Be Prepared & Stay Fire Safe This Season

Published in

PaloAltoConnect

4 min readJul 6, 2023

The Palo Alto Fire Department is asking the community to plan ahead of the upcoming fire season. Whether you live in the Foothills or the flatlands, there are simple actions that everyone should take to stay fire safe and be prepared.

Sign Up for Emergency Alerts

One way to be prepared is to stay informed.

Get emergency alerts sent directly to your cell phone or mobile device, landline, or email. Signing up for AlertSCC is one of the easiest steps you can take to prepare yourself and your family for an unexpected event and it takes only minutes.

In addition, follow the City on social media to gain real-time information during emergency events.

Sign-up for Santa Clara County Emergency Alerts
Follow the Palo Alto Police on Twitter and sign-up for Nixle
Follow the City on Twitter, Facebook and Nextdoor
Sign-up for the City’s newsletter

Find more about staying updated on the regional fire status and other online resources.

Ready, Set, Go

Wildfire season is upon us, so it’s critical to invest the time in learning how to prepare for them so you can keep your family and home safe. Use the “Ready, Set, Go” approach:

Ready — Create defensible space and harden your home to increase your home’s chance of surviving a wildfire.
Set — Prepare your evacuation plan and build an emergency supply kit for your home and car.
Go — Evacuate as soon as it is recommended by public safety officials. View and Download: Evacuation Route Map (Palo Alto Hills, west of 280 areas).

For detailed information on the “Ready, Set, Go” approach, go here.

Home Hardening Against Wildfire

Help your home have the best chance of survival by preparing ahead of time “hardening” your home.

Roof: Is the most vulnerable part of your home. Upgrade to noncombustible roof materials. Remove accumulated leaves, pine needles, etc. Ditto rain gutters.
Vents: Cover all openings with 1/16” mesh or upgrade to ember-safe vents. Box in eaves.
Windows: Upgrade single-pane glass. Metal screens can help.
Walls: Remodel wood exteriors with fire-proof materials such as stucco.
Landscaping: Put in fire-wise plants and ornamentation

Learn more about home hardening.

Create Your Wildfire Preparedness Plan with CalFire App

Create your own customized Wildfire Preparedness Action Plan with CalFire’s web-based app, which includes:

Personalized checklists that can help make your property wildfire resistant
Evacuation checklist to help keep you safe.
Updates on current fire incidents.
Sign up for text updates on local wildfires.

Public Safety Power Shutoffs

A Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) is a preventative measure typically used under extreme weather conditions to de-energize electric lines in areas that may be at risk for power-line ignited wildfires. The City may need to preemptively shut off power when there are fire-threat conditions; however, this option will only be used as a last resort in extraordinary circumstances.

Learn more about Public Safety Power Shutoffs and how to prepare for such outages.

Check Your Smoke Detectors

Many residential fires occur during the summer months, so it’s crucial to check your smoke detectors regularly, to make sure they are working.

Learn about this easy safety tip and other ways to be fire safe by going here.

Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Trainings Start September 5

A great way to give back to the community is taking part in Palo Alto’s Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). This team is designed to prepare Palo Alto residents to help themselves, their families, and their neighbors in the event of a disaster. CERT covers basic skills that are important to know in a disaster when emergency services are not available. This includes disaster fire suppression techniques, earthquake awareness, disaster medical operations, first aid/CPR, light search-and-rescue, as well as team organization and management.

CERT Basic Training will begin Tuesday, September 5, 2023 and meets in person on September 5, 7, 12, 14, 19, 21 from 6:30–9:30 p.m. with the final field day on September 24, noon — 4 p.m.

Learn more and register here.