The Los Angeles City Council Tuesday called for a report on improving the city's response to emergencies such as fires, floods or landslides that impact apartment buildings.
In a 13-0 vote, council members instructed the Emergency Management Department, among others, to report on the roles and responsibilities of the city when dealing with such disasters, provide details on how information is shared between property owners, renters and responding agencies.
Councilmen Kevin de León and Marqueece Harris-Dawson were absent during the vote.
According to the motion introduced by Councilwoman Eunisses Hernandez, the report aims to streamline and improve how the city responds to disasters and to ensure residents are not displaced from their homes.
"While many different public and private entities respond to offer support and resources, including city departments, state and federal agencies, and nonprofit and mutual aid groups, impacted residents can be left to navigate a complicated web of resources in order to access the support they need," the motion reads.
"This creates an additional hurdle for residents who are already grappling with a life-altering catastrophe," the motion continues. "The city can and must ensure that it is supporting these individuals and families during the emergency and beyond the immediate aftermath."
The motion was prompted by a fire that displaced more than 50 Chinatown residents from their apartments last month. On Sept. 13, a fire started in a vacant three-story apartment building under construction at 708-712 S. Depot St., which then spread to three other buildings to the south and west. It took more than 130 firefighters an hour and 36 minutes to contain the flames, according to the L.A. Fire Department.
The council's five-member Public Safety Committee unanimously approved the motion on Sept. 24.