Evacuation Planning

Evacuation Planning & Alerts

When wildfire strikes, every moment matters. Having a clear evacuation plan can save lives and reduce panic. This section will help you prepare ahead of time, know your routes, pack a go-bag, and make sure your entire household is ready to act quickly. Use the tools below to build your plan and stay one step ahead.

1 Alert & Warning Systems

Watch Duty App

Watch Duty is a service and an app, powered by volunteers – firefighters, dispatchers, and first responders – who diligently monitor radio scanners and other official sources 24 hours a day to send you the most up-to-date information.

Download the app to your phone, iPad or laptop. Set the app to notify you in the event of a fire in the area you have designated.

The app will provide current updates on the progress of the fire and what actions responding agencies are implementing. In the event of evacuation the app will list by area when to evacuate, evacuation centers, and large animal shelters.

Alert San Diego

Register for Emergency Alerts

The emergency notification system can make phone calls to people and businesses in San Diego County when there’s an emergency or disaster happening or about to happen. It’s used by emergency workers to tell people what’s going on and what they should do (like leave their homes, stay inside, or watch out for a gas leak or a missing person).

The system can call both listed and unlisted landline phones using the 9-1-1 phone list from the local phone companies.

It can also send alerts to your cell phone, internet phone (VoIP), and email, but only if you register. You don’t have to sign up if you have a regular landline phone; they already have those numbers in their system.

Alerts in American Sign Language (ASL)

Accessible AlertSanDiego is a service that helps people in San Diego County who are deaf, blind, hard of hearing, or deaf/blind get emergency information.

You can receive emergency messages on devices like computers, cell phones, tablets, and special devices that help people who are blind or have low vision (like Braille readers). These messages are shown in American Sign Language (ASL) videos, and there’s also English voice and text with them.

When you sign up for AlertSanDiego, you can choose the “Accessible Option” to get these messages in American Sign Language (ASL).

Wynola Water District Emergency Neighborhood Notifications

Text WWD to (888) 445-1447 to sign up for Fire, Public Safety, Water System Notifications for Wynola Estates, Wynola Water District and Wynola Estates Fire Safe Council.

2 Before an Evacuation

Follow these steps so you and your family are prepared to evacuate at a moment’s notice:

Sign up for alerts and warning systems
Create an evacuation plan
Review your evacuation checklist
Assemble an evacuation go-kit
Prepare to evacuate children, seniors, and people with disabilities
Prepare to evacuate pets and large animals

CREDIT: firesafemarin.org

3 When to Evacuate

When a Red Flag Warning has been issued, or if a fire is burning nearby, you should take steps to prepare for the possibility of evacuation. Leave immediately if ordered. Don’t wait for an evacuation order if you feel unsafe or conditions change; leave early if unsure.

A summary of the evacuation checklist:

Monitor all available information sources.
Notify members of your household and neighbors to alert them to prepare for evacuation.
Dress for survival.
Grab your evacuation go-kit, evacuation map, car keys, IDs, your mobile phone, and a portable phone charger.
Locate pets and place them in carriers, along with water, food, and medication.
Back your car into your driveway, and load it up with your things so you’re ready to go at a moment’s notice.
Regularly update an out-of-area contact of your phone number, location, and status.
When you leave, drive defensively, head downhill, and stay in your car until you reach safety.

CREDIT: firesafemarin.org

Vents on homes create openings for flying embers. Ember entry through vents can result in ignition of combustible materials in the attic or crawl space, and result in a building burning from the inside out. The importance of ember and flame entry into vents during wildfires has resulted in the development of commercially available vents designed to resist the intrusion of embers and flame, and recommendations for new or retrofit vents to protect existing openings.

CREDIT: firesafemarin.org

4 Be Ready to Evacuate

Extreme fire behavior, failure to receive alerts and delays in departure contribute most to wildfire deaths. Make sure that you and your family are prepared to evacuate at a moment’s notice. Create an evacuation plan, make a go kit, learn how to safely evacuate in your car, make a plan for pets and large animals. It is particularly important to plan in advance if you have mobility issues. Evacuation maps can be found here. Check out tips for renters.

