Breakfast Meeting – September 8, 2026

What Safety Professionals and San Diego County Residents Should Know
About Zone Zero, Home Hardening, and Wildfire Smoke

Ed Langmaid

New guidelines and regulations are out about wildfires and how to protect homes, families, and memories.  While it may not seem like everyone in San Diego is impacted, last year, in Los Angeles, wildfires destroyed many homes that were far from canyons, forests, and grasslands.  It is far better to have the knowledge, be prepared, and have the right protections in place to protect homes, businesses, and employees.

This presentation will provide a “Wildfire 101” approach to helping learn the three things that spread fires, allowing a wildfire to decimate unprepared homes in a community. In California, employers are also required to have policies in place to address employee exposure to Wildfire Smoke.  Best practices for protecting employees who work outside or might otherwise be exposed to wildfire smoke will also be shared.  You might be just the right person to share this information with others at risk of losing their home or something much worse.

Ed Langmaid is a long-time member of ASSE and ASSP, serving as Chapter President and receiving Safety Professional of the Year sometime in the last century. Ed served 20 years in the United States Navy and Navy Reserve, retiring as a naval intelligence officer and went on to have several different careers in his 33 years at General Dynamics / BAE Systems and at retirement was the Director of Business Continuity and Occupational Safety and Health for multiple sites in the U.S.

In this century Ed worked as a Managing Consultant for Aspen Risk Management Group but found himself over-volunteered so here he is today, unemployed and over-volunteered. Ed now spends most of his time volunteering for Prepare Tierrasanta, Tierrasanta Fire Safe Council, Fleet Week San Diego, CERT and other organizations.

Ed has a passion for community preparedness and has real concerns that people will not be prepared for the next disaster (catastrophic earthquake or a devastating, wildfire), and most of San Diego county is at risk for both of these.