When I moved to Sacramento last year I thought I was escaping earthquakes. For years, I lived just down the street from the Hayward Fault in North Berkeley. Our little bungalow on a hill was cute but creaky. I used to joke with my husband that if our house collapsed when The Big One hit we could buy that Airstream he always wanted.
So, it was a relief knowing my family was safe from such a calamity when we moved to Sacramento. Then wildfire season hit.
Like most Californians, I’m beginning to realize none of us can escape the fury of a wildfire. Wildfires in California and across the West burn bigger and hotter every year and are expected to get worse as intensifies. This new breed of wildfire can quickly spread to urban areas, spewing ash and smoke hundreds of miles for weeks on end.
None of us can know when a wildfire will strike. But research shows the strongest predictor of how well people recover from any disaster is directly related to how much they lose and what kind of support they get afterward. That means being prepared matters.
Below is a list of things experts say you can do to prepare for wildfires in the future.
- Be informed. Sign up for one or more emergency notification systems. You can start by enabling the through your phone’s settings. You can also sign up for , which sends messages from local public safety departments and schools about a range of issues, from severe weather and traffic to crime. Many people in wildfire-prone areas use Nixle to find out when fires start, where they’re spreading and which roads are open or closed. CalFire’s app provides alerts, as well as wildfire maps, preparedness checklists and videos. It syncs to your phone’s location and links to real-time information about wildfires across the state and is free.
- Make an escape plan. Having a plan set up before a wildfire strikes is critical to saving lives. Know how to dress for an evacuation during a fire. Have on hand and an emergency supply kit in your car. Know at what point it’s necessary to leave your home and what your escape routes might be. Check out and get other tips.
- Keep your home safe. Creating a around your property improves the chances of your home surviving a wildfire. Trimming trees and pruning bushes regularly, mowing grass, cutting away branches so they don’t hang over your roof, removing dead plants and moving wood piles more than 30 feet away from your house are a few things that can help protect your home and family. Planting fire-resistant plants – like French lavender, red monkey flower, sage and California lilac – can help prevent a fire from spreading, as can spacing out trees, bushes and anything else that’s flammable. CalFire says to plant trees at least 10 feet apart with 6 feet of clearance from the lowest branch to the ground. If a shrub sits under a tree, cut the lowest branches of the tree so there’s a space three times the height of the shrub.
Defensible space graphic from CalFire.
- Be prepared for water and power failures. Preparing for the loss of electricity, heat and clean water can be lifesaving in the middle of an emergency. If you or a family member relies on a medical device or drugs that need refrigeration or electricity, work with your healthcare provider to come up with a power outage plan. Make sure phones and other essential equipment like carbon monoxide monitors have back-up batteries. Consider a backup generator. Stock up on extra batteries, bottled water and non-perishable food. Have a three-day supply of water that includes one gallon per person and pet per day. Know what to do if you run out of . Have a water filter and non-scented household bleach on hand in case you need it.
- Build stronger communities. Utilities and fire agencies are working at the state and federal levels to create the infrastructure needed to effectively fight fires but individual community members can help, too. Local infrastructure can be as simple as creating a fire watch group on social media to help monitor a specific area, working with local community groups to clear brush regularly from common spaces around a city or organizing your neighbors to help create around each other’s property. Building the capacity to fend off a wildfire helps strengthen communities should the worst happen, too.
- Prevent wildfires. The best preparation of all is prevention. Wildfires are expensive, and even if you’re not directly affected by them, they impact you by draining state resources and exposing you to the smoke that blankets much of California during wildfire season. The National Park Service says about 90 percent of all wildfires are caused by people, which means all of us have a stake in knowing how to stop them before they start. CalFire has a program that aims to reduce human-made wildfires. Among other things, volunteers teach kids and property owners about fire safety and inspect homes in wildland areas to make sure they’re fire safe. Call your local CalFire office if you’re interested in participating.