Emergency Prep
Alerts & Notifications:
Sign up for Community Warning System Notifications to receive evacuation orders. Registering with the CWS associates your cell phone and email with your home address and increase the probability of timely notification in the event of an emergency.
Sign up for Nixle Alerts to receive non-emergency information.
Preparing Your Business:
The City of Lafayette and the Lafayette Chamber of Commerce have prepared a brochure: Business Continuity Planning for being prepared in case of a disaster so that you can get your business up and running again.
The U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security provides a “Ready Business” site for plans for emergency & continuity planning and “Ready America” site with information on how a family can prepared for natural or man made emergencies.
The U.S. Office of Personnel Management provides downloadable emergency preparedness guides for Managers, Employee and Families.
The American Red Cross provides a Business & Industry Guide for Disasters.
Preparing Your Home:
Beginning the week of May 20, 2019, every household in Lafayette, Moraga, Orinda and Canyon was mailed the Lamorinda Residents Guide to Wildfire Preparedness & Evacuation.
The Guide contains essentials for residents regarding wildfire preparedness and evacuation. The Guide includes important information that residents would receive in an emergency preparedness presentation from Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT), and fire and police departments.
The information in this Guide is designed to help Lamorinda residents prepare their family, home, and neighborhood for the approaching wildland fire season. The more prepared all of us are as a community, the better we can respond when conditions exist for a possible catastrophic fire in our area. Lamorinda’s fire and law enforcement agencies are committed to keeping the community safe. Residents can help by preparing now for the fire season ahead.
It is important to emphasize the need for every citizen to register with the Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff’s Emergency Services Community Warning System (CWS) to ensure all residents receives notifications during disasters. Emergency Services have many ways to communicate in a disaster, but CWS, which is generally used only for life-threatening incidents, will be the primary method for emergency notifications during wildfires and other disasters. All community members are urged to register with CWS if they have not done so. To register for phone alerts, text messages, and emails go to http://cococws.com/.
The Lamorinda Residents Guide to Wildfire Preparedness & Evacuation is a joint effort by the City of Lafayette’s Emergency Preparedness Commission and Lafayette Police Department, with support from the Orinda Police Department, Moraga Police Department, the Moraga-Orinda Fire Department, the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District, and Lamorinda CERT. The Guide will also be available on each agency’s website. You can also download a copy here: http://bit.ly/Lamorinda_Wildfire_Guide.
For more information about the Guide and wildfire preparedness and evacuation, please contact the City of Lafayette’s Communications Analyst, Jeff Heyman, at (925) 299-3241 or jheyman@ci.lafayette.ca.us.
May 31, 2019 Wildfire presentation by Jerry Kent, Dennis Rein and Ben Alldritt
We hope this will provide you with the information you are looking for. The most important message is to take action to prepare you and your family for the risks of wildfire. “Don’t get scared, get busy!” Click on any of these highlighted links to download the file to your computer. You can then read or print the documents, or listen to the May 31 audio recording while looking at the slides.
- May 31 presentation at LOPC: Jerry Kent, slides 1-62; Dennis Rein, 63-97; Ben Alldritt 98-117: 5-31-2019 Wildfire Presentation slides
- May 31 presentation audio recording: 5-31-2019 Audio recording of all three speakers
- List of information sources about wildfire: https://lamorinda.helpfulvillage.com/documents/109/download
- May 22 video by MOFD Fire Chief, Dave Winnacker describing the North Orinda Shaded Fuel Break https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nEozvSKgGI
- Lamorinda CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) list of relevant links http://evacuate.lamorindacert.org
Lafayette’s Wildfire Evacuation Plan – With the continued tragic news concerning the Camp Fire that destroyed Paradise, a city similar in size to Lafayette, it is good to be reminded that we have a wildfire evacuation plan for the City of Lafayette. You can find the plan here: http://bit.ly/CoLFireEvacPlan. It is particularly important to note the evacuation routes for each of the City’s zones, beginning on page 17. Take time to review the escape route for where you live or work and, if you have not already done so, develop an evacuation plan and discuss it with your family. We live in a wooded area and there is the possibility of a wildfire threatening our community. Be prepared, be safe and review the City’s Wildfire Evacuation Plan regularly.
