EMZ

Emergency Management Zone (EMZ)

Station 23 (located on Nevada Drive in the Columbia Heights area) is a designated facility that is activated and staffed during a major emergency or disaster. The Emergency Management Zone (EMZ) staff includes an Agency Administrator, Unified Incident Command, Safety Operations Section Officer, Planning Section Officer and Logistics Section Officer.

The purpose of the EMZ is to coordinate emergency readiness and deployment of personnel and equipment with the cities of Kelso, Longview, as well as other fire districts.

The following are Response Levels once the EMZ is activated:

Level One Activation: An advisory is issued due to anticipation of an incident, or the occurrence of an incident that may exceed available resource capabilities, the Command and Operations Sections are staffed.
Level Two Activation: A notification is issued due to an incident occurrence and the probability of the incident duration may exceed 24 hours or the magnitude of the incident may exceed available resource capabilities. All positions from the Agency Administrator through the Section Officer positions are filled and activated.
Level Three Activation: A notification is issued. All positions in the EMZ are staffed. Extended duration of an incident is predicted and a 12 hour shift schedule is implemented.

The following is an occurrence in January 2003, when the EMZ was activated which will illustrate its effectiveness:

Due to extreme flooding conditions in Cowlitz County, the EMZ was activated at a Level One on January 31, 2003, to assist the Department of Emergency Management (DEM) in the mitigation of the incident. The EMZ was staffed by a Manager and a Kelso Public Information Officer. Communication between DEM and the EMZ contained information on current road conditions, slides, flooding issues, and river levels. This information was then relayed to the City Manager and Public Works Director. Resources requested from DEM included sandbags, volunteers, and food, which were organized by the EMZ. Briefings were held every two or three hours. Those attending the briefings were the Kelso City Manager, the Fire Chief and Assistant Chief of Cowlitz 2 Fire & Rescue, Public Works Director and Fire Commissioners. Due to the effectiveness of coordinating efforts, and relieving the DEM of added responsibilities, the activation of the EMZ was a success.

Emergency Management Zone (EMZ)

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