Torrance Oil Refinery Explosion Response:

Crisis Communication and Agency

Coordination

Soraya SutherlinEmergency Services Manager

City of Torrance

Claudia DentVP, Product Management and Marketing

Everbridge

David DumaisDeputy Fire Chief

City of Torrance

Agenda

• Why Torrance needed a system

• Communications Strategies Prior to a system

• Recent Events

• Lessons Learned

• Q and A

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Claudia DentVP, Product Management and Marketing

Everbridge

Soraya SutherlinEmergency Services Manager

City of Torrance

David DumaisDeputy Fire Chief

City of Torrance

#CustomerPespective

Soraya SutherlinEmergency Services Manager

City of Torrance

Torrance, CA

• Sixth largest city in LA County; 20.5 sq miles

• Population 147,478 (2010); daytime population estimated at

250,000;

• Located south of Redondo Beach, Ca

• 16 miles from Downtown Los Angeles

Torrance, CA

• Balanced City

• Full-service City

• Police and Fire Departments (Class 1)

• Torrance Unified School District (43 schools, including 4 high schools)

• Del Amo Fashion Center

• 1.5 miles of coastal line

• ExxonMobil Refinery

• Reservoir (750 acres)

• Torrance Airport (non-commercial)

• North American Honda Headquarters

• Toyota Motor USA North America Headquarters

• Rail tracks, Interstate 405

• Newport-Inglewood Fault line

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Mass Notification (Public) Circa 2013

• Consent Decree (1990) between the City and ExxonMobil

regarding plant operations;

− Community Warning Siren

− RAN (Radio Alert Network)

− Mass Notification

• Old system was a pay-per-use system

− Low Frequency of use;

− Bought out several times by competitors;

− “Shelf” system for the “in-case of emergency situation”

− Limited familiarly of what it did or how it worked

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What is Our Goal?

• Communicate imminent threats to life, property, or the environment to our community;− Right message, to the right

person, at the right time.

• Engage our residents and businesses in non-emergent situations through an interactive platform that allows for a two-way dialogue;

• Instill trust and confidence in our ability to prepare for, respond to, and recover from emergencies and disasters.

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The Need to Evolve

• Identifying the need

− Automated

− Redundant

− Web-based Solution

− Integrated into daily operations

− Geo-coding of maps, pictures, zones

• How we performed prior

− Internal Communications

Email

Fax

− External Communications

Pay-per-use Notification System

Nixle

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Mass Notification (Public) Circa 2013

• Internal Notifications− Based solely on email and

phone lists− Lacked sufficient redundancy

• Public Notifications− 2 separate systems− Older Notification system

Pay-per-use system

Only targeted residential #s− Nixle

Public Safety centric

Limited in ability to provide good customer data

Very easy to use on the customers end

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Why you decided on Everbridge

• Industry leader− Good investment in product improvement− Case studies

• Partnering agencies− Neighboring cities− LA County Hospitals

• Interactive − 2-way dialogue

• Customizable− Targets the person, not the device

• Internal/External uses

• Integrated into daily operations− Not only for emergency use

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TorranceAlerts

• Phased Approach During Conversion (Dec.)

• Phase 1: E-911 Data

• Phase 2: Internal Communications− Notification groups (criteria driven)− Public Safety Notification (PSN)− Management Paging System (MPS)

• Phase 3: Public Outreach for Opt-in Portal− Subscription Categories (Examples)

Traffic Alerts;

Transit Delays;

Community alerts and events;

Farmers Markets;

Local businesses, Hospitals, Surgical Centers, SNF’s;

Access and Functional Needs.

• Phase 4: RAN Conversion

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February 18, 2015 ExxonMobil Refinery Incident

• Weather: 65 degrees, overcast, winds from

the east, 7mph;

• Initial call came in at 0850 1st alarm

response to fire at ExxonMobil refinery;

• 0854 2nd alarm response called out;

• TFD arrived on scene, established UC with

ExxonMobil FD staff

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• Initial report:

− ExxonMobil reports an explosion in the ESP unit with an initial ground fire

that was quickly extinguished by ExxonMobil personnel;

− Major damage to the ESP unit with 2 active gasoline leaks;

− Initial reports of workers missing;

− Product was quickly diverted to the flares;

− 3 minor injuries were reported and treated by XOM personnel.

