MARCH Mayor's Corner

Spotlight
Written By Kym Whitney

By: Mayor Joe Stapleon

In the aftermath of the horrific and devastating fires in Los Angeles County, I would like to update our community on the City's fire prevention, response and water system capabilities.  

Fire Prevention

In addition to fighting fires once they occur, the Newport Beach Fire Department (NBFD) plays a vital role in preventing fires. The department conducts inspections and provides educational outreach on an ongoing basis to reduce fire risks and increase community safety.  The Fire Prevention Division offers free mitigation assessments to homeowners, delivering tailored recommendations for home hardening, defensible space and wildfire mitigation best practices. 

Monitoring 

The Orange County Fire Watch, a volunteer program operated by the Irvine Ranch Conservancy, deploys trained volunteers on Red Flag warning days to pre-determined locations throughout Orange County, including four high-risk locations in Newport Beach. In addition, fire personnel are "prepositioned" in fire-prone areas to detect fires quickly and allocate resources appropriately. Through Alert California’s hundreds of cameras and sensors located in wildlands, fire officials can detect and respond to small fires before they grow.

Mutual Aid

Newport Beach is part of the California Master Mutual Aid System, which provides a statewide framework to enable rapid and efficient sharing of firefighting resources during emergencies. The system is coordinated through the California Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) to offer scalable, organized, and collaborative responses to wildfires, earthquakes and other large emergencies.

Evacuations

Evacuations in Newport Beach are managed by the City's Police and Fire departments, with each incident requiring a customized approach based on its unique circumstances and variables. The NBFD actively participates in the Ready, Set, Go! program, equipping homeowners and community members with essential tools and knowledge to prepare for evacuation in advance. To stay informed during emergencies, community members are strongly encouraged to register for the Newport Beach Police Department (NBPD) emergency notification system, Newport Notified, which delivers real-time updates and critical information.

Water Systems

The City has an advanced, elaborate and redundant water system specifically designed and operated to provide water during emergency fire-fighting incidents. This includes multiple water sources and supplies, pipeline and pump redundancies, emergency power systems and a massive reservoir. These systems are well maintained through regular investments and improvements. 

Community Question - Is the Big Canyon Reservoir fully operational? Yes, it is. Water is continuously flowing in and out of it. It is our most important water asset. Right now, there is about 100 million gallons of water in it ready to go. And that is the average amount kept in it during the winter. It is the largest ready to go (potable) water reservoir in the County and 100 milion gallons in storage is weeks of regular water use and about a weeks’ worth of water in a fire. We have a unique feature in that we can fill it just about as fast as we can drain it. We have a major Metropolitan Water District pipeline that runs through the City and can double our water flow capacity in moment’s notice. We also have emergency connections with other agencies.

Obvious question - why not fill it to the top?  In simple terms, the reservoir is so large, that if we fill it to the top the water quality would “get old” and become unsuitable to drink and we would be forced to dump and empty the reservoir…

Resources: 

Mayor Joe Stapleton is serving his first term as Mayor of Newport Beach.

jstapleton@newportbeachca.gov | Follow on IG @newportstapleton

Kym Whitney
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