Wildfire season is here, and with high temperatures and gusty winds already moving through Sonoma County this week, now is a good time to think through your preparedness plan. Here's what you can do before a fire takes you by surprise.
Know Your Evacuation Zone
Sonoma County has divided the entire county into evacuation zones so that when a fire breaks out, residents know immediately whether they're under a warning or an order. Those two things mean very different things:
A quick reminder: An Evacuation Warning means prepare to leave. An Evacuation Order means leave now.
Knowing your zone in advance means you're not scrambling to figure out if your neighborhood is affected while smoke is on the horizon. It takes less than a minute to look yours up. Write it down! Put it in your phone! Tell your fellow household members!
Sign Up for Emergency Alerts
Sonoma County uses two alert systems: SoCoAlert for phone calls and Nixle for text messages. Both are worth signing up for, and the redundancy is intentional. Technology fails, cell towers go down, and sometimes you'll catch a call but miss a text. Signing up for both takes about 20 minutes and could make a real difference in how quickly you're able to respond.
Review Your Home Insurance Before You Need It
One of the most common regrets we hear after a wildfire is that someone didn't review their coverage beforehand. By the time you're filing a claim, it's too late to ask about rebuilding costs, additional living expenses, or whether your outbuildings are covered.
Before the season gets further along, take a few minutes to:
- Review your dwelling coverage limits and make sure they reflect current rebuilding costs in your area
- Check your Additional Living Expense (ALE) coverage, which helps cover housing and costs if you're displaced
- Make sure your personal property coverage accounts for anything you've added in the past year
- Document your belongings with photos or video and store that file somewhere off-site or in the cloud
If you haven't talked with your agent recently, wildfire season is a good prompt to do that.
Give us a call anytime! (707) 526-7900
Create a Go-Bag and a Plan
If you had 15 minutes to leave, what would you take? It's worth thinking through that now rather than in the moment. A basic go-bag includes documents (insurance policies, IDs, medications), a few days of clothing, chargers, cash, and anything irreplaceable. Have a plan for pets and livestock, and make sure everyone in your household knows the plan.
Small Steps Make a Real Difference
Preparedness doesn't have to be overwhelming. Each of these steps is manageable on its own, and together they can make a significant difference in how smoothly things go if you ever need to act fast.
If you have questions about your coverage or want to talk through your policy before fire season is in full swing, Barber Insurance is here. We've been part of this community for more than 50 years, and helping our neighbors navigate wildfire risk is something we take seriously.