CREDIT: firesafemarin.org

5 Where to Go

When you’re making an evacuation plan, first check to see whether you can stay in a hotel or with friends and family, which may be the safest options during the pandemic. If you can’t make other arrangements, details of evacuation centers will be provided by the County through Alert Marin, Nixle, social media and news agencies.

Stay with friends or Stay in a Hotel.

If you have relatives or friends outside the evacuation area whom you think might have space to accommodate you, ask them ahead of time so they’re prepared for you.

Check with hotels, motels or campgrounds outside your area to see whether they can accept you.

6 Shelter in Place

Wildfires are unpredictable and spread quickly. Even if you’ve prepared in advance, you may be required to shelter in place if ordered or if you find yourself trapped by a wildfire. To survive this frightening scenario, it is important to remain calm and keep everyone together.

Prepare yourself mentally for darkness (even during the day), noise, chaos, and the natural urge to flee the safety of your shelter. If you are unable to evacuate, it’s probably safer inside a car or building where your airway, eyes, and skin are protected.

Take shelter in the nearby place that is best able to withstand the fire. This may be your home, another building made of more resistant materials or that is less exposed to burning vegetation, your car, or an open outdoor area like an irrigated playing field or parking lot far from vegetation. Stay calm and together while the wildfire passes. When directed, or when the fire outside subsides, move to a safer area.

If safe evacuation is not an option, follow these steps:

If you have relatives or friends outside the evacuation area whom you think might have space to accommodate you, ask them ahead of time so they’re prepared for you.

Check with hotels, motels or campgrounds outside your area to see whether they can accept you.

A building should be your first choice for shelter if evacuation is not possible.
Close all doors and windows and leave them unlocked.
Keep car keys, cell phone, ID, and flashlight with you.
Gather all family members and pets (in carriers) and lay down near the front door, protecting your airway by breathing near the floor if it becomes smoky or hot.
Monitor the fire and be observant. Watch for small (spot) fires.
Call 911 and let them know your location.
Leave the house only if it becomes too hot or smoky inside, or when it’s obviously safer outside.

CREDIT: firesafemarin.org

If your escape route is blocked and there is no safe building nearby to take refuge in, park and stay in your car – it is far safer than being out in the open.
Never attempt to evacuate by unpaved fire roads.
Find a place to park on pavement that has little or no vegetation, in an outside turn if on a hillside.
Turn on headlights and emergency flashers to make your car more visible through heavy smoke.
Close all windows and doors, shut off all air vents and turn off the air conditioner.
Get below the windows, under blankets (preferably wool), and lie on the floor to shelter yourself from radiant heat if it becomes hot.
Call 911 and let them know your location.
Stay in the vehicle as long as possible.
Wait until the fire front passes and the temperature has dropped outside, then get out and move to a safe area that has already burned.

CREDIT: firesafemarin.org

7 Getting to Safety

Media images of burned cars have left many California residents with the misconception that cars are highly vulnerable to wildfires–the opposite is true. Your car provides a tremendous amount of protection. Made of glass and steel, it protects from hot gasses, embers, and radiant heat. As long as your car stays on pavement, it is extremely resistant to burning. With an AM/FM radio, air filtration and air conditioning, headlights, and protection from heat, your car is like a survival suit for wildfires.

Driving tips:

Car pool if you can
Families should only take one vehicle to reduce congestion
Turn your headlights on.
Wear your seatbelt.
Pick up neighbors, especially elderly or disabled residents who may be unable to evacuate on their own.
Fill every seat! Carpool!
Turn on inside air and air conditioning.
Tune to local news radio stations.
Proceed slowly and calmly.
Don’t pass cars when visibility is low.
Don’t panic in traffic.
Stay on pavement.
Avoid stopping on “inside turns” on roads where unburned vegetation lies in a drainage below the road.
Take the car that is most capable of getting you out alive: an SUV (if possible) with the fullest tank of gas.
Stay in your car or a refuge area if trapped.
Fire roads are for firefighter use and are not a safe option for evacuation. Stay on pavement, in your vehicle, if possible.

