In addition to the City of Victorville Fire Department, Mission Fire Rescue (Mission) services the Southern California Logistics Airport. VMUS and airport staff are able to communicate with Mission Fire Rescue through 400-megahertz radios or by calling their station directly. Additionally, the control tower has a direct line to Mission's fire station, which rings throughout the station and opens the bay doors alerting them of an emergency.
CONFIRE provides dispatch services for the City of Victorville Fire Department and Mission. They have the capability of patching in Apple Valley Fire Protection District, CAL FIRE, and contacting several other agencies such as Southwest Gas, Southern California Edison, AMR and other local agencies to assist in an emergency. CONFIRE also functions as the operational area dispatch for the County of San Bernardino, and can coordinate mutual aid as needed.
At the county level, a San Bernardino County Emergency Operations Center (EOC) talk group is programmed into an 800-megahertz frequency band radio and is used to communicate with EOCs within San Bernardino County during a disaster or emergency. The City of Victorville contracts with San Bernardino County Sheriffs. They too utilize 800-megahertz frequency band radios to communicate and have the capability to patch in California Highway Patrol, CAL FIRE, and other county resources to assist during emergencies.
City of Victorville also maintains a reporting hotline to notify the city for code violations, hazards, safety concerns, and overgrown landscaping and weeds. Additionally, the City allows its constituency to report any code violations on line via the City's website. VMUS adheres to California Public Utility Commission GO 95, 165, and 174 for all system infrastructure inspection, maintenance, and reporting.
As a local governmental agency1, VMUS has planning, communication, and coordination obligations pursuant to the California Office of Emergency Services' Standardized Emergency Management System (“SEMS”) Regulations2, adopted in accordance with Government Code section 8607. The SEMS Regulations specify roles, responsibilities, and structures of communications at five different levels: field response, local government, operational area, regional, and state.3 Pursuant to this structure, VMUS annually coordinates and communicates with the relevant safety agencies as well as other relevant local and state agencies. When activated, VMUS serves as the Utilities Unit Leader under the Operations Section Chief as part of the City Victorville Emergency Operations Center. In the event that the incident centered on VMUS facilities, VMUS would serve as the Operations Section Chief.
1 As defined in Cal. Gov. Code § 8680.2
2 19 CCR § 2407
3 Ca. Gov. Code § 2403(b):
[1] "Field response level" commands emergency response personnel and resources to carry out tactical decisions and activities in direct response to an incident or threat.
[2] “Local government level” manages and coordinates the overall emergency response and recovery activities within their jurisdiction.
[3] “Operational area level” manages and/or coordinates information, resources, and priorities among local governments within the operational area and serves as the coordination and communication link between the local government level and the regional level.
[4] “Regional level” manages and coordinates information and resources among operational areas within the mutual aid region designated pursuant to Government Code §8600 and between the operational areas and the state level. This level along with the state level coordinates overall state agency support for emergency response activities.
[5] “State level” manages state resources in response to the emergency needs of the other levels, manages and coordinates mutual aid among the mutual aid regions and between the regional level and state level, and serves as the coordination and communication link with the federal disaster response system.
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