The Wildfire Evacuation Checklist: A 10-Minute Go Plan

Wildfire is the fastest-moving evacuation scenario there is: the difference between a stressful afternoon and a tragedy is usually decisions made before the smoke, not heroics during it. This checklist is built around the standard Ready, Set, Go framework fire agencies use, plus the ten-minute drill that makes it real.

READY: before fire season (do once)#

• Go-bags packed, by the door or in the car, one per person. The 72-hour kit is the template. Add N95 masks for every family member: smoke arrives before flames and lingers after.
• The emergency binder: documents, insurance, and a phone full of room-by-room photos of your house. Insurance claims after fires are won by photos taken before.
• Sign up for your county's emergency alerts (search "[your county] emergency alerts") and know your evacuation zone by name.
• Defensible space basics: clear leaves and debris from gutters and the first five feet around the house, move firewood off the porch. You're not fireproofing; you're buying minutes.
• The family plan: out-of-area contact and meeting points, set in one evening.

SET: fire in the region (pre-evacuation)#

• Bags and pets' carriers and kits staged in the car; back the car into the driveway facing out.
• Gas tank filled. Cash in pocket. Phones and power banks charging.
• Windows and vents closed, outdoor furniture cushions inside, garden hoses connected and visible for crews.
• N95s accessible; run air purifiers or AC on recirculate while you still have power.

GO: the order comes (or your gut says go early)#

Leave. That's the checklist. Everything above exists so that leaving takes ten minutes and nothing precious is behind you. People die returning for things; the binder and photos exist so nothing on paper is worth returning for. Text the out-of-area contact as you roll, drive with headlights on, and follow the route authorities give even if the app says another way is faster. Apps don't see fire.

The 10-minute drill (twice a year)#

Set a timer. Everyone grabs their bag, pets go in carriers, car loads, out of the driveway. Debrief what was slow. Families who've done this twice describe real evacuations as "just the drill, with smoke."

Know what's in the go-bags without unpacking them#

Evacuation gear has a shelf life too: water expires, kids' clothes stop fitting, medications age out. Provision Planner tracks your go-bags as their own location, flags what's expiring inside them, and keeps the answer current so that when the SET alert comes, you're checking a dashboard, not digging through a backpack.