster capital of Orange County. We only have four seasons here: fire, flood, landslide [and] earthquake.”
The City Council in February selected the Community and Recreation Center as the site for the new center, converting a couple of classrooms — about 2,100 square feet — at the former St. Catherine of Siena school site.
Councilmembers approved a $1.14-million budget for the project — a $989,000 construction contract with Triangle DeCon Services, plus contingencies — on Feb. 24. The work included the conversion of two classrooms into an emergency operations center, conference room and training room, and the installation of an emergency generator for the facility.
City leaders had considered remodeling the second floor at City Hall. The South Laguna location, which already housed fire department administration, provided a shorter timeline for completion of the conversion and a seismically-retrofitted option.
Sarah Limones, the city’s emergency operations coordinator, noted the center had been activated at a low level while working through the recovery from high surf and wave activity from Hurricane Marie and Tropical Storm Rachel.
The emergency operations center includes dozens of work stations, with areas dedicated to finance, logistics, management, operations and planning. It can accommodate mutual aid partners, such as the Orange County Fire Authority, the school district and utility providers.
“We will be using this all through the El Niño season that we have coming up,” Limones said. “We know we’re going to have a lot of rain, pretty consistently, so this [center] has been opened at a perfect time. Also, we have the threat of wildfire, like we just saw last Friday [with the Norte fire]. It’s a space to bring everyone together, coordinate information, send alerts, assess damage and track costs.
“That’s a huge component of this. That’s why we have a finance section, keeping track of the costs that we’re spending on a disaster, and then trying to recoup those costs from [state and federal agencies].”
Brendan Manning, who served as Laguna Beach’s emergency operations coordinator and was with the city from 2020-2024, was on hand for the opening ceremony. The city had previously set up its emergency operations center in the break room at City Hall. Manning, now an emergency services administrator with the Irvine Police Department, said the campaign for a standalone center was already underway in his time with the city, calling it “the 9-1-1 for 9-1-1.”
What changes with the new center? Manning reflected on the Emerald fire of 2022 for an example.
“That was 5 in the morning,” Manning said. “The city manager was the first one in the break room to set up the EOC. Not having a dedicated space, it’s, ‘Where’s the lock box?’ ‘Where’s the key?’ ‘How do we get into the cabinets?’ ‘Where are the tables?’ ‘Where are the vests?’ ‘Where are the laptops?’ ‘How do we log into these systems?’
“That just delays things. Inherently, there are delays to how we can coordinate without a dedicated space. For this, the first person in here is going to be able to come in and start managing and coordinating the incident for the city, and as people come in, they take their roles. Whether it’s supporting evacuations, alert and warning, public communications, there’s dedicated space and room to do it.”
Lawson, who chaired the emergency disaster preparedness committee for eight years, is also on the board of the Laguna Beach Police Community Foundation.
The decision to name the center after Lawson was advanced by the city’s public safety chiefs, supported by the emergency disaster preparedness committee, and then approved by the council in August, Fire Chief Niko King said.
“He’s reviewed the reports, studied the hazards — both historically and emerging — and brought thoughtful recommendations forward, so the items arrived at council already analyzed and ready for action,” King said of Lawson, calling him a consistent and informed voice on public safety. “He has advocated for wildfire mitigation, fuel modification, utility undergrounding, and for years, for a proper, fully-equipped emergency operations center in a seismically-sound building.”