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February 18, 2015 ExxonMobil Refinery Incident

• Product identified quickly and determined no

public threat by Torrance FD;

• Incident contained, releasing units (approx.

0957)

• Dropped barriers at Del Amo to prevent cars from driving through

− Crenshaw barrier left open based on

readings and wind direction

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February 18, 2015 ExxonMobil Refinery Incident

• Torrance Fire Haz Mat (E96) assigned to monitoring

− Wind direction was straight up

− No readings from Hazmat

• Main concern was accountability

− Initial reports were 8 people missing

• Quickly resolved (8 people were decontaminated on-scene based

upon fall-out

• 3 people treated and transported off-site by XOM personnel

• FD never treated anyone *

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February 18, 2015 ExxonMobil Refinery Incident

• Notifications

− 0911: TorranceAlerts Internal Notification regarding an incident

at ExxonMobil and TFD and TPD were on-scene and monitoring

the situation. Nothing outside of the facility reported except ash

inside the perimeter.

− 0930: City employees in the public works facilities (closest to the

incident site) reported ash fallout. Out of concern, an email was

sent to employees to sheltered in place

•0940: Calls into dispatch from the public reporting ash fallout in

neighborhoods

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February 18, 2015 ExxonMobil Refinery Incident

• Notifications

− 0945: Nixle Alert (Public Notification) indicating a 2nd alarm fire at

ExxonMobil TFD/TPD on-scene, no air quality issues at this time

•0950: TFD IC advised schools to shelter in place

− 1005: Nixle Alert (Public Notification) advising those in “affected

area” to shelter in place *

− 1014: TorranceAlerts Public Notification (e-911) sent to identified

impacted area to shelter in place as a precaution

• Message was a pre-recorded message and template that we

modified to reference “precautionary” instead of mandatory *

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February 18, 2015 ExxonMobil Refinery Incident

• The Media (Conventional)

− Within minutes, news media is covering

the explosion

− Positioned overhead (helicopters), on

each axis of the facility

− Each outlet was reporting something different

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February 18, 2015 Exxon Mobil Refinery Incident

• Social Media

− People started posting

almost immediately with

pictures

− Conflicting information

− Many reports of “ash-like” substance falling

around the City and

surrounding contiguous

cities

− City social media pages

were slow to update and

not all updated with the same information

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February 18, 2015 Exxon Mobil Refinery Incident

• Lessons Learned Crisis Communications

− Emergency Management Perspective

Messaging must have the 3 C’s (amongst ALL

responding agencies)

•Clear

•Concise

•Consistent

− Anticipate a community impact regardless if

they are aware

− Messages must be sent in compliments of two

•One to the area directly impacted with a specific

action to be taken and provide follow-up

•One to the entire City, notifying them of the

incident, where to get information and where to

report information

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February 18, 2015 Exxon Mobil Refinery Incident

• Lessons Learned

− Emergency Management

Perspective

•Do not wait to put information out.

•Initial notifications should go out within

5-10 minutes from the onset of the

incident

• Updates should then be sent every 15

minutes for the first hour until you have

more concrete information.

•Repeat the same information if you have

nothing new.

•Create templates in the system to use will

information cue that you can populate23

February 18, 2015 Exxon Mobil Refinery Incident

• Lessons Learned Crisis Communications− Emergency Management

Perspective

• ALL responding agencies must participate in Unified Command

• Messaging across every agency should stem from a Joint Information Center (JIC) to prevent confusion and mixed messaging

• The request for emergency messaging should be requested via radio to public safety dispatch to create a timestamp (evidence collection)

• EOC was in the “hot zone” –need the capacity to have a virtual EOC, especially if asked to shelter

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February 18, 2015 Exxon Mobil Refinery Incident

• Lessons Learned Crisis Communications− Emergency Management

Perspective

• Establish a Media Staging area immediately. Provide updates frequently and inform them on when you will be back to provide more updates.

