Owing to a staggering wave of violence the last two weeks far from the Westside, inordinate attention has been focused on what Culver City’s first responders do when they are out of public view.
Today the news is good – an exploration of how the often honored Fire Dept., under Chief David White, quietly is building a protective wall for the community in the event of a disaster.
“Disaster” in this corner of America used to be a euphemism for an earthquake.
Since diversity lately has come to the world of everyday violence, the definition has broadened.
Christine Parra, 17-year employee of the Fire Dept., is the city’s Emergency Preparedness Coordinator. Her title may sound more clinical than urgent, but that would be a major misreading.
A mother of three, Ms. Parra doesn’t look much beyond student age herself. She knows civic preparation for disasters the way Einstein knew math and Betty Crocker knew biscuits.
One recent morning, Ms. Parra met a journalist at a non-public entrance to the nerve center grounds. She escorted him to their destination, the Emergency Operations Center.
Climbing an old-fashioned staircase built to withstand a thundering rumble, they entered a yawning, brightly illumined room at their heart of the secure headquarters. It is yawning only in the sense of size.
A visitor blinks, the room is so bright.
Large desks are divided into five sections, the Emergency Operations Center equally serves the priorities:
Logistics, planning, operations, finance and management.
As a backup or an addition, there is an auxiliary room nearby “so we can work out of both,” Ms. Parra said.
(To be continued)
