Relax, everyone, it’s just a drill. No need to panic.
West Hollywood is conducting what is being described as a “full-scale emergency response drill” this Wednesday, April 29, in and around West Hollywood Park at 647 N. San Vicente Blvd.
There is no real emergency. The City is notifying residents ahead of time so as to avoid any confusion or concern. Consider this your warning — that there is no warning. It’s all part of an important and necessary exercise to help keep us safe in the event there actually was a warning.
The drill will involve the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the Los Angeles County Fire Department, and City of West Hollywood staff. Community members can expect a significant presence of emergency vehicles and personnel at West Hollywood Park, West Hollywood Library, adjacent parking garages, and the West Hollywood Park Aquatic and Recreation Center. The City’s Emergency Operations Center at West Hollywood City Hall will be activated as part of the exercise. The drill is designed to test real-time coordination between first responders and City personnel.
Southbound lanes of N. San Vicente Boulevard will be closed between Santa Monica Boulevard and Melrose Avenue. El Tovar Place will also be closed between N. Robertson Boulevard and N. San Vicente Boulevard.
Not the First Drill, But a Bigger One
The City conducts emergency drills regularly. A 2016 exercise activated the EOC using a simulated scenario involving a structure fire and active shooter, but was conducted as a tabletop-style simulation without field deployment. Wednesday’s drill involves actual deployment of personnel and equipment in the field, along with road closures. It is a higher-tier exercise. WEHOonline has been covering these kinds of drills since at least 2013.
The City will issue notifications through community outreach, email, social media, and a Nixle alert from the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station.
More information is available at weho.org/publicsafety.
While this is great to test the roads are not what condition they will be in when Fountain is reduced to 2 lanes without emergency vehicles unable to use tag stretch because it will be bottlenecked. Santa Monica Blvd, Sunset, and Melrose will have to absorb all the loss of those lanes.
Honestly this would have been a prime opportunity to realize what is going to happen when an emergency evacuation is called for.
Majority City Council and City Staff ought to start realizing the issues they brought onto resident’s safety