[Harc] Fwd: Fwd: BEACON Exercise on April 30th

[Friday Ululani]

-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject: 	Fwd: BEACON Exercise on April 30th
Date: 	Wed, 8 Apr 2026 15:20:06 -0700
From: 	Friday Ululani <fridaymanyfeathers at gmail.com>



Hello!

I am sending this email to both the HARC mailing list, and the HBF1 CERT 
mailing list

This email is an invitation to participate in the BEACON Exercise on 
April 30th.  This exercise started in Humboldt County, and this year 
includes about 30 counties in California, as well as 70+ organizations 
over 9 states.  The exercise is, basically, a drill to practice an 
organized response to a major disaster.  The disaster for this drill is 
a very large earthquake in California.

There are two main facets to this exercise:

_County (and state) Level_
- Following the earthquake, the county offices of emergency response, as 
well as other official, government agencies at the state and local level 
will convene at their operational centers.
- There, they will organize themselves, and prepare for/solicit input 
about conditions on the ground, from local groups ("partners", in their 
terminology).  They will take this input; determine the best way to 
respond with the resources they have; determine what resources they need 
for optimal response; request and share those resources with each other 
(using an established, formal process developed for such events); and 
proceed to get those resources to the area they are most needed.
- This process is very formal, very bureaucratic, and very important 
when tracking things like personnel, fire engines, bulldozers, 
helicopters, etc.  This is the process in use already, when wildfires 
(for instance) overwhelm a local agency's ability to manage.  We, as 
HARC and CERT, do not need more than a cursory understanding that this 
process exists.
- The formal process continues for them, with them reporting back to 
their on-the-ground partners what resources they can provide, and when 
to expect those resources.
- It continues with them soliciting updates from their local partners, 
as to conditions in their area; modifying their internal resource 
allocations; and performing several documentation and wrap-up activities.

_Local Level_
- Following the earthquake, local partners will assess conditions around 
themselves, and communicate information on those conditions to the 
county level, either as individuals or as members of a group.
- They will maintain communications with the county-level organization, 
regarding what resources the county can provide, when they'll arrive, 
changes in conditions on the ground, etc.
- The local partners may include organizations with formal processes for 
emergency response, such as hospitals, fire departments, the Red Cross, 
blood banks, etc.  It may also include volunteer organizations, such as 
HARC, CERT, Food4People, and even unaffiliated individuals.  This, of 
course, is where we fit in.
- For this exercise HARC and Eureka CERT are participating, together, as 
a local partner.  We will meet at the fire training room at 3030 L 
Street in Eureka.  There, we will hold a very brief table-top session, 
where we discuss what the impacts of the earthquake are, in our areas 
(what we have "witnessed").  We will then use ham radio equipment to 
communicate that information to the county Emergency Operations Center 
(in our case, the local AuxComm group is handling this function for the 
county).  We will remain at 3030 L Street, maintaining communications 
with the county office, during the resource allocation, situation 
updating, and wind-down phases of the exercise.  Since we will have 
licensed amateur radio operators on site, can gain experience operating 
a radio, if you like.
- TLDR We will convene at 3030L Street at 8AM on the 30th, and remain 
until about 4PM.  You are invited to arrive when you can, and stay as 
long as you want. However, the most interesting and active participation 
for us will be from about 8AM to noon.  While the actual exercise is a 
one-day affair, you can see from the attached tables that it is 
simulating a multi-day response.

If you think you might participate, please do two things:
1. Respond to this email to let me know you plan to be there. Don't 
consider this a promise, but I need a rough idea of how many people will 
show up.
2. Go to the beaconexercise.org website, and complete the registration 
form.  Don't be put off by the registration form - it really doesn't 
matter if you get all the check boxes "correct", but registering will 
get you email updates, and help the organizers understand who's 
participating.

I hope to see you on the morning of!

If you can't make it in person, I suggest you participate vicariously, 
by imagining a huge earthquake that morning, imagining what impacts you 
witness in your vicinity, and considering how you would respond.  Your 
power is out.  Your cell service and internet are out.  Friends, family, 
and neighbors are trapped in their houses, maybe.  Maybe you are injured 
or trapped.  How will you handle yourself?

Friday
W6FRI


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