Pepperdine’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC)—responsible for communicating to the Pepperdine community when there’s an emergency— activated during the Franklin Fire and L.A. County wildfires that ignited in early January.
During finals week, on Dec. 9, the University alerted the community of a power outage that later called for the shelter-in-place of all Pepperdine students living on campus to relocate to Tyler Campus Center or Payson Library. This call was made by the University’s EOC.
Leading up to the call instructing for shelter-in-place, the University sent emails sharing that they were monitoring the fire and later reminded students of shelter-in-place protocol. As parts of Malibu were evacuating, students on campus were instructed to shelter on campus.
“Despite any evacuation orders from Malibu city or surrounding areas, the University community should follow University instructions,” the EOC wrote in an email on Dec. 10 activating shelter-in-place. “We do not evacuate the campus even when surrounding areas might — this shelter-in-place protocol is approved by L.A. County Fire and executed with their cooperation.”
The EOC is composed of 19 of Pepperdine’s senior leaders including President Jim Gash, Executive Vice President Phil Phillips chair and Lee Kats interim dean of Seaver College. Director of Emergency Services Jonathan Weber has led and served as the EOC director since 2019.
“During emergencies, the EOC leads and protects the University,” according to the EOC’s website. “Its highest priority is placed on the safety of the Pepperdine University community including students, faculty, staff, visitors, alumni, etc. Once life safety issues are addressed, the EOC subsequently considers other issues such as property protection, limiting liability, and managing the University’s reputation.”
Part of how they do this is through the implementation of annual campus fire drills, campus brush clearing and emergency response presentations during New Student Orientation (NSO), according to the website.
The EOC works off of 20 individualized response plans customized to the campus to prepare for any sort of natural disaster as well as human threat.
“These plans are regularly updated as we learn from going through emergencies, such as Woolsey, the experiences of others, or as best practices evolve,” Weber wrote in a Jan. 16 email to the Graphic.
Other natural disasters the EOC has studied and learned from to adapt their program to include Hurricane Katrina, Fukushima, the H1N1 virus and COVID-19.
“Because of our location in Malibu, response plans call for the University to be its own first responder initially, before support from local first responders arrives,” the EOC website wrote.
During the two nights of the Franklin Fire, while the EOC was activated, the team met in the Seaver Boardroom of the Thornton Administrative Center to discuss their plan of action, Weber said.
“The EOC operates in a team environment, with each individual bringing their own perspective and expertise to the table,” Weber wrote to the Graphic.
The team gathers information from multiple sources to make decisions regarding the citation at hand, according to the EOC website. Some of those sources include incident command posts, news media, existing professional contacts and social media.
“While the EOC is tasked with leading the University through challenging circumstances there is a sense of calm that permeates the room, as leaders lean on their faith, Pepperdine’s proven experience in dealing with challenging circumstances, and the relationships the team has with one another,” Weber wrote.
The EOC’s communication line consists of posting live updates on the University’s Emergency Information Page, Everbridge messages sent via phone and email and the University’s social media accounts, according to the EOC website.
“Maintaining open lines of communication with the University community is one of the top priorities for the EOC as it allows information to flow to the EOC and be disseminated to the University community so individuals can respond to the situation appropriately,” according to the EOC website.
Handling the Fires
The Franklin Fire originally ignited north of campus at the Malibu Creek State Park, according to NASA. From there, Santa Ana winds helped spread the fire, as it engulfed over 2,600 acres in the first day.
Weber wrote once Pepperdine realized the Franklin Fire was a threat to campus safety, they activated their shelter-in-place order at 1:11 a.m., on Dec. 10, the first night of the fire. This shelter-in-place would end up being the first of three shelter-in-place orders.
“When the Franklin fire first started, the initial hope was that it could be quickly contained by firefighters,” Weber wrote. “However due to the challenging conditions posed by the winds and the canyon terrain, this was not possible, and the order to shelter in place was quickly agreed upon, and then shared with the University community via Everbridge.”
The Palisades Fire started Jan. 7, when many of Pepperdine’s students had yet to return to campus for the spring semester. The EOC sent out their first alert to the Pepperdine community at 11:24 a.m. PST, which said the fire was 10 acres and not a threat to campus.
The EOC would go on to send seven updates on the Palisades Fire within the next day, and eight regarding other L.A. County fires within the next week. All of which would alert the community of how much the fire has spread, resources those affected by the fire should reach out to and how Pepperdine specifically has been impacted.
“When the [Palisades] fire started, the EOC was activated and gathered to oversee the University’s response,” Weber wrote. “As the fire approached the burned area from the Franklin fire, flames became visible from the campus, and some members of the EOC stayed up through the night for several nights to ensure Pepperdine was ready to respond as needed.”
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Contact Rachel Flynn via email: rachel.flynn@pepperdine.edu
