With scalding heat waves these first weeks of fire season, Southern Oregon and Northern Californian authorities are reminding our communities to always be prepared for fire evacuations.
"Everybody in this part of the state is at risk of experiencing a wildfire like we did a year and a half ago with the Almeda Fire, so everybody needs to be prepared," said Ashland Police Chief, Tighe O'Meara.
O'Meara exaggerates the fact that wildfires have happened here before, and they will happen again. The last thing you want to do is scramble and forget important items.
"What being prepared looks like is you've thought about this beforehand, you have thought about what you're going to do, you have planned out a go-bag so that at the last minute, you're not trying to scrounge together all of your important documents and prescriptions," O'Meara said. "You know, that's time that should be spent now, so that when the order to evacuate is given, you're already prepared to go."
O'Meara said to create a list of the most important items that you absolutely cannot live without.
This could include medical documents, identification, prescriptions, and laptops. Keep this list somewhere easily accessible, so that you can grab it in an emergency situation and know that you're not forgetting anything.
O'Meara also reminds the public that it is important to know your evacuation zone. The Jackson County website clearly lays out evacuation zones for each city.
"You can consult the city's website and get a lot of this valuable information," O'Meara said. "So, that when the evacuation order comes, and I and the police officers are saying 'alright zone four it's time to go,' you're not caught thinking 'well what zone am I in, I don't know what language this guy is speaking.'"
It's also crucial to have a pre-planned meeting place with your family in case everyone is in a different location at the time of the order.
"The time to think about this stuff is not when I'm knocking on your door and people are yelling on the public address system 'you need to evacuate, you need to evacuate,' it's too late," O'Meara said. "The time to think about it is right now before the emergency happens."
Battalion Chief with Grants Pass Fire Rescue, Brandon Rigaud, said one of the best ways to prepare for wildfires is by taking the time to prepare your property.
Rigaud said it's actually the small ember catches that usually ignite houses, like the leaves in your gutter or pine needles on your deck.
But the best way to protect your property is to listen to authorities instructions.
"I think one of the most common mistakes is not evacuating," Rigaud said. "We do not take the ability for us to evacuate people lightly. We do it only as a last resort, but ultimately, it's for your safety and often times people do not want to evacuate. It makes our ability to protect your property harder."
Ashland's primary emergency messaging system uses a platform called Nixle Alerts, which get sent directly to your cell phone.
Ashland Fire and Rescue also has access to an emergency radio station, AM 1700, which people can tune into for information during a wildfire.
Below, you can find instructions on how to sign up for Nixle Community Alerts:
CELL PHONES: Text 97520 in the message line and 888777 as the recipient number to sign up for emergency and high-importance text alerts only.
LANDLINE PHONES: If you have a listed landline phone, you are already in our database. If your landline phone number is unlisted, you will need to register it.
GET THE APP: You can download the Everbridge (Nixle’s parent company) app from Google Play or Apple app stores and control the notifications through your phone's settings. Subscribe to the city of Ashland via zip code 97520.
REGISTER MANUALLY: Use the Nixle Widget below to create a Nixle account. This allows you to register and control messaging for text, email, and/or landline alerts that also includes getting the least urgent community education notices. If you do this, you'll likely want to control your message priorities and delivery channels in your account settings when you register.
Josephine County also offers an alert system that citizens can sign up for to stay informed, called Citizen Alert. You sign up by clicking the link and visiting the Everbridge website.
If you need more guidance or are looking for more tips and tricks on how to prepare for emergencies and evacuations, you can check out the Get Ready Rogue Family Emergency Preparedness Handbook.