Date: September 2022
Amount: $14,106

Emergency Preparedness In Calabasas, a Fire Safe Council, also known as EPIC-FSC, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to helping Calabasas residents mitigate risks, survive the emergency event, and recover from fires, earthquakes, and other natural disasters. They work diligently to improve communications throughout the communities affected by the Woolsey fire, at the amateur radio level, in a way that extends down to residents and out to city and county served agencies. To get more amateurs using digital modes, and to provide effective communications over the mountainous terrain, EPIC-FSC wants to improve the infrastructure.

The grant will help EPIC-FSC improve critical communications during emergencies, such as wildfires, earthquakes, wind storms, and wide-spread power outages. It will also aid the cities of Agoura Hills, Calabasas, Hidden Hills, Malibu and Westlake Village respond to and manage emergencies by integrating amateur radio digital communications into each city’s emergency communications plan. These cities were hit hard by the recent 2018 Woolsey Fire and are routinely affected by wildfires which burn across city and county boundaries, often cutting off conventional forms of communications that rely on power, television, telephone and Internet services. These five cities cover 100 square miles of mostly mountainous terrain and are home to nearly 70,000 residents. The project will be carried out by the contributors to this proposal, with the help of 80 members of the LA County Disaster Communications Service in the area and several local CERT radio teams.

Learn more at: https://epic-fsc.com/.