All Hazards

On April 19, 1995, a yellow moving truck parked in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building; at 9:02 AM, it exploded. The death and devastation it left in its wake was like nothing ever seen in the U.S. The blast killed 168 people and injured more than 600 others; it destroyed half of the building that was full of employees. The enormous and dangerous rescue and recovery operation began immediately and Oklahoma officials called on California for help. Mark Ghilarducci and Kim Zagaris were dispatched to the scene because of their urban search and rescue and disaster response expertise. Unbeknownst to Ghilarducci, he would soon be assigned as commander of the management team, for an operation bigger and more complex than anything he’d ever encountered.

Mark Ghilarducci, Cal OES Director

​Mark S. Ghilarducci serves as the Director of the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES), appointed July 1, 2013 by Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. Ghilarducci previously served as Secretary of the California Emergency Management Agency (Cal EMA) appointed in February 2012by Governor Brown.  As a member of the Cabinet, Director Ghilarducci serves as the Governor’s Homeland Security Advisor (HSA) and oversees statewide public safety, emergency management, emergency communications, counter-terrorism efforts and the State Threat Assessment System (STAS).

Kim Zagaris, State Fire & Rescue Chief

Kim Zagaris serves as the Executive Coordinator for Cal OES Fire and Rescue Services Advisory Committee/FIRESCOPE Board of Directors. Chief Zagaris is responsible for managing the FIRESCOPE Program, California Incident Command Certification System, the California Fire Assistance Agreement, State Assistance for Fire Equipment Program, as well as, serve on numerous state and national committees,associations and programs, including Cal OES representation on the California State Strategic Committee on Terrorism, the California Wildfire Coordination Group and more. He joined Cal OES in 1987.

Links / Resources

Stronger in the Broken Places: Nine Lessons for Turning Crisis into Triumph by James Lee Witt

Terror Hits Home: The Oklahoma City Bombing

Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum

For more on Mark Ghilarducci, click here

For more on the Cal OES Fire & Rescue Division, click here

Photos by: Fire Chief Kim Zagaris

Eric Lamoureux has served the State of California in multiple communications assignments.  He’s served in his current position of Inland Region Administrator at the Governor's Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) since August, 2013. As administrator he leads emergency and disaster response coordination efforts for the State of California. From November 1999 through September 2007, Eric worked his first stint for Cal OES where he served as chief of the department’s Office of Public Information.  He was responsible for managing the state’s Emergency Public Information (EPI) system, directing the activities of the State’s Joint Information Center, and was California’s lead emergency services spokesperson. Mr. Lamoureux coordinated State EPI efforts following 9/11 andmanaged the State’s Y2K Joint Information Center.

Mr. Lamoureux began his career in 1993 with the California Integrated Waste Management Board where he handled media relations activities, managed three successful statewide environmental education campaigns, and edited the agency’s award-winning “Waste Watcher” newsletter.

Mr. Lamoureux studied Government-Journalism at California State University, Sacramento, and Journalism at American River College in Sacramento.

The Inland Region consists of primarily rural jurisdictions with 123 incorporated cities ranging in population from approximately 200 to 500,000.  The total population of all cities and counties in the Inland Region is 7,181,010.  Its geography is vast and varied with terrain consisting of valley floor agricultural centers, grasslands, watershed areas, high desert regions, foothill regions and into the mountain range areas. Along with such diverse terrain, each area presents its own unique set of challenges and threats that affect California.

For more information on the Inland Region, along with the other state regions, their maps and more, click on this link:

http://www.caloes.ca.gov/cal-oes-divisions/regional-operations/inland-region

Sanders and his contingent of police officers were up against a number of challenges when deciding tactics including poor visibility due to the sun and windows that had been “spidered” by gun shots, an unknown number of shooters inside the restaurant, and the unknown location and number of hostages.

Sanders considers the massacre one of the most challenging days of his career and one of the darkest in the history of San Diego.  Despite that, many lessons were learned that changed the way police handle similar situations there and in departments nationwide.

Links/Resources

LawOfficer.com