County Emergency Center Built to Glide Through the Big One

The Cold War is over, and Los Angeles County’s emergency operations center--designed to withstand nuclear attack--is being traded in for a building with a more up-to-date attribute:

The ability to survive the Big One.

The new $22-million center, under construction in the unincorporated City Terrace area on the Eastside, will have dormitory accommodations for up to 224 people, a kitchen capable of providing food for emergency workers and electric generators allowing it to function when the power is out.

Its state-of-the-art video displays will enable county officials to pinpoint trouble spots and respond rapidly.

But its most striking characteristic may be its ability, according to its designers, to withstand a magnitude 8.3 earthquake and keep functioning.

Capt. Thomas Hehir, director of the Sheriff’s Emergency Operations Bureau, said the facility was created with an eye to “the maximum credible threat to this area, an earthquake.”

The design includes 28 of the newest seismic shock absorbers, base isolation devices first used in Japan, which are being implanted between the two-story building and its foundation. The builders say a magnitude 5.5 earthquake would not be felt on the working floors, and the structure would harmlessly slide around in a magnitude 8 temblor.

“In fact, our key problem is to get our people to this building when the earthquake has struck,” Hehir said. “It may be done by helicopter if the freeways are disrupted.”

Once they get there, emergency coordinators should be equipped for just about anything. “We will have redundant electric power, air conditioning and computers,” Hehir said.

In addition to going on active status during earthquakes or state-issued earthquake alerts, the center--which is funded with bond revenues--will be used during riots, floods and toxic substances emergencies. The old center was open 42 days last year for events ranging from the riots to the Landers earthquake to training sessions.

Eight county agencies will be represented in the new center, as will the major utilities, the Red Cross, Caltrans, California Highway Patrol, Federal Emergency Management Agency and liaisons with municipal governments. The National Guard and federal troops may also be represented.

The Sheriff’s Department will be in charge and is expected to provide about one-fourth of the facility’s staff.

Sheriff Lt. Steve Gattis, on-site manager of the project, is eager for the building to be ready, which will be by the end of the year.

The old center, built in 1973, was cramped. In the last serious emergency, last year’s riots, scores of emergency workers had to work together in a 1,400-square-foot room. The new center will have 36,000 square feet.

Gattis compared it to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s mission control facility in Houston, which, he said, had been studied “to validate our design concept.”

There is just one problem. In case of nuclear attack, Gattis said, “we’ll all have to pack up and move back to the old building.”