Ground broken on state-of-the-art San Bernardino County Valley Communications Center

San Bernardino County law enforcement, fire and government officials hailed the dawn of what they described as a new era in emergency response and disaster preparedness in the region as they broke ground on a new communications center to serve the county.

Contractors are beginning work on the $125 million project's 6.9-acre site at the corner of Rialto Avenue and Lena Road in San Bernardino this month, according to San Bernardino County Director of Emergency Management Crisanta Gonzalez.

"Today marks a significant milestone in our commitment to the safety and well-being of our community. In approximately 590 days, we will be back at this very location, looking up at a state-of-the-art facility that will operate 24-7," Gonzalez said. "This facility will allow our most critical and public safety departments to respond to emergency events and natural disasters with confidence and coordination."

The three-story, 75,000-square-foot San Bernardino County Valley Communications Center is slated for completion in October 2025.

The communications center will house sheriff's officials, fire officials, the county Office of Emergency Services, the county Innovation and Technology Department, Confire emergency dispatchers, administrators and the Inland Counties Emergency Medical Agency, all under one roof.

A state-of-the-art communications center

The building will feature state-of-the art communications technology and self-sufficiency measures that will allow it to operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, according to county officials.

It will be fitted with base isolation to prevent earthquake damage, backup water systems, redundant technology systems, electrical generators, and a 700 kVA solar system.

In an emergency, state and federal partners will also be able to work from the Valley Communications Center to ensure a unified response, said Dawn Rowe, chairperson of the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors.

The county's current Emergency Operations Center is housed inside a warehouse formerly used to produce government cheese in Rialto, she said.

"It is small, it is old, it is outdated, and we can do better," Rowe said. "The Valley Communications Center is just that. It's us fulfilling the promise that we made to be better prepared in emergency response."

Supervisor Curt Hagman, who represents the county's 4th District, said the county has had its "fair share" of disasters and emergencies in the past.

"We have the best public safety officers, bar none, anywhere in North America, and (giving them) the tools now to combat that and to respond, I'm just very excited," he said. "We can become more efficient and better serve our residents in the largest geographical county in the United States."

In case of an emergency

Supervisor Joe Baca Jr. thanked all those involved in making the project a reality, including county staff, San Bernardino City Officials, and CONFIRE representatives.

Whether a disaster is natural or human-caused, "Being in a position to respond to those is very, very important," Baca said.

San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus said the new facility will offer his deputies a host of technological tools, such as advanced Next Generation 911, "increased situational awareness," artificial intelligence prediction, and the ability to better collect and use video evidence from the public.

The 7,400-square-foot portion of the building allocated to the sheriff's department will house 20 call takers and 24 radio dispatchers, as well as an on-site training room and a fitness center, he said.

The existence of two independent regional dispatch centers will provide "tactical redundancy," the sheriff said.

"...heaven forbid one of them goes down in a natural disaster. We all know about the San Andreas Fault and the things we deal with in this county," Dicus said.

San Bernardino County Deputy Fire Chief Bertral Washington thanked the board of supervisors, as well as firefighting colleagues at CONFIRE, which provides fire dispatching services throughout the county.

"The dispatchers and call takers at CONFIRE, specifically, are our firefighters' eyes and ears each and every day," he said. "They find their way into each of these incidents, whether small or very large, and tell us what we need to know before we arrive, and that's critical."

The facility was funded through American Rescue Plan Act funds, officials said.

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Groundbreaking held for San Bernardino County Valley Communications Center