Damage Assessment Team Completes Assessment of Flood Impacted Forest Falls and Oak Glen

In response to this week’s floods that impacted Forest Falls, Yucaipa, and the Oak Glen areas, San Bernardino County Fire mobilized our Office of the Fire Marshal “Damage Assessment Team”. These significant mudflows caused widespread damage in areas adjacent to recent burn scars. The 15-person Damage Assessment Team has deployed to the impacted areas, systemically assessing homes for damages and compiling a thorough report.

The team has completed their assessment of the areas with the following totals:

Forest Falls:
-6 Single-family residences destroyed
-1 Single family residence deck/parking area destroyed

Oak Glen:
-2 Single-family residence destroyed
-8 Single-family residences sustained moderate/minor damage
-1 Commercial building destroyed
-1 Commercial building sustained moderate damaged
-6 Outbuildings destroyed
-14 Outbuildings sustained moderate/minor damage

The team utilizes the latest technology and developed a Rapid Damage Assessment Solution. This technology provides real-time damage assessment utilizing live maps; conducts damage assessment field surveys digitally using mobile devices in order to provide real-time updates to the Incident Command; provides a dashboard to Incident Command and damage assessment personnel containing real-time situational awareness, the total number of buildings assessed, and their assessment rating; real-time live updating maps as to what geographical areas have been assessed and the location of damage assessment field personnel; allows for the collection of photos of the damage; creates automated reports and GIS-based maps, and so much more.