Lessons shared from California
by AFAC
Kim Zagaris, State Fire and Rescue Chief for the State of California, Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES), recently toured Australia and New Zealand as part of the Motorola Solutions Knowledge Event Series.
In 2017, after a five year drought, California endured its worst year of wildfires on record followed by heavy rains causing flooding and mud flows.
Chief Zagaris provided insights into the cascading events that occurred, the benefits of mutual aid and how California is working to clean up and recover. He also shared lessons learned and answered questions from attendees.
The series kicked off in Wellington on 18 May and travelled to Hobart, Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide, Darwin and finished in Perth on 1 June. Over 600 people from across the emergency management sector registered to attend the series which was free of charge thanks to the support of Motorola Solutions.
WA Police, DPAW and DFES staff including Volunteers (including several SES Volunteers) participated in the knowledge event on Friday 1st June.
Source: AFAC News Issue 79, 2018
Phillip Petersen ESM
Link to AFAC Article https://www.afac.com.au/auxiliary/publications/newsletter/article/lesson…
