Noise from military exercises in Pasadena, Irvine upsets residents

Northeast Pasadena, a section of the city affected by the Eaton Fire, was subjected to the sounds of gunfire, low-flying helicopters and triggered car alarms from Wednesday night to early Thursday morning as the U.S. military conducted a training exercise at the former St. Luke Medical Center.

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Many residents flooded the city’s Facebook page after it posted a notice about the exercise, with many questioning the timing of the exercise and why it had to be in Pasadena. A few pointed out it was finals week. Some speculated the military was training for urban warfare.

“They (residents) were dumbfounded more than puzzled and upset,” said Pasadena Councilman Rick Cole.

The military also had a training exercise late Wednesday in Irvine near Alton Parkway and Irvine Boulevard, city officials said on social media.

Cole said he headed to the site of the former hospital on the 2600 block of East Washington Boulevard on Wednesday to see what was going on and to answer questions by the public. He recorded videos which he posted on social media.

“It was pretty noisy,” he said. “It’s an extremely quiet neighborhood. This is half a mile from where the Eaton fire started.”

The neighborhood was traumatized a year ago by the fire, he said. Then all of a sudden, Cole said, there are Army rangers on the hospital roof and the sound of gunfire.

“This was surreal,” he said.

The helicopters were around until 2:10 a.m. on Thursday, according to Cole.

“I don’t appreciate what is going on across the street,” Rachel Spencer, who lives nearby, told Key News Network, a freelance news organization that sometimes works with the Southern California News Group.

She said a Pasadena officer came to her door around 7 p.m. on Wednesday and notified her about the training. But she wasn’t told there will be men jumping out of helicopters, helicopters flying low and explosions and gunfire inside the hospital, she added.

“It’s insane. It’s 2 a.m. and I’m outside. This is crazy,” Spencer said.

The city was told not to disclose what military branch did the exercise, said Lisa Derderian, spokeswoman for Pasadena.

In March, the military contacted the Pasadena Police Department and asked if officers could assist with security while it conducted urban combat training in the city,  according to Derderian.

It was confirmed May 28 that the site for the training would be St. Luke, she said.

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The former hospital is privately owned. The owner couldn’t be reached for comment on Thursday.

Earlier this week, Derderian said the city was told the exercise would involve helicopters and simulated gunfire. The military didn’t share a lot of details.

On Tuesday, a group of city management met and decided to send a message about the training exercise to residents.

The military asked the city not to notify residents until 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday so the public doesn’t get drawn to the location, she said. The city told residents via reverse phone notification, Nixle, social media and apps like Nextdoor, she said.

“The city had no control on the timing of the exercise or specific details.  Our priority was the safety of the residents and vehicle traffic in the immediate area,” Derderian said.

Residents in Irvine also expressed frustration about the training exercise on social media.

“It’s past midnight and it’s still going on. When is this going to stop? My baby keeps waking up,” one commenter wrote on the Irvine Police Department’s announcement.

“I must not understand military time because this says it ends at midnight but it’s still going on more than an hour after the end time,” another commenter wrote.

Irvine police spokesman Kyle Oldoerp said police did not know what branch of the military conducting the training or the purpose of the exercise.

The FBI’s Jerry Crowe Training Facility is located less than a mile from the intersection of Alton Parkway and Irvine Boulevard, where police said the exercise took place.

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