7/21/22
Drill Starts at 10 AM this Saturday, July 23rd
Zoom Debrief follows at Noon (Zoom Login Here)
Important Announcement: There will be an Alert Marin notification from the Marin Sheriff’s office to signal the start of our Wildfire Evacuation Drill on Saturday morning. Don’t panic. It’s a drill.
This is a unique opportunity for all Bayside Acres residents to find out if they are signed up for phone, email and text alerts from Alert Marin. Unlike Nixle that sends alerts to wider geographic areas based on zip codes, Alert Marin sends alerts based on our home address. It will tell us if we need to evacuate because of a wildfire, flood or earthquake and warn of other public safety incidents. Also, check out the County’s public Emergency Portal where all Alert Marin and Nixle alerts are posted.
FIRST: Go to Alert Marin and sign up if you have not already done so.
SECOND: To confirm if you are signed up for phone, email or text alerts (or all three), do not acknowledge them when you first see them on Saturday morning. The alerts will cycle through your opt-in choices.
THIRD: July 23 @10AM – Start the Drill! If you do not receive an Alert Marin notification, go ahead and start the drill anyway. Clock yourselves, and see how much you can get done in 10, 15 or 20 minutes. In a real wildfire evacuation you may have to leave IMMEDIATELY or in 30 minutes.
FOURTH: We will hold a Zoom meeting at Noon to discuss how it all went, what worked and what didn’t. If you didn’t get the Alert Marin alert(s), find out how to do that at this meeting.
PLEASE NOTE: You are urged to participate in both the drill and the Zoom call even if you haven’t packed your emergency bags or made your lists. How many times have you said to yourself that you know exactly what you will grab and how you will prepare your home if you have to evacuate at a moment’s notice? Here’s your chance to put yourself to the test. Then, join us on the Zoom call and tell us how it goes. Our Zoom debrief is intended to be an informational meeting, but we can all learn from each other’s experiences.
More detailed information follows:
Now’s the time to make sure your “Go-Bags” are ready, and that you have your “Grab & Go” and “How To Prepare Your Home” lists in reach.
1 You don’t need to leave home!
The aim of the drill is to get you to plan and pack your “Go-Bags” ahead of time, and then time how long it will take you to load your car. There’s nothing like practice to hone our plan. In the event of a real evacuation, you won’t be thinking clearly enough to grab essential items so it’s all about prioritizing personal evacuation lists now.
2 Get connected to receive alerts
Before you can evacuate, you need to know that an evacuation has been announced. To receive emergency alerts, you must register with the two primary networks, Alert Marin andNixle.
3 Prepare a “Go-Bag”
Pre-planning and packing a “Go-Bag” will ensure that you take the most essential items with you. Each household member should place essential items in a backpack or duffel bag and store them so as to be ready at a moment’s notice. Here is a list of suggested items to pack for you and your pets. The list includes protective clothing; flashlights; essential medications, toiletries and supplies; water; pet supplies, etc. Once your “Go-Bag” is assembled, keep it handy and updated. Rotate medicines and water bottles regularly to keep them fresh.
4 Create your own personal checklist
To prepare for our Evacuation Practice you should compile your evacuation checklist. This should consist of two parts: What to Take (“Grab & Go” list) and How To Prepare Your Home.
> What To Take (Grab & Go Lists)
This “Grab & Go” list should include all the things that are not in your “Go-Bag” but that you will need to locate and prepare to take at the last minute. This could well be a dire situation where you might have no more than 15 minutes or less to get out. In that time, you’ll need to:
- Assist any children or disabled household members to be ready to leave
- Locate your pets and get them into the carriers or crate that you have ready for them
- Grab essentials such as meds, mobile phones; passports; irreplaceable items like computers or hard-drives, family photos; portable battery chargers, etc.
- Load your car
> How To Prepare Your Home
Give your home the greatest chance of surviving a fire by creating a list of action items for the last few minutes before you leave the house so as to prepare for first responders. These steps will save the emergency staff critical time and increase their ability to save lives and structures. The steps on this list include:
- Shut off your gas line (only if you smell gas)
- Move flammables (propane tanks, wicker furniture, cushions, brooms, etc) away from your home (preferably 30’ away from structures)
- Close all windows to repel embers
- You do not need to leave your doors unlocked if everyone, including pets, are safely evacuated
- Tape a note or Evacuation Tag to your front door or garage saying that you’ve left so no one will waste time looking for you
- Leave gates unlocked (If they are wooden, leave them open to create a fuel break)
5 Participate in the Drill!
OK, you have your alerts set up. You have your “Go-Bag.” You have your “Grab & Go” and “Home Preparation” checklists. Now you’re ready for the drill!
On Saturday, July 23rd, we’ll hold the formal drill at 10 AM. You may or may not receive an Alert Marin notification. Start anyway. See what you can get done within a 20-minute timeframe. When you get the drill alert:
- Find your “Go-Bag” and put it in the car.
- Locate pets and crate them, then put them in the car as well.
- Help others to prepare.
- Get your “Grab & Go” list of things to take and collect whatever you still need to put in the car (provided you have time).
- Walk through the steps of preparing your dwelling for evacuation.
- When you’ve finished, get in the car and pause for a moment:
- Have you got what you identified as critical? Is everyone safe and ready to leave?
- Now – What is your evacuation route? If your usual path to safety is blocked, do you know the alternative(s)?
- And lastly – do you have any neighbors who may need assistance to evacuate or who may be unaware of the evacuation order and need to be alerted? If so, consider a quick knock on their door before you leave.
At this point, you’ve completed the drill and in a real emergency would be ready to turn the key and drive off. Today, however, just feel satisfied that you have done all you could to prepare.
6 How did we do and what did we learn?
After the drill has been completed, we’ll convene at Noon on Zoom for a de-brief on how we all did. It will last for about 30 minutes unless participants want to continue. It will give us a chance to collect our thoughts and share experiences about how things went. For most of us, this will be a first-ever experience, so we expect that there will be a lot to learn from sharing.
We hope you will all try to participate in this exercise on Saturday. There is no better way to be ready than to practice! Let’s go through the motions of this important exercise – NOW, while we’re safe and have the luxury of time to plan ahead!
Look out for that Alert Marin notification on Saturday. Hope to see you at the de-briefing session afterwards!
Sincerely yours,
Julia Glenister
Firewise Chair, Bayside Acres Firewise Team
Bayside Acres Neighborhood Association
Firewise@baysideacres.org
https://baysideacres.org/wildfire-and-disaster-prep/