LA's Emergency Operation Center Geared Up for 405 Closure

Los Angeles - Police and fire officials say their agencies are geared up to respond to emergency situations and maintain public safety this weekend during the 53-hour closure of the San Diego (405) Freeway through the Sepulveda Pass.

FOX 11's Susan Hirasuna checks out LA's Emergency Operation Center in the video report.

The unified command providing security, emergency response and on-the-ground traffic coordination during the closure -- it groups the California Highway Patrol, Caltrans and the Los Angeles police, fire and transportation departments -- has mapped an affected area stretching from the Imperial (105) Freeway near LAX to the Ronald Reagan (118) Freeway near San Fernando.

The command was operating out of downtown Los Angeles at the city's Emergency Operations Center, which was activated Friday afternoon.

LAPD Lt. Andrew Neiman said the agencies have divided the area into four major geographic zones, two north of the Mulholland Bridge, which is being demolished during the freeway closure, and two south zones, where each force will pre-deploy resources. The departments have been meeting for months to coordinate their deployments, he said.

Neiman said a significant number of motorcycle officers and all department helicopters will be on standby, ready to provide surveillance or emergency transportation.

All of the unified command resources will remain deployed until 6 p.m. Monday, just in case the highway does not re-open on time -- by 6 a.m.

"We're planning for the worst, meaning nobody listens to the message (to stay off the roads)" Neiman said, adding the worst could be more than 20 miles of backups on highways and hundred of thousands of vehicles that normally would use the 405 flooding surface streets.

But Neiman, like other officials involved in the closure, said the weekend would provide the opportunity to evaluate the city's emergency procedures for a major earthquake or some other disaster.

The LAFD will have 200 extra firefighters and paramedics on duty during the closure.

Along with the stepped-up staffing, an additional 15 fire engines and six ambulances will be staged at stations along Mulholland Drive in Encino Hills and Beverly Glen, and on Olympic Boulevard in West Los Angeles, according to LAFD spokesman Erik Scott.

Scott said the increased staffing will enable the LAFD to respond quickly to 911 calls in the affected area.

Additionally, the Fire Department decided to deploy two motorcycle teams -- a total of four choppers -- as an experimental emergency-response measure this weekend .

"Our firefighter/EMTs (emergency medical technicians) will have the ability to more easily move through traffic en route to an emergency incident," said department spokesman Matt Spence.

Each team will consist of a firefighter and a paramedic, each on a motorcycle. The teams -- some based at fire Station 99, others at Station 109 -- will be strategically positioned on both sides of the 405.

The teams will provide "up-to-the-minute intelligence on access and egress issues as well as continuous monitoring of alternate response routes," Spence said, and each team will carry basic life-support equipment to respond to a medical emergency until additional assistance arrives.

"As these motorcycles will be patrolling a largely brush area, they will also be equipped with saddle bags to allow for the stowing of a fire shelter and some brush firefighting personal protective equipment," according to Spence.

The GPS-equipped motorcycles are KLX 650s on loan from Kawasaki.

Officials at the Getty Center and Skirball Cultural Center, both of which will be closed during the freeway closure, have both offered space to the LAFD for staging or other purposes, if needed.