The Los Angeles fire and police departments today will hold an evacuation exercise in Mandeville Canyon, amid concerns that this year’s drought conditions are similar to those experienced there in 1978.
Members from the two departments will meet at the Paul Revere Charter Middle School at 1450 Allenford Avenue in Brentwood to kick off the exercise at 9:45 a.m. with the Los Angeles County Alert notifying residents of the need to evacuate, according to a Los Angeles Fire Dept. statement.
As part of the exercise, the fire department will pre-deploy resources as it would if conditions warranted a Red Flag Alert. Incident commanders will test and evaluate the evacuation plan and make the public aware of the need to be ready to evacuate and go when ordered, according to the statement.
The exercise is scheduled to last until noon, followed by a Community Safety Fair at Paul Revere Charter Middle School, authorities said.
There were 11 major brush fires in four counties during a single Santa Ana wind event in October of 1978 that killed three people, injured at least 50 and destroyed more than 200 homes, according to authorities.
The Mandeville Canyon blaze burned 6,130 acres, destroyed 30 homes and severely damaged 20, they said.