• Sirens were not utilized (threshold was not met), but public expected it- education is key on the front end

• Shelter-in-place means something different to each person. Need to be more specific as what the expected action is when a shelter in place is issued

• Think about your contiguous cities

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February 18, 2015 Exxon Mobil Refinery Incident

• Lessons Learned Crisis Communications− Emergency Management

Perspective

• Determine where the community can call for more information

• Call-out line (Customize it)

• IVR Solution (Interactive Voice Response)

• Ensure customization for High-Priority/Non-Priority Calls

• Ensure call-throttling is on and engaged

• Save your shapes when using the map to send messaging

• For text messaging, always use a title indicator

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February 18, 2015 Exxon Mobil Refinery Incident

After Action Improvement Items

• Pre-populated templates− Provides for consistency in messaging to the public

− TorranceAlerts Internal Messaging Template

•Incident Name: (enter incident name)

•Date: (entire date)

•Time: (enter time)

•Incident Commander (s): (insert name or names)

•Unified Command: (Y/N)

•Incident Overview: (brief description of incident actions/goals)

•Torrance Resources: (what resources are on-scene or responding)

•Injuries/Deaths: (enter n/a if none)

•Community Impact: (areas impacted, streets closed, residents affected etc.)

•Media Inquires: (Y/N)

•Media Staging: (as needed, insert location)

•Social Media Notifications: (Y/N and what SM sites)

•Estimate of Incident Stabilization: (estimation of incident duration or stabilization status)

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After Action Improvement Items

• Activation of the EOC is driven by specific criteria

− Tiered system

•Alert

•Standby (conference call)

•JIC Activation

•Level 1 Activation

•Level 2

•Level 3

− Notification based upon position, not person

− Call escalation

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EOC Activation Criteria/ Notification

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After Action Improvement Items

• Social Media Handles

− Created @TorranceAlerts Twitter and Facebook handle

− Certain activation criteria activate the City PIO to become the

central point of messaging

− @TorranceAlerts will feed ALL city social media sites

− Created an email account for community to provide feedback

or report issues with the system

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#SouthBayOilSpill

• Oil on the South Bay Beaches

− Information was fragmented,

multiple reports

− Unified Command

• Authority to Close/Open?

− USGS

− LA County Health HazMat

− LA County Fire Department

Lifeguards

− Cities

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#SouthBayOilSpill

• Coordinated communication between LA County Health HazMat, US Coast Guard, Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach, and Manhattan Beach

• Dispatched TFD/TPD to Torrance Beach for observation

• Unified Command established− Information easier to gather− Consistent

• Non-safety messages sent to over 3,000 residents− Provided information− Follow-up− Reporting lines− Website resources− Instructions

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#SouthBayOilSpill

• Torrance Beach was NEVER

closed despite what the media

reported

• Corrected the messaging put

out by the media

• Unified Command worked well

• Messaging was consistent

across ALL corresponding

agencies

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• July 18, 2015 Thunderstorms

− Tropical Cyclone Dolores

• #LARAIN #LASTORM

• Thunder and Lightening throughout

Southern California

• Flooding

• NWS- wettest July on record for SoCal

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#LARAIN

#LARAIN

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#LARAIN

• Messaging was hard to control or get

ahead of

− Per LA County Fire Department

Lifeguards, ALL LA County Beaches

closed

− Agency coordination for messaging was almost silent

− Reported by news media first, then

by public agencies

• WC/BC determined it was a public

safety threat, issued TorranceAlerts to

104,000 residents in the impacted

area

• Calls and text messages

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Other Events/Incidents

• Incident at Exxon Mobil one

week later

− Reports generated every 15 min.

• Armed Forces Day Parade

− Internal and Community

updates to opt-in registrants

• Jul 4th Celebration

(Conference Calls-Area

Command)

− Internal email and text

updates

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Everbridge

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Soraya SutherlinEmergency Services Manager

City of Torrance