Panel Honors Disaster Team for Its Work

The Agoura Hills Disaster Response Team has been recognized for its continuing efforts to ensure that the city is prepared for the next big earthquake, fire or flood.

Officials from the Emergency Preparedness Commission for the County and Cities of Los Angeles said the team, one of four honored at a recent luncheon, went above and beyond its responsibility to make the city safe. A team member, Bruce Bennett, also was commended for his work in gathering supplies to stock the team’s new sea cargo storage unit.

“We had been storing things in people’s garages,” said Greg Bennett, director of the team. “We’ve tried to organize things a little better, put everything in a central location.”

As asset manager, Bruce Bennett--no relation to Greg--collected donations and created an inventory list of all the items in the storage units to be used during an emergency. The Agoura Hills team also installed a repeater tower to aid electronic communication devices.

Yolanda Pahua, executive director of the commission, said the team also was honored for its twice-annual community training classes in first aid and search-and-rescue techniques, its weekly radio check-ins and its monthly newsletters.

Pahua said the team’s efforts are an example of what small cities should be doing to prepare for the region’s next disaster. “Many times emergency crews may not be able to get to certain locations for as long as three days,” she said. “If each of these cities has made preparations for their residents, they can help each other until officials can get to them.”

One of the other organizations honored from a pool of 22 nominees this year was the Senior Secure program in Santa Clarita, which helps elderly people prepare for emergencies, Pahua said.