- Davis County opened its first emergency operations center after two years of construction.
- The 17,300-square-foot facility aims to enhance disaster preparedness for the growing population.
- Residents can attend a public open house on April 18 to tour the facility.
FARMINGTON — After nearly two years of construction, Davis County has opened the doors of its first emergency operations center.
The new 17,300-square-foot facility, located within the sheriff's office complex in Farmington, is designed to enhance disaster preparedness and response for the county's growing population.
"Davis County is the third largest county in Utah, but we've never had a dedicated emergency operations center," Davis County Emergency Manager Ember Herrick said.
That all changed Friday, when county officials and members of the public joined emergency management leaders for the ceremonial opening of the new facility at 851 W. Clark Lane in Farmington.
The emergency operations center was designed to be one of the safest buildings in Davis County, according to a county-issued press release.
The Davis County Sheriff's Office broke ground on the new center in June 2024, but Herrick said the need for the facility became apparent several years prior, in 2020, during coordination and distribution efforts of personal protective equipment amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We were trying to coordinate with different emergency managers from our 15 cities in Davis County to come and join us in the auditorium at the sheriff's office; we were stockpiling personal protective equipment, and it was just very clear, very quickly, that it was not a sufficient space large enough to be able to do a countywide disaster emergency response from," she said.
Following the pandemic, Davis County commissioners prioritized $15 million in federal funding from the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds for the new emergency operations center, according to Herrick.
While expediting strategic coordination, support and recovery for the entire county is a vital function of the Davis County Emergency Operations Center, it was also built with the community in mind.
County emergency management leaders want residents to feel inspired to engage in various trainings and exercises led by experts that teach volunteers basic emergency response skills.
"These things will help make your family more safe in a disaster and will give you that sense of security that you're doing your part to get prepared," Herrick said.
Other features of the facility include technology to communicate and coordinate response efforts with the county's 15 cities, regional partners, Utah Division of Emergency Management, Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security.
It's also equipped with GIS mapping technology that allows first responders and residents to quickly transmit damage information to the emergency operations center's dashboard, so its staff can assess which areas are hardest hit during a disaster, a press release said.
Community members are welcome to tour the facility during another public open house on April 18.
More information can be found on Davis County Emergency Management's website.
