Public Safety

S.D. Emergency Agency Outlines Top Disaster Risks For 2010

By Alison St John / Reporter

Published January 5, 2010 at 1:07 PM PST

This story was published more than 14 years ago.

A sign displays current fire danger as extreme in Southern California.

The Head of San Diego County’s Office of Emergency Operations outlines the biggest threats to San Diegans’ safety in 2010.

Ron Lane says that, from FEMA on down, disaster response agencies are focused this year on getting individual citizens to prepare for emergencies, rather than rely on government help. He practices what he preaches and offers a tip from his own emergency preparedness plan.

"A lot of people focus on the emergency kit itself, and making sure you have things like water," he said. "But to my mind, the key thing is the 15 minute drill.”"

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Lane says knowing exactly what you would take if you had to evacuate your home in 15 minutes is key for San Diegans. He says fires are the most likely disaster in the San Diego region, since major wildfires can occur every four or five years.

Statistically, earthquakes are the second most likely disaster, Lane says, and the Rose Canyon fault poses the biggest threat.

The third highest risk that the Office of Emergency Services is preparing for is a terrorist attack. Lane says the Port of San Diego has spent millions of dollars on new anti-terrorist strategies. First responders are already preparing, he says, for a major training exercise in May based on a terrorist scenario in San Diego Bay.

Public Safety

Alison St John

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Alison St John currently serves as a general assignment reporter and occasionally co-hosts KPBS Midday Edition. She fell in love with KPBS Radio when she arrived in San Diego in 1985 and first heard NPR. She has been a voice on KPBS Radio since 1989, and has served as a news reporter for radio, TV and the web, as well as anchoring, hosting, producing and editing. Alison has reported on stories about North County and was based in the KPBS' North County Bureau. Alison covered the metro beat during the critical period of the San Diego City pension crisis, and the education beat while Alan Bersin was the controversial Superintendent of San Diego City School District. She covered health when the industry was converting to managed care and told welfare reform stories in the late 1990s when Clinton was “ending welfare as we know it.” She has covered land use issues extensively, looking at the challenges of meeting a growing population while preserving community character, and developing a better transportation system to meet environmental concerns. She has done many stories on the military in San Diego, and the series she edited on the challenges veterans face returning from active duty to civilian life won “Best of Show” from the San Diego Society of Professional Journalists. She occasionally hosts the KPBS Roundtable and KPBS Midday Edition. Alison has won awards from the San Diego Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Associated Press TV and Radio Association, and the California Golden Mike Awards. Alison was born in Tanzania, brought up in Scotland, and earned her degree in psychology and sociology from Durham University in England. Her postgraduate diploma is in student counseling. She worked in England, Nigeria, Switzerland, Belgium, India, and Japan before moving to the United States in 1981. She now lives in Oceanside and enjoys how her community is growing and changing.