Before wildfire season: what to do now

Wildfire evacuation zone names are not standardized across states or counties. California uses Evacuation Warning and Evacuation Order. Oregon, Washington, and other western states each use different terms with different trigger points. A Zone 1 or a Warning level in one county may mean something different than the same label in the county next door. If you wait until fire season to look this up, you will be interpreting unfamiliar terminology under stress and compressed time.

• Step 1. Find your county emergency management agency: Search [your county name] emergency management or [your county name] OES (Office of Emergency Services). The county website is the authoritative source for local zone names, zone maps, and what each level means for action. Do not rely on state-level descriptions; county definitions are what matter when a local order is issued.
• Step 2. Find your specific zone on the map: Most counties publish an interactive map or PDF that shows which zone your address falls in. Write your zone down and keep it somewhere visible: on the inside of a cabinet door, in your go-bag documents, or saved as a photo on your phone. You need to know your zone without needing to look it up when an order is issued.
• Step 3. Read what each level means for action: Evacuation warnings, watches, advisories, and orders all have different meanings. In many systems, a warning means prepare to leave immediately, not that an order has been issued yet. Know the trigger point at which your county expects you to leave, not just the label they use. Write it down next to your zone designation.
• Federal reference: FEMA Ready.gov: Wildfires is the neutral federal starting point that applies across all states. Use it to understand the general framework, then go to your county website for the specific local definitions that will govern any order issued in your area.

Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) push to every phone in a geographic area automatically; you do not need to sign up for those. But most counties also run a supplemental alert system that can deliver zone-specific notices before WEA is triggered, giving you earlier warning with more specific information. These systems require registration and take 5 minutes to set up. They cannot be set up effectively during an active fire event.

• Find your county system: Search [your county name] emergency alerts sign up. Common platforms include CodeRED, Nixle, Everbridge, and county-specific systems. Some states also operate a statewide supplemental system. Check your state emergency management agency if the county search does not return a clear result.
• Register every phone in your household: These systems typically deliver by cell phone number, not by address alone. Each adult in your household should register their own number so that zone-specific notices are delivered to everyone. If you have elderly family members in your household, help them register. Registration is typically free.
• Confirm WEA is enabled on all phones: In addition to county supplemental alerts, confirm Wireless Emergency Alerts are enabled on every phone. iPhone: Settings → Notifications → Emergency Alerts (must be toggled on). Android: Settings → Safety and Emergency → Wireless Emergency Alerts. WEA alerts sound even on silenced phones. Do not disable this feature.
• Re-register at the start of each fire season: Some county systems require re-registration annually or when you change your phone number. Check at the start of each fire season that your registration is current. Set a calendar reminder for the same date each year; when daylight saving time ends is a common anchor point for annual safety checks.

During fire season, your go-bag needs to be packed, complete, and positioned so you can grab it in under 60 seconds. Wildfires move faster than most people expect; embers travel miles ahead of the fire front and can ignite structures before the main fire arrives. A go-bag stored in a closet behind other things, or partially assembled, is not a go-bag during fire season.

• Position and verify before fire season: Move the bag to its staging location (near your primary exit door or in the vehicle) before fire season begins. Open it and verify contents: medications (are prescriptions current?), documents (IDs, insurance cards, bank card, written emergency contacts), phone charging cable and power bank, N95 masks, water. Rotate any expired food or medication now.
• One bag per person, reachable in the dark: If you have household members on different floors, each floor should have a bag. Your primary exit is the one you will use most often; the bag goes there. Practice getting to it and picking it up in the dark at least once. This is not an unusual drill; it is how you verify the bag placement actually works.
• Park facing out during fire season: Park your vehicle facing the street, not nosed-in to the garage or a parking space. In a rapid evacuation, reversing out adds seconds that matter when roads are gridlocking quickly. This habit costs nothing and requires no decision-making when it matters.
• Know where your pets go: If you have pets, confirm their carriers are accessible and that each household member knows how to load and secure each animal. A pet that cannot be loaded quickly becomes a reason to delay departure. Carriers should be out and accessible, not stored in the attic, during fire season.

