After SoCal Fire, L.A. County 'Turning the Lights Back On'

FirstNet's National Public Safety Broadband Network recently rolled out to Los Angeles County's primary first responders.

While the county's Telecommunications Network division is being brought up to speed on the system, the county still had to respond to the Woolsey Fire. That response included:

• Telecoms collaboration
• Facilities management and protection
• GIS mapping

"During any local incident, such as the Woolsey Fire, we are in constant communications with the first responders from a logistic and support point of view," Robert King, deputy director of Telecommunications for the county, told Techwire in an email. "My department, amongst many other support agencies such as County Emergency Operations Center, Public Works, Medical Examiner, Health, Criminal Justice, are eligible to subscribe to FirstNet as 'Extended Primary' users," he wrote.

Primary first responders have first access to the network, and extended primary users can gain access if they are considered necessary.

L.A. County requested portable cellular pods from AT&T, Verizon, TMobile and Sprint during the fire, "to provide additional voice and data capacity for residents, first responders and disaster service workers."

Another part of fire response for the county is "turning the lights back on" at public facilities, according to Michael Eugene, senior deputy director of the county's Facilities Operations Service department.

"Generally before the power grid fails, you want to shut down that system smoothly because you run the potential that when you restart that system, you can actually shock the building and cause more problems," Eugene told Techwire in a telephone interview.

He wants to see more remote control on HVAC and electrical systems, which could be possible in the county's upcoming $4 billion deferred-maintenance program.

"This will be the opportunity to integrate a whole lot of new technology into old buildings as we replace systems within this deferred-maintenance system," Eugene said.

The board will vote on $225 million in projects to begin in January. Bid opportunities for the more than 200 projects are estimated to be available in December.

The county also worked with USAA Insurance and geospatial company Vexcel to develop a damage assessment map of the fires.

Geographic Information Officer Steven Steinberg hopes to create a memorandum of understanding or data-sharing agreement that would create another rapid acquisition in emergency situations.