Study stresses need for household fire and evacuation plans

Sign up for alerts to evacuate faster. Use Planning Tool and StoryMaps to apply study insights to your household fire weather and evacuation plans.

A new study of evacuation patterns emphasizes the need for Berkeleyans to leave the Berkeley Hills early during extremely high wind, low-humidity conditions, and to make plans now to quickly evacuate once notified of tsunamis or other emergencies.

Speed your evacuation time by signing up for City alerting systems and making household plans now that include helping neighbors get on the roadway quickly.

The longer you take to get on the road, the more time it will take to evacuate. Roads will get more congested. The earlier and faster you move, the safer you'll be. This is particularly true in the Berkeley Hills, where narrow roadways complicate quick, large-scale evacuations.

The study, authored by a third-party firm on behalf of the City, looked at evacuation times for fires and tsunamis. It found that Berkeley's biggest roadways don't have enough capacity for a large-scale evacuation. Residents should be familiar with all routes leading toward safety and regardless of size.

The study showed the importance of carpooling and that walking or biking can be good options for tsunami evacuations. In an emergency, stay off the roads if you're not evacuating.

The study found that the safest choice is to leave the hills early when the Berkeley Fire Department declares "extreme fire weather" - high winds and low humidity - because wildfire spread in these conditions could outpace evacuations.

We'll help you with your plan. The Fire Department's Office of Emergency Services has created interactive "StoryMaps" to help you use information from the study to make plans for fire weather and tsunamis. Use the City's fire weather planning tool or our workshops to think through the steps you'll need to take to prepare for an emergency.

Sign up for alerts to be warned quickly

Knowing you need to evacuate is the first step. Make sure you are ready to receive alerts.

The City's emergency map - the first place that is updated in the event of an emergency - can be downloaded via the Genasys Protect app. The app also lets you sign up for immediate alerts when locations you care about have evacuations or protective action orders.

The online map is viewable on any device. It won't alert you, but will allow you to share links of specific locations' status to family and friends who may not have the app.

Also sign up for AC Alert, a County-wide notification system used by the City, to get detailed instructions sent to your phone and email.

Leave early during extreme fire weather

For wildfire, the safest choice for everyone is to leave the Berkeley Hills early when the Berkeley Fire Department has declared "Extreme Fire Weather," rare conditions that reflect a combination of very low humidity and high winds.

Berkeley officials expect - and the evacuation study has validated - that in extreme fire weather, flames could outpace evacuation efforts. Evacuees may be caught in fire before they can escape.

Know multiple routes, modes, and destinations for evacuation

Knowing many different roads to evacuate will help you get out more quickly. Know the roads around your home and plan at least two routes out.

During a major evacuation, even Berkeley's biggest roads won't have enough capacity to move everyone out quickly enough. Evacuees will need to use all available streets to get out. Spreading out traffic helps evacuate everyone faster.

Integrate walking and biking into your tsunami evacuation plan

Consider walking or cycling as a good first choice for your tsunami evacuation plan. For a tsunami evacuation, walking or biking out of the tsunami zone might be quicker than driving. In Berkeley, the tsunami zone extends as far east as 7th Street.

During a wildfire, Berkeley public safety officials do not recommend walking and cycling as your first choice to evacuate the Berkeley Hills. Pedestrians and cyclists in the hills are especially exposed - not just to heat, smoke, and dangerous gases, but also to traffic collisions.

Plan to carpool, if possible

Carpooling helps reduce the number of vehicles on the road during an evacuation.

If you don't own a car, ask for help now from neighbors who have a vehicle. In a large evacuation, emergency transportation may be delayed or not be available. Roads may be blocked, and it may not be safe for buses or ambulances to reach you.

Plan where you will go

In an evacuation, you may have only moments to leave. Decide where you'll go before an emergency, so that you can leave more quickly.

Friends, family, or hotels are options. Think about options outside of Berkeley-or even outside the Bay Area.

If there is a fire or a tsunami, emergency shelters will also be opened in safe areas, which may be outside of Berkeley.

Use City planning tool or StoryMaps to make a faster, safer plan

The City's planning tool for fire weather includes key questions to prepare for any kind of evacuation.

In addition, you can use the "Evacuation StoryMaps" to guide you through the key findings of the evacuation study. It includes interactive maps, visuals, and short explanations to highlight key findings and helpful tips for residents.

StoryMaps also include:

• evacuation time estimates for different hazard scenarios

• what residents can learn from the study to help make their own evacuation plans; and

  how fast a fire could spread in the Berkeley Hills compared to how long it may take to evacuate.

Make your emergency plans by attending a workshop

Improve your evacuation plans by attending a workshop.

The Household Fire Weather Planning Workshop will help you create a plan to keep your family safe during fire season.

The Family Emergency Preparedness Workshop, which is designed for families with children, provides essential tips and tools to stay safe during emergencies, including evacuation and go-bag planning.

Register in advance for upcoming workshops.

Household Fire Weather Planning Workshop

• Tuesday, August 19, 2025
  7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
  Zoom (online)
  Registration required
• Thursday, September 4, 2025
  5:00 pm - 6:00 pm
  North Branch Library,
  Registration required
• Monday, September 15, 2925
  12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
  Claremont Branch Library,
  Registration required

Family Emergency Preparedness Workshop (for families with children)

• Saturday, October 4, 2025
  11:00 am to 12:00 pm
  Claremont Branch Library,
  Registration required

Sign up for emergency alerting systems and workshops. Use our fire weather planning tool to plan for any evacuation and use the "Evacuation StoryMaps" to inform that plan.

Links

• Make your household fire weather plan
• Genasys Protect app
• City's Emergency Map
• Evacuation StoryMaps
• Evacuation Time Study
• Sign up for AC Alert
• Learn about Extreme Fire Weather

Keep up with City of Berkeley news via our news page, email, Bluesky, or Instagram.