Ojai reestablishes Disaster Council and sets evacuation, communications as first priorities

The Ojai Disaster Council reconvened at a special meeting June 18 and directed staff to prioritize evacuation planning and public communications as the council’s first workstreams. City officials said they will aim to meet monthly while staff checks facilities and posts a regular schedule.

Resident Dennis Coburn warned the council that arson-ignited fires during extreme wind events could overwhelm valley evacuation routes, saying the existing “ready, set, go” guidance leaves many residents with nowhere to go. “There is no more of a priority for this council than to prepare for what would be the end of the city or valley as we know it,” Coburn said during the public-comment period.

City Manager Harvey told the meeting the Disaster Council is established through the municipal code and has been inactive since 2023; reestablishing it restores an advisory body for preventive and responsive planning. Council members and emergency chiefs proposed adding other representatives (for example, public works or county emergency services) subject to city council approval.

Officials identified two near-term priorities: evacuation logistics and a consolidated communications plan. Fire and police leaders said topographic constraints and limited evacuation routes make early warnings and traffic management essential. “We want to launch evacuation warnings earlier than later,” one chief said, noting the city will rely on CHP and mutual‑aid traffic resources in many scenarios.

The council discussed several communications tools to reach residents during outages or rapid incidents. Wayne Francis, who identified himself as an M2 radio emergency coordinator and Red Cross representative, described the local AM emergency station (AM 1610) as a backup channel if phones and internet fail and urged greater public awareness of its availability. The group also discussed a pending federal grant application for permanent sirens and roadside signage to direct the public to chosen alert channels; staff described the project as roughly a “million‑dollar” effort contingent on funding approval.

Staff noted an ArcGIS-based dashboard already in county use that shows evacuation polygons, open routes and designated evacuation centers and suggested a prominent city web page or visual map that lists evacuation centers and links to VC Alert and other resources. Council members recommended displaying evacuation centers clearly on the website so residents can identify nearby temporary refuge options in an emergency.

Speakers also urged more training and exercises. City staff described the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at the sheriff’s station as the logistics hub that supports on-scene incident command under the Incident Command System (ICS/NIMS). Officials said they plan tabletop exercises, periodic nonemergency EOC activations for practice, and broader ICS training for city staff.

Public commenters and council members raised arson as a distinguishing risk in wind‑driven fire scenarios. Council and emergency staff said county red‑flag policies, extra patrols during high‑risk periods and expanded arson investigations are already part of county and state efforts; they recommended adding arson‑watch considerations to the council’s planning.

Next steps: the council set a direction to begin meeting regularly (monthly to start), to schedule a next meeting after staff confirms room/time availability, and to develop an initial workplan focusing on evacuation routes, public alert channels and a communications landing page. No formal vote or ordinance was taken at the special meeting; staff will return with more detailed agenda items and potential guest presenters for future sessions.