Guthrie changed the emergency management culture in Flagler, transforming a static division that had been reined in by the county administration and hampered by checkered leadership into an energetic, forward-looking division. But the administration thwarted his broader plans.
kevin guthrie
At Flagler’s Emergency Operations, Key Employee’s Firing Exposes Broader Turmoil
The firing of Jennifer Stagg, for more than six years a senior preparedness planner at Flagler County Emergency Services, caused Kevin Guthrie, her former boss, to launch a campaign on her behalf, causing 31 people to turn up at her termination hearing this morning. The hearing will resume Wednesday.
Palm Coast Signals Going Its Own Way In Growing Rift With County Over Radio System
City Manager Jim Landon is pressuring the county to replace its emergency radio infrastructure–on which the city and sheriff depend– well before 2020. The county is resisting, citing costs.
As Flagler’s Emergency Communications Briefly Falter, Palm Coast and Sheriff Assail County Over Long-Term Plans
The county’s critical emergency radio system briefly failed when a tower lost its back-up power Thursday even as county, city and sheriff’s officials were meeting in the first high-level meeting since 2013 to deal with their differences over modernizing the emergency communications system.
Celebrated Emergency Services Chief Kevin Guthrie Resigns, Jolting Commissioners
Kevin Guthrie headed the county’s emergency services division since late 2013 to mostly rave reviews, but frustrations with the county administration may have led to his decision to leave.
Palm Coast Seeks to Bail on County-Wide Communications System It joined in 2009 in Latest Clash With Flagler
Palm Coast and Flagler County governments are trading accusations of violating a 2009 agreement over the critical 800 mhz system as Palm Coast quit contributing its share of dollars to it and the county charges that the city is inventing an issue without a problem.
3 Flagler Emergency Operations Specialists In South Carolina as Part of Incident Team
It is the first time since the 2011 wildfires in Flagler that the Northeast Florida Incident Management Team was activated, this time with three members from Flagler County: Flagler County Fire Rescue Operations Chief Mike Bazanos, Captain Richard Bennett, and Laura Nelson, a Mitigation Planner at Flagler County Emergency Management.
Flagler’s Push For Trio of Cell Towers Rising Higher Than Statue of Liberty Beams Alarms
Flagler County Emergency Services wants the three towers, including an especially controversial one on John Anderson Highway in Flagler Beach, to improve its communications network, but residents and environmentalists are raising questions.
Disaster Economics 101: Flagler Businesses Are Made Part of County’s Recovery Plans
Kevin Guthrie, the county’s emergency services director, told some 80 Flagler business leaders what role they must play in the immediate recovery after a disaster to ensure that the local economy returns to normal.
Report on Active-Shooter Exercise at FPC Points to Serious Flaws in Command, Communications and Cooperation
The unvarnished after-action report paints a troubling picture of sheriff’s and fire rescue operations that worked poorly as a coordinated, cooperative and unified response, though they worked well in their individual parts.
In Theoretical Mass Shooting at FPC, a Mass Exercise to Evaluate Vulnerabilities
A man denied custody of his children decides to take his rage out on FPC students in a shooting rampage: that was the scenario around which some 200 responders and volunteer actors recreated an emergency response this morning in a two-hour training exercise at the school.
Hurricane, Terrorism, Evacuations: In Flagler Emergencies, These Are The People Who Hold Your Fate In Their Hands
The Flagler County Executive Policy Group is the most powerful local government panel you’ve never heard of, and its members make all key decisions in natural or man-made emergencies. They practiced this morning.
CodeRed System Credited With Locating Missing 16-Year-Old With Special Needs
Within a quarter hour of a CodeRed alert that went out to 15,214 subscribers Monday evening, a 16-year-old boy with the mental capacity of a 6 year old who’d gone missing was located in the W Section.
Glitches Fixed, Flagler’s Upgraded 911 System Readies For Launch, With Text-to-911 Next
The $266,000 upgrade enables dispatchers to more quickly and accurately zero in on cell callers’ location. In the near future, text-to-911 capabilities will make it easier for the deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired to use 911.
Flagler’s 911 System Goes Dark For 24 Minutes Tuesday as Back-Up Also Fails, Missing 10 Calls
Flagler County’s 911 system failed at 11:30 Tuesday morning and the back-up didn’t kick-in as technicians were working on a major upgrade of the system at the county’s Emergency Operations Center.
In Mass-Casualty Simulation, Flagler First Responders and Hospital Test Capabilities
The simulation entailed a plane crash at the county airport and more than two dozen injuries as fuel and debris struck Hijackers’ Restaurant. The exercise unfolded in front of Florida Hospital Flagler’s Emergency Room.
Preparedness Before Hype: Flagler Emergency Responders Form Team With Ebola in Mind
An “incident management team” was created to respond to any infectious disease emergency in Flagler, with Emergency Management, Florida Hospital Flagler and the the Health Department leading the response, should one ever be necessary.
“A Fitting Conclusion”: Family Speaks of Pilot Ray Miller’s Life of Adventure Before Crash
Raymond Miller, the 77-year-old Palm Coast resident who crashed his plane in Pellicer Creek last week, had retired from the CIA but had never ended a life of globe-trotting adventure in which his age was a mere number. His family said his last flight was a fitting way to end a life.
Relax: There May Be Some Rain, But No Sandbag-Begging Flooding Likely in Flagler
Despite television images of flooded roads and some flooded homes in parts of coastal Volusia County, Flagler’s emergency management director says residents should not be alarmed by what they see there or expect it replicated here.
Flagler Emergency Official Cautions of Heat Indices Reaching 108 Through Friday
Today through Friday the heat index is hitting unusually high levels and will range from 102 to 108 in Flagler County, especially inland, prompting weather and emergency officials to caution residents and vacationers to stay out of the heat if possible, or take safety measures when in the heat.
Study Reveals Severe Tornado-Awareness Gap in Palm Coast Despite Ready Warnings
More than half Palm Coast residents warned of December’s tornado took no safety precautions afterward, a new study finds, alarming officials about an apathy they say must be countered, though Palm Coast’s response to the study has been more muted than another city’s where tornado awareness is far more heightened.
Sheriff Defends Weekend Use of Code Red Alert For Missing Boy But Initiates Review
Future Code Red alerts will have to be approved by the sheriff himself, though the two Code Red calls that went out Saturday night, including the one that told residents that the Palm Coast boy was found, were both matters of public safety, emergency officials said. Some 30 people asked to be dropped out of 150 people who called emergency services to complain.
Gentle Warning Beep as Flagler’s $10 Million Emergency Radio System Approaches Its End
It’s less than eight years since Flagler spent $10 million to upgrade its county-wide communications to an 800 MHz system, to which some 1,500 radios from police, fire, municipal and county agencies are attached. That system is set to reach its official life’s end in 2017, requiring county government to start now to examine how it will replace it, and how it’ll pay for the replacement.