Preparedness

You can't act on a warning you never receive. Sign up for all three layers, it takes about ten minutes.

• County emergency alerts. Every Southern California county runs its own opt-in alert system (Alert LA County, AlertOC, SD Emergency, VC Alert, and similar). Register every phone in your household, not just one.
• Wireless Emergency Alerts. Check your phone settings and confirm emergency alerts are turned on. These are the loud, automatic push alerts that don't require signup.
• Know your zone. Many counties now use evacuation zone maps (Genasys Protect / Zonehaven). Look up your zone name today and write it inside your go-bag. When an evacuation order names zones, you won't be guessing which one is yours.

★Do this now: register for your county's alert system and look up your evacuation zone.

Source: Cal OES, your county office of emergency management.

Fifteen minutes at the kitchen table. The goal is that nobody has to make decisions during the emergency, because you already made them.

• Two ways out. Pick two different routes out of your neighborhood, in different directions. Fire closes roads, and the second route is the plan, not a backup.
• One meeting place. Choose a spot well outside your area where everyone goes if separated. A relative's home, a specific store parking lot, anywhere everyone can name from memory.
• An out-of-area contact. Local calls fail when networks are jammed. Pick one out-of-town relative everyone texts to check in. Texts get through when calls won't.
• Who does what. Assign jobs by name: who grabs the go-bags, who handles pets, who helps grandma, who drives which car. Children old enough to have a job should have one, it replaces fear with purpose.
• Practice once. Walk the plan one evening, driveway to meeting place. It will surface the problem you didn't think of, and it turns the plan into muscle memory.

★Do this now: hold the 15-minute family meeting and write the plan on one page. Tape it inside a kitchen cabinet.

Source: Ready.gov family communication plan, CAL FIRE Ready, Set, Go.

One bag per person, packed tonight, stored where you can grab it in the dark. You are packing for 72 hours away from home.

Each person:

• Water and snack bars for the drive
• Three days of clothes, sturdy shoes
• Medications, at least a week's worth, plus a written list of prescriptions
• Phone charger and a backup battery
• Flashlight or headlamp
• N95 masks for smoke
• Glasses, contacts, hearing aid batteries, anything your body needs daily

One household bag:

• Copies of IDs, insurance policies, deed or lease, and medical cards, physical copies in a zip bag, digital copies in cloud storage
• Cash in small bills, ATMs and card readers fail in outages
• First aid kit
• Irreplaceables you'd grieve: the photo drive, the ring, the kids' baby books. Decide now, not with a flashlight in your teeth.

Pets:

• Leashes and carriers stored next to the go-bags
• Three days of food, a water bowl, vaccination records, and a photo of you with your pet in case you're separated

★Do this now: pack the bags this week. A packed imperfect bag beats a perfect list.

Source: Ready.gov build a kit, American Red Cross.

Most homes lost to wildfire are not overrun by a wall of flame. They ignite from embers, which can travel a mile or more ahead of a fire and find the one weakness you didn't handle. Home readiness is ember defense.

• The first five feet matter most. Keep the zone immediately against your walls free of anything that can catch: dry plants, mulch beds, stacked firewood, doormats, brooms, propane tanks. Bare dirt, stone, or concrete against the house is the single highest-value change you can make.
• Clear the roof and gutters. Dry leaves and needles in a gutter are a lit fuse waiting for one ember. Clean them before every fire season.
• Screen your vents. Attic, crawlspace, and soffit vents are open doors for embers. Cover them with 1/8 inch metal mesh, an afternoon of work that closes the most common entry point.
• Mind the fence. A wooden fence that touches the house is a wick that carries fire to your wall. Consider a metal gate or panel for the last five feet.
• Defensible space, 100 feet. Keep grass cut, trees limbed up, and dead vegetation removed in the zones around your home, per your county's defensible space standards.

This is also the work our Services page exists for. Whether you do it yourself or bring us in, do it before the season, not during the warning.

Source: CAL FIRE defensible space and home hardening guidance, IBHS Wildfire Prepared Home.

An Evacuation Warning means danger is possible and now is the time to get ready. Don't wait for it to become an order to begin.

• Load go-bags, people supplies, and pets into the car now, and back the car into the driveway facing out
• Dress for it: long sleeves, long pants, closed shoes
• Close all windows and doors, but leave them unlocked for firefighters
• Move flammable furniture away from windows, take down lightweight curtains
• Shut off propane at the tank
• Leave interior and exterior lights on, it helps firefighters see your home in smoke
• Check on neighbors who may need help, especially anyone elderly or without a car

If anyone in your home needs extra time to move, medical equipment, mobility challenges, young kids, treat every Warning as your Order and go early. Leaving early is not overreacting. It is the single safest decision available to you, and it keeps roads clear for those still coming.

Source: CAL FIRE Ready, Set, Go, Listos California.

An Evacuation Order means go now.

• Take your go-bags and go, do not stay to pack more
• Follow the routes in your plan unless authorities direct otherwise, and follow official detours even when your map app disagrees
• Drive with headlights on, windows up, vents on recirculate
• Text your out-of-area contact once you're moving, then focus on the road
• Never drive through smoke you can't see through, turn around and use your second route

Do not return until officials say it is safe, even if the sky looks clear. Flare-ups, downed lines, and gas leaks are why the barrier is still up.

Source: your county sheriff and fire authority evacuation guidance.

• Wait for the official all-clear before returning
• Walk your property in daylight, in sturdy shoes, watching for embers, ash pits, and damaged trees before letting kids or pets out
• Photograph any damage before you touch anything, then call your insurer
• Wear an N95 during any cleanup, ash is not ordinary dirt
• Check on your neighbors. Recovery is a neighborhood project, and Southern California has proven that over and over.

Source: Ready.gov returning home after a wildfire, your county public health department.