Don't wait for the wildfire 'go order' before preparing to go

Not long after midnight in the early morning hours of Oct. 10, 2019 a fire in the Sanders Ranch neighborhood of Moraga was reported and 140 residents were asked to evacuate. Not only were residents forced to evacuate in the middle of the night, but it was done in complete darkness since the area was without power due to a Public Safety Power Shutoff instigated by Pacific Gas and Electric Co. to reduce the risk of a catastrophic wildfire event.

Fortunately, the 50-acre blaze was extinguished quickly due to fast action and prepositioning by the Moraga-Orinda Fire District, the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District and partners, but the incident underscores the importance of preparing for a potential evacuation when a wildfire occurs, since those fires rarely happen during optimal times or under ideal circumstances.

So what you can do to prepare today?

Lamorinda residents were recently sent the updated Wildfire Preparation and Evacuation Guide, which highlights what you can do now to prepare for an evacuation. In addition to signing up for the Community Warning System (https://cwsalerts.com), which will alert you of any potential evacuations in your area, the guide includes a detailed list of what you can pack in your "go bag" such as spare glasses, medications, phone and/or laptop chargers, toiletries, N95 masks, a battery operated radio and undergarments. The guide also outlines which documents you may need or what to save on a flash drive or in the cloud, what to prepare if you have pets, and much more.

To view the 20-page guide online, visit https://lamorindacert.org/evacuate/documents/LRGWPE.pdf



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