Fire can cut a road in minutes. A single planned route is not an evacuation plan in wildfire-prone areas; it is a plan with a single point of failure. Two routes means two entirely different roads to two identified destinations, not two slightly different paths that share the same bridge or intersection.

• Drive both routes before fire season: Identify your primary route and drive it. Then identify a second route that uses entirely different roads, not the same highway with a different on-ramp. Drive that one too. Note: bridges, tunnels, single-lane segments, and any sections that run adjacent to wildland. Those are the sections that can be cut or closed. Know the bypass for each one.
• Identify a primary and a secondary destination: A family member's home outside the hazard area, two pre-researched hotels along each route, or a friend's address. Write these addresses and phone numbers down on paper, not just in your phone. Cell networks saturate during mass evacuations. A paper list stored in the go-bag works when your phone does not.
• Know your county's official evacuation routes: Many counties with wildfire exposure publish official evacuation routes, designed for high-volume traffic movement, not fastest-under-normal-conditions. Find these on your county emergency management website and include them in your route planning. During an active evacuation, they are often the only roads that remain open.
• Keep fuel above the half-tank rule: Gas stations in evacuation corridors run out within hours of a mass event. Maintain fuel above half-tank throughout fire season. This eliminates a decision point and a delay at the worst possible moment.
• Print your routes: Highlight both routes on a printed road atlas or state map stored in each vehicle and in your go-bag. Cell navigation fails when towers are overloaded. A marked paper map is independent of infrastructure and takes 5 minutes to prepare.

The majority of homes lost in wildfires do not burn because the fire reached the structure directly. They burn because embers (which can travel miles ahead of the fire front) land on or near the structure and ignite debris in gutters, against the foundation, or under the deck. Zone 1 (the 0-30 foot perimeter immediately surrounding your structure) is where that process starts and where it can be interrupted.

• Gutters and roof valleys: Clean all debris from gutters and roof valleys before fire season. Dry leaves, pine needles, and twigs in a gutter are direct kindling when an ember lands. Metal gutter guards that prevent accumulation are worth installing on wildfire-interface properties. Check and clean at least once before fire season begins and again after any significant wind event.
• Foundation zone (0-5 feet): Remove all dead or dry vegetation within 5 feet of the foundation. Replace combustible mulch (wood chips, bark) immediately against the house with non-combustible material: gravel, decomposed granite, stone, or concrete. Firewood stored against the house is a significant ember ignition risk; move stacks at least 30 feet from any structure.
• Vegetation in the full Zone 1 (5-30 feet): Remove dead plants, weeds, and dry grass. Keep grass mowed short, under 4 inches if possible during dry periods. Prune the lower branches of trees within Zone 1 up 6-10 feet from the ground to prevent fire from laddering from ground vegetation to the canopy. Maintain spacing between shrubs and trees so fire cannot spread continuously from plant to plant.
• Deck, porch, and under-structure: Close off open space under decks and porches with fine noncombustible metal mesh (1/16 to 1/8 inch openings, per California Chapter 7A; check your local code) or solid non-combustible material to prevent ember accumulation underneath. Move combustible patio furniture, doormats, and decorative items inside when a fire warning is issued. Combustibles stored under an attached deck have started many structure fires.
• Vents and openings: Attic vents, crawl space vents, and soffit vents are common ember entry points. Screen all vents with noncombustible metal mesh with 1/16 to 1/8 inch openings (California Chapter 7A; check your local code) if they are not already. This is a permanent modification that requires no seasonal attention once done. Check existing screens for holes or damage annually.

Zone 2 (30-100 feet) addresses canopy separation and vegetation density to prevent fire from laddering from ground to treetops. This zone is not covered in this checklist. See CAL FIRE: Ready for Wildfire for Zone 2 guidance (the framework applies broadly outside California).