CREDIT: firesafemarin.org

If you’re worried about how you’ll leave your home without a car, we recommend that you work with your neighbors — or nearby friends and family, if you have them — to coordinate. If you’re relying on someone else’s car to evacuate, you should leave your home “sooner rather than later” because your ride might not be able to physically get to you if you wait too long.

It’s important that your emergency bag is light enough to transport without a car.

8 Your Evacuation Route

Things to remember while evacuating:

Take the shortest PAVED route to a place of refuge in an open area – preferably a wide, paved road near a valley floor (this is usually the same route you take to get to the grocery store).
Carry an evacuation map with at least two routes (if possible) in your go-kit.
The darkness and flames of a fire can be disorienting. Familiar landmarks may not be recognizable during a fire.
Don’t evacuate by fire road or “cross country” trails where you might be exposed to unburned vegetation.
Never evacuate uphill or into open-space unless directed to do so by fire or law enforcement authorities.
Law enforcement or emergency personnel may direct you to an alternate route. Always follow their directions.
Drive your planned route of escape before an actual emergency. This is most likely the route you normally take to leave your community, as that’s typically the shortest and is the route you’re most familiar with.
Don’t panic in traffic. The goal of evacuating (any emergency) is to get from a dangerous place to a safer place. Being in a car, on a paved road is a relatively safe location during a wildfire.
If you are in traffic on a hillside, avoid “inside turns” where a drainage or unmaintained, unburned vegetation lies below the road.
Abandoning your car to evacuate on foot is almost always MORE dangerous than waiting inside your car.
Panic is deadly.

If you live in a “one way in, one way out” neighborhood, as is common in Marin, your escape route is predetermined.

Use the “one-way-out” direction and leave! Drive paved roads towards your neighborhood’s exit, and to the nearest town away from the fire.
Follow instructions in the alert messages if they provide evacuation shelter or escape route information.
Do not attempt to evacuate by fire roads or open spaces where you might be exposed to burning vegetation. Fire roads are almost always more dangerous than being in your car on the pavement.
Don’t worry about fire engines blocking your way out of your neighborhood. When evacuation has been ordered, the fire’s Incident Commander will instruct fire engines not to enter areas where evacuation is occurring and two-way passage is not possible. Evacuation is the number one priority for firefighters.

Stay calm. Don’t panic.
Remember that your car provides a tremendous amount of protection from heat, smoke, and embers. It’s more dangerous outside of your car.
The presence of fire or flames on the roadside does not necessarily mean your road is blocked. You can usually safely drive when there is a fire burning on the roadsides as long as you stay on the pavement.
Being stuck in traffic in your car, on unburnable pavement, is usually safer than being exposed on foot.
If the road is blocked, try to clear the obstruction (if it’s safe to exit your vehicle).
Turn around only if the obstruction can’t be cleared.
If an alternate paved route is available and your main route is blocked, take it.
Try to drive away from the fire if possible, and take the shortest paved route to a valley floor if you’re on a hillside.
Do not leave your vehicle unless there is no other option or your car is on fire. Leaving your car is the last resort and may prove deadly. You are almost always safer in your car or a building.
Do not abandon your car in the roadway. Park it off the road if there is no other option.
Take refuge in an open, unburnable area like a ballfield, large parking lot, or shelter in your car or inside a building if no quick escape route is available and flames are approaching. See the section on sheltering in place.
Law enforcement can move a large number of vehicles through intersections if all vehicles follow directions.

9 Returning Home

Fire officials will determine when it is safe for you to return to your home. This will be done as soon as possible considering safety and accessibility.

Things to remember while evacuating:

Watch out for downed power lines and other hazards
Check propane tanks, regulators, and lines before turning gas on
Carefully check your home for hidden embers or smoldering fires

9 Your Evacuation Map

Emergencies can happen fast, but having a plan helps you stay calm and act quickly. Download the WEFSC Evacuation Map to see recommended exit routes and safe zones throughout Wynola Estates. It’s a simple step that could make all the difference.

CREDIT: firesafemarin.org