Harbour closed following attack

Danette Goulet

Evidence of Tuesday’s vile terrorist attacks in New York City and at

the Pentagon was clear on the drawn faces of Huntington Beach residents,

each entertaining their own fears.

Residents also may have noticed an increased police presence and the

closure of Huntington Harbour after the attacks.

“Huntington Harbour has been closed by the Coast Guard as the ports of

Los Angeles and Long Beach have also been shut down,” said Gregg Smith, a

public affairs officer for the Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach. “We

realize that there are people who are in small boats that need to get

home. We will provide escorts, but we are not allowing anybody out at

this time.”

Smith said he was not certain how long the harbor would be closed as

everything is in a state of flux at this time.

The close presence of the Naval Weapons Base was one of the factors

considered when the decision was made, he added.

The harbor closure was the closest to home for Huntington Beach

residents, and yet merely part of a national picture Tuesday and

Wednesday as every airport in the United States was shut down as well as

the country’s borders and government and state buildings following the

terrorist attacks.

Unknown knife-wielding terrorists reportedly hijacked the four

commercial planes, crashing two passenger-filled jets into the 110-story

twin towers in New York, a third into the Pentagon outside Washington and

the fourth into a field in western Pennsylvania.

The two American Airlines planes carried 156 people and the United

Airlines planes carried another 101.

Three of the four planes were headed for Los Angeles International

Airport, two coming from Boston and the third from Dulles in Washington

D.C.

At press time, no passengers from Huntington Beach had been

identified.

While Gov. Gray Davis closed all state buildings on Tuesday, including

the social security office on Main Street in Huntington Beach, all city

offices remained open.

“There’s no imminent threat to Huntington Beach at this time, but we

want to be prepared and have set up an emergency operations center,” said

Mayor Pam Julien Houchen, in an address to the city Tuesday.

She emphasized the American Red Cross’ emergency call for blood and

said that Huntington Beach Police and Fire Departments have called for

additional staffing.

“We’ve increased our staffing level, we have extra patrols in those

business locations throughout the city that we believe could potentially

be more of a target, including schools, including making sure our

children are safe,” said Huntington Beach Police Lt. Chuck Thomas. “We’re

working with other city departments -- public works and fire -- to make

sure we’re all on the same page.”

While police would not disclose the number of additional officers on

duty for security reasons, the fire department beefed up its ranks

Tuesday by adding two extra fire engines, a hazardous materials unit and

an ambulance.

“A part of what we’re doing now is just monitoring on a citywide

perspective and monitoring Orange County to let [the sheriffs department]

know of our available resources,” said Huntington Beach Battalion Chief

Chuck Burney.

The Orange County Sheriffs office would organize any cooperative

effort, Burney said.

Orange County supervisor Jim Silva met with the county sheriff and

county fire chief Tuesday and felt confident that every possible

precaution was being taken.

“Everything is under control and [county fire and sheriffs] have a

plan in place for the protection of our buildings and all our facilities

are open,” Silva said.

Silva was not so confident on the personal front, where he has two

children in the military, one an F-16 fighter pilot.

“My daughter, on a personal note, is stationed at McGuire Airforce

Base in New Jersey,” he said. “They are on special alert where they close

the base to all civilians. My son was scheduled to fly an F16 over to

Egypt on Oct. 1 and his squad, they are on standby alert 24 hours a day.

We have not been able to speak to him yet -- It is very scary.”

Huntington Beach residents may take solace in the fact that city

rescue personnel trained as recently as May 23 for terrorist attacks.

Huntington was one of three cities in Orange County to qualify for a

$300,000 Department of Justice grant as one of the United States 120 most

populated cities.

“That money provides training materials and equipment -- $280,000 for

the purchase of equipment to help you be better prepared for a weapons of

mass destruction attack,” Burney said.

The massive field exercise held on the beach in May was another

requirement to qualify for the grant.

“We had to do it to qualify for a Department of Justice grant for

hazardous materials and terrorist attacks -- to prepare the local

agencies to be able to train and utilize equipment that they would be

expected to use in a terrorist situation,” Burney said.