During the Canyon Fire 2 that affected large portions of Orange County last week, OCTA participated in emergency operations and was prepared to offer transport for evacuees and incident responders.
The first night of the blaze, OCTA staff continually monitored the fire and stood prepared to offer transport to accommodate evacuations. Fortunately, the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) determined that wasn’t necessary. OCTA staff member David Simpson represented OCTA at the EOC overnight and executive director Lance Larson was at the site helping monitor the situation to offer any needed help from OCTA.
Though they were not needed, our Garden Grove and Santa Ana bases had buses ready to assist with evacuations and transportation for responders to the incident.
OCTA Central Communications monitored and responded to road closures to minimize service impacts.
After being closed for a short time on Monday, the 91 Express Lanes reopened around midnight along with all but one general purpose lane closest to SR-241.
Evening Metrolink trains were at or near capacity and an additional train from Laguna Niguel/Mission Viejo station to San Bernardino was added to accommodate additional passengers.
A private security patrol monitored OCTA open-space land in the canyon areas overnight to ensure that first-responders had access if necessary and to look for any suspicious activity. The fire has not affected any OCTA properties.
As the primary transportation resource for Orange County, OCTA is committed to serving the community at all times.