Wildfire Preparation & Monitoring Resources
Wildfiire Preparation and Monitoring Resources - Get Ready!
California’s wildfire “season” is cited as May-October. CA Fire, however, says “the fire season in California and across the West is starting earlier and ending later each year. Climate change is considered a key driver of this trend. Warmer spring and summer temperatures, reduced snowpack, and earlier spring snowmelt create longer and more intense dry seasons that increase moisture stress on vegetation and make forests more susceptible to severe wildfire. The length of fire season is estimated to have increased by 75 days across the Sierras a seems to correspond with an increase in the extent of forest fires across the state.” Fires can and do happen throughout the entire year.
With major fires in every direction around us, it’s a great time to take a moment to prepare your home (e.g. remove brush), create or check on your emergency kits, and review evacuation routes and emergency contacts. Cal Fire has great information to help you prepare.
Cal Fire’s CZU San Mateo-Santa Cruz Fire YouTube channel has terrific updates on how they are fighting the fire and status at the time of the briefing.
You might want to download a wildfire app in case you want to check status on the go and signing up for both CalFire and San Mateo county alerts are a great way to stay up-to-date on latest conditions. Stay safe!
Wildfire Preparation
Advice for Wildfire Preparation
Wildfire Monitoring / Current Info
Cal Fire’s CZU San Mateo-Santa Cruz Fire YouTube channel
Cal Fire TV (YouTube channel)
Air condition monitoring tools
Understanding PurpleAir vs AirNow.gov Air Quality Numbers
Twitter page for CALFire CZU San Mateo–Santa Cruz Unit
Road closures
All San Mateo County Parks closed until further notice (as of 8/24/20)
Alert Signups
Disaster Assistance
And for any of you who have been impacted, we’re sorry for your losses. Please let us know if we can help.
FEMA Disaster Assistance for Wildfire Survivors
Wildfire Survivors can Register With FEMA for Assistance. The California Governor's Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) in partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced that wildfire survivors are now able to register for federal financial assistance through disasterassistance.gov.