Fire Awareness 101: What Lamorindans should know about roadways, materials, and escape plans to stay safe.
The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program helps train people to be better prepared to respond to emergency situations in their communities. When emergencies happen, CERT members can give critical support to first responders, provide immediate assistance to victims, and organize spontaneous volunteers at a disaster site. CERT members can also help with non-emergency projects that help improve the safety of their communities.
The American Red Cross provides a wealth of information on family disaster planning, animal safety, evacuation methods, disaster supply kits, and emergency preparedness information in numerous international languages.
The City of San Francisco is dedicated to helping Bay Area residents make a plan, build a kit and get involved.
The California Office of Emergency Services provides information on 10 ways you can be Disaster Prepared which provides ideas for preparing yourself and your family for emergencies including an emergency supplies checklist.
The Institute for Business & Home Safety provides information on how to prepare for floods, freezing weather, high winds, wildfire, earthquake, hail and water damage.
The Citizen Corps provides a list of things you can do to be safer right now, as well as a resource list of citizen preparedness publications.
LifeInsurance.org has an excellence list of resources for preparing for natural disasters and weather emergencies including avalanche, blizzards, earthquakes, extreme heat, floods, hurricanes, landslides, lightning, tornadoes, tsunamis, volcanoes and wildfires.
Emergency Insurance – Homeowners Preparedness Guide for Disasters and Emergencies lists disaster descriptions and additional resources on how to prepare for those disasters.
Preparing For Special Needs:
Sponsored by PrepareNow Partners, an alliance of San Francisco Bay Area collaborative groups devoted to supporting the needs of vulnerable people in disaster preparedness and response. The site is designed to assist with an emergency preparedness plan.
Prepackaged Emergency Preparedness Kits:
Your Safety Place offers Earthquake Preparedness Kits for Businesses, Schools and Families.
Diablo Earthquake Preparedness offers Earthquake Preparedness Kits that will sustain one to ten people for three to fourteen days.
Preparedpak offers Emergency Preparedness Kits for Families, Children, Infants, Pets and Cars.
Lafayette Car Wash & Detail Center offers Emergency Preparedness Kits in their gift shop.
What To Expect During An Emergency:
The Association of Bay Area Governments has maps that predict potential earthquake damage and road closures for different faults. Also included is information on other natural hazards such as fire, floods and landslides as well as a section for kids.
The Center for Disease Control & Prevention provides Emergency Preparedness & Response information for earthquakes, extreme heat, floods, hurricanes, landslides & mudslides, power outages, tornadoes, tsunamis, volcanoes, wildfires, and winter weather.
The National Weather Service provides information on weather warnings and forecasts.
The Dept. of Homeland Security’s “National Response Plan“.
City of Lafayette has a Vista Newsletter devoted to Emergency Preparedness.
Preparedness By Disaster Type:
Earthquake Preparedness Links:
California OES Earthquake Preparedness Tip Sheets & Brochures.
California Geological Survey
U.S. Geological Survey
Fire Preparedness Link:
California Department of Foresty & Fire Protection
Public Health Preparedness Links:
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services website’s section on Preparedness
California Department of Health Services website
Multiple Disaster Preparedness Link:
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
Following an armed robbery that occurred in an Orinda residential driveway last fall, community members asked Orinda Association President, Cindy Powell, to bring together Orinda safety officials to address community concerns, resulting in a November 2016 Orinda Safety Forum. Open to the public, the forum featured police, fire, and emergency preparedness officials, who shared important information and answered questions on safety. Produced and created by Susan Garell, the video Staying Safe in Orinda~Comprehensive Guidance From Orinda’s Top Safety Officials is based on the forum and further in-depth interviews.
