A tiny Santa Cruz Mountains community that has watched storms wash out its only road and cut it off from the outside world for days at a time is getting a new line of defense: a converted shipping container packed with solar power, satellite internet and emergency supplies. The fifth Advanced Resource Center planned for San Mateo County's South Coast is slated for installation at Loma Mar Fire Station, off Pescadero Creek Road in Memorial Park, before the end of 2026.
According to the County of San Mateo, three of these centers are already operational elsewhere on the South Coast, with a fourth currently under construction and the Loma Mar unit set to be the fifth. The county describes the center as a self-contained emergency hub built from a converted steel shipping container measuring 10 by 20 feet, powered entirely by a rooftop solar array and battery system that lets it run off-grid for an extended period.
Built for a Town That Storms Cut Off
Loma Mar's vulnerability is not theoretical. The county's account notes that the community relies on a single Redwood Canyon road for access and services, has limited cell coverage that becomes especially precarious during extended power outages, and regularly deals with mudslides and washouts. On a busy weekend, visitors and campers headed to the county's parks can even outnumber the town's own residents, the county's report adds.
The county's population figure for Loma Mar — about 134 residents — differs from the roughly 120 residents cited by the Loma Mar Fire Department, a nonprofit established in June 1974 and staffed entirely by volunteer firefighters from the community. That department, which responds to fire and medical emergencies within a multi-mile radius, has lived through the kind of disaster the new center is meant to help prevent: a winter storm on Feb. 3, 1998, cut the town off from surrounding areas for multiple days, and one resident died when a landslide swept away his home, according to the department's account.
Solar, Starlink and a Loudspeaker
The new center is designed to double as Loma Mar's emergency assembly point, per the county's report. It will include weather-monitoring sensors and a computer that provide live storm-condition readings within the canyon, and it will be operated by a trained Community Emergency Response Team member. A public-address loudspeaker built into the unit will allow officials to broadcast messages directly to residents and park visitors gathered there.
When cell and landline service fail, the center is designed to lean on Starlink satellite internet to keep Wi-Fi and VoIP phone connectivity running, the county's report states. That connectivity is also meant to help stranded campers and hikers get online to receive alerts and reach family members during an emergency. The unit will stock supplies and resources for the local CERT team alongside emergency and medical supplies meant for stranded visitors.
County Parks official David Vasquez said the communications infrastructure will be invaluable to rangers, visitors and the local community during the next major storm, per the county's report. That framing echoes concerns raised elsewhere on the South Coast: the La Honda Fire Brigade, an all-volunteer department that has served La Honda and the surrounding South Coast since 1953, warns that traditional communication can fail during storms, earthquakes or fires, leaving residents without evacuation warnings or orders.
A Region Already Stretched Thin by Disasters
The need is not abstract for South Coast responders. La Honda Fire Brigade says its CERT and SC4ARES teams have been activated 13 times since the 2020 CZU Fire, with all but five of those activations lasting multiple days and the CZU response itself stretching to 10 days. The brigade notes that South Coast CERT members are activated whenever significant events strain the county's normal emergency-response structures, with training that runs 20 hours over four weeks covering first aid and search and rescue, according to its CERT program page.
Flooding has proven disruptive even to the agencies meant to respond to it. A separate county storm announcement noted that flooding on Pescadero Creek Road once forced fire engines to relocate to the local high school campus during a declared state of emergency. La Honda Fire Brigade has also been pursuing funding for evacuation sirens across the South Coast that could deliver voice instructions in both English and Spanish, though that effort is separate from the Advanced Resource Center project.
Who Paid for It
The five South Coast centers were funded through a San Mateo County Measure K grant, administered by the county's Department of Emergency Management, the county's report states. Additional funding and equipment support came from 100 Women Who Care Coastside, PG&E and American Medical Response. La Honda Fire Brigade has also built the resource centers largely with volunteer labor, reflecting the same community-driven model that has kept the region's small fire departments running for decades.
