PRESS RELEASE

Long Beach, CA – The devastating fires in Los Angeles County are a solemn reminder of the importance of emergency preparedness. The City of Long Beach would like to reassure its residents that the City has the plans and systems in place to address natural disasters and other emergencies, and wants to emphasize the need for residents to do their part by preparing now for emergencies and natural disasters.

Here’s what the community can do to prepare:

• Stay Alert. Sign up for Alert Long Beach, the City’s emergency notification system. Residents and business owners who are enrolled will receive text messages and/or voice messages to their cell number and/or email address.
• Make a Plan. Whether for home, work or school, it is important to have an emergency plan in place and practice it. A plan will help you think ahead about what steps you can take to keep you and your family safe during an emergency. Determine with your family and/or place of work/school a meeting place in the event of an evacuation and establish a communications plan (English, Spanish) to stay connected, should you be separated.   
• Be Ready to Evacuate. Identify evacuation routes for your home, work and school. Have an evacuation plan in place, including identifying what items and important documents you will take and ensure they are in an accessible location. Pet owners should take into consideration the needs of their pets and build that into their plan. After receiving an evacuation order from public safety officials, safely and immediately evacuate.
• Get informed. Review the City’s Hazard Mitigation webpage, which includes information about earthquakes and other hazards that can impact Long Beach, as well as the adopted Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan, and visit My Hazards to find out what specific hazards impact your home or place of work/school.
• Stay Connected. Follow the City on Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube. Follow @lbdisasterprep on social media for year-round preparedness tips.
• Prepare a Go-bag. If you haven’t already done so, prepare a go-bag and store it in an easily accessible location to take when the need to quickly evacuate arises. The bag should contain essential items for individuals and families (including pets) such as a list of medications, printed photos of family and pets, identification, important documents, extra clothes, and a disaster-ready guide. 
• Build an Emergency Kit. Some emergencies may prevent you from leaving your home and restrict others from reaching you. Prepare an emergency kit with essential, daily items to be self-sustaining for at least five days including canned and shelf-stable food, water and medication for each family member, a first aid kit, flashlight, extra batteries and comfort items for people and pets. Remember to maintain your kit by replacing expired items and updating it as your family’s needs change.
• Learn First Aid. Everyone can benefit by learning  basic emergency medical procedures. It’s also a good idea to take a CPR class.

Additional emergency preparedness resources are available on the City’s Department of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Communications website.

City of Long Beach Fire Suppression Preparedness
As the City continues to monitor the current emergency in Los Angeles County, the City reassures the Long Beach community that it is prepared to address fires and other emergencies, should they arise, and is committed to keeping the community safe.

The City has adequate water supply and capacity to fight fires at a large scale within Long Beach boundaries.

Local water supply and water distribution systems are secure and reliable. The Long Beach Fire Department (LBFD) draws water for firefighting efforts from the Long Beach Utilities Department’s (Long Beach Utilities) water supply and distribution systems. These systems are assessed at regular intervals and account for new and pending development, changes to building and fire codes, and updated technology. This results in improvements to the city’s overall water system to protect public health and safety.

To meet the emergency water supply and fire suppression needs of the city, Long Beach Utilities:

• Owns a 70-million-gallon water supply, accessible through gravity-fed storage tanks, that is available for use in the event of an emergency that would continue to provide the city’s average water supply demands as well as fire flow requirements.
• Engineered the water distribution system using gravity to provide water service at pressures sufficient for firefighting capabilities. This means even during power outages Long Beach can provide sufficient water supply and pressure to support firefighting capabilities.
• Has access to, and the ability to consistently deliver, drinking water at more than three times the typical consumption rate, further bolstering the local water distribution system’s ability to replenish water supplies for drinking water and firefighting.

Long Beach Utilities conducts routine, ongoing fire hydrant inspections, inspecting approximately 1,400 fire hydrants annually by Long Beach Utilities personnel. Long Beach Utilities maintains 7,080 fire hydrants within city boundaries. This also includes as-needed repairs, such as those resulting from vehicle collisions, ensuring every fire hydrant in Long Beach is ready and accessible for firefighting.

The LBFD is proudly supporting regional partners during this emergency. To date, the Department has deployed 53 personnel and 10 fire engines to the Palisades and Eaton Incidents.

With these deployments, the City assures the Long Beach community that local staffing and resources continue to be at standard coverage. All fire stations are staffed and available to respond to the community if help is needed, with no current impacts to emergency response times. The 53 fire department personnel who are assisting in the regional fire fighting effort are in addition to normal day to day staffing.

The LBFD maintains a Class 1 rating from ISO (Insurance Services Office), which is the highest rating a community can receive for fire protection as it meets high national standards. Having a dependable water supply coincides with the Class 1 rating. The City is dedicated to maintaining this rating and to be available to provide the highest customer service and fire protection to the Long Beach community.

Air Quality Updates
Long Beach regularly experiences fluctuations in air quality, some of which has been exasperated by the recent fires in Los Angeles County, which continue to produce heavy smoke. Residents are reminded to remain cautious about potential unhealthy air quality.  

Stay Connected
The City continues to provide information about air quality, related to the multiple fires in Los Angeles County, to the community. For fire activity maps and related evacuation notices, air quality updates and more, the community can visit longbeach.gov/emergency and follow the City on Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube for the latest updates.

People experiencing homelessness can receive up-to-date information and access to critical services through Homelessness Text Alerts. For English, text HOME to 99411. Para español, envíe un texto con HOGAR a 99411.

Media inquiries may be directed to the Joint Information Center at 562.570.NEWS or JIC@longbeach.gov.