San Diego County’s landscape, with its chaparral-covered hills, deep canyons and homes built close to wildland, has always burned. The risk has a seasonal rhythm, peaking in autumn when hot, dry Santa Ana winds blow from the desert toward the coast, though fires can happen at any time of year. The county’s worst fires of the past two decades, including the 2003 Cedar Fire and the 2007 Witch Creek Fire, destroyed thousands of structures and reshaped how fire agencies and residents think about preparation.
This article is a general guide built from public guidance by local and state fire agencies. It is not a substitute for local instructions during an emergency, which always take priority.
What does “Ready, Set, Go” mean?
Ready, Set, Go! is the framework that fire agencies across the region use to teach residents what to do before and during a fire. It has three stages.
- Ready means preparing before fire season: creating defensible space around a home, hardening the house against embers, and building an emergency plan and kit.
- Set means staying alert when conditions are dangerous or a fire starts nearby, by monitoring official alerts, packing the car and being ready to leave on short notice.
- Go means acting early when officials issue an evacuation warning or order, rather than waiting to see how the fire behaves.
The framework is useful because most of the work happens in the first stage, long before smoke appears.
What is defensible space?
Defensible space is the buffer between a building and the plants and fuel around it. Its purpose is to slow the spread of fire and give firefighters a safer place to work. The City of San Diego’s guidance divides brush management into zones measured from a structure:
- Zone 0, the area from the walls out to about five feet, is where the most stringent rules apply.
- Zone 1, from roughly five to thirty feet, calls for well-irrigated, spaced plantings and removal of dead material.
- Zone 2, from roughly thirty to a hundred feet, calls for thinning and pruning of native vegetation so fire cannot move easily from plant to plant.
Older handouts sometimes use slightly different distances for the outer zones, so residents should rely on the current guide from their local fire agency, since requirements can depend on the jurisdiction and the property’s location.
What is Zone 0, and why is it new?
Zone 0 is the “ember-resistant zone” right against the building. Embers, not walls of flame, cause many home losses: wind-driven sparks land on a roof, in a gutter, on a wooden deck or in a pile of dry leaves and ignite the house. Zone 0 focuses on removing anything that burns in that first five feet. Recommended steps include clearing dead leaves and needles from roofs and gutters, moving wood piles and stored items away from the walls, replacing combustible mulch with noncombustible materials such as gravel, and keeping shrubs and trees from touching the structure.
A state law, Assembly Bill 3074, directed California to develop rules for Zone 0, and the state has been working through how and when they will apply, including which properties are covered and how compliance will be phased in. The San Diego Fire-Rescue Department has acknowledged that compliance will cost property owners money, and it has offered educational home assessments that look at defensible space and the ember-resistant zone. Because deadlines and enforcement details have been changing, owners should check the current requirements for their address with the fire agency that covers it.
How does a home get hardened?
Defensible space is half the picture. The other half is the structure itself. Fire agencies emphasize several upgrades:
- A Class A roof, which is rated to resist fire, and sealed gaps where roof tiles meet.
- Ember-resistant vents, with fine metal mesh that keeps sparks out of attics and crawl spaces.
- Dual-pane or tempered windows, which are less likely to break from heat.
- Noncombustible fencing near the house, because a wooden fence attached to a building can carry fire to it.
- Clear gutters and decks, free of needles and leaves.
These upgrades vary widely in cost, and many homeowners do them over time, starting with the cheapest and most effective steps such as cleaning gutters and clearing the area next to the house.
How do alerts and evacuation zones work?
Two tools matter most. The first is AlertSanDiego, the county’s emergency notification system, which sends messages to registered phones and email addresses. Residents have to sign up for it, so it is worth doing before an emergency. The second is an evacuation zone system, accessible through an app and website, that divides the region into small numbered zones. During a fire, officials announce which zones are under a warning or an order. Knowing a home’s zone name ahead of time saves precious minutes.
The terms mean different things:
- An evacuation warning means a threat exists and residents should be prepared to leave, and people who need extra time, such as those with disabilities, livestock or limited mobility, should go early.
- An evacuation order means there is an immediate threat to life, and residents should leave right away.
Following official instructions matters more than any guide. Roads can close quickly, and staying behind to defend a house puts both residents and firefighters at risk.
What goes into a plan and a kit?
Families should talk through the plan before there is smoke. A basic plan includes two or more routes out of the neighborhood, a meeting place, arrangements for pets and livestock, and a way to reach family members when phone lines are busy. A go-bag should hold medications, copies of important documents, chargers, water, a flashlight, a battery-powered radio and a few days of essentials. People who rely on medical equipment or who cannot drive should arrange transportation ahead of time with neighbors or local agencies.
Insurance deserves a mention. Homeowners in high-risk areas have faced rising premiums and nonrenewals, and the state’s regulators and the public utilities commission have been involved in related debates, which connect to how utility rates and wildfire costs are regulated. Keeping a photo or video inventory of belongings helps with any claim.
What about neighbors and community?
Individual preparation works best when a neighborhood does it together. Fire Safe Councils, community emergency response teams and homeowner associations organize chipping days, in which crews grind brush into mulch for free, and they share information about evacuation routes. Neighbors who know who needs help, such as an older resident living alone, can check on each other during an alert. Some communities with only one road in and out have developed their own evacuation plans, which can be worth studying even for people who live in less isolated places. Desert communities face their own fire and heat risks, and visitors to places like Anza-Borrego Desert State Park should check conditions before going.
Where to get help
The San Diego County Office of Emergency Services, local fire departments and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection all publish preparedness guides, and local Fire Safe Councils hold workshops. Neighborhoods can organize community chipping days and evacuation drills. The county’s overall role in emergency response is part of what is covered in what the Board of Supervisors controls.
Preparation will not eliminate fire risk, but it measurably improves a home’s odds and gives families options when time is short. The simplest first steps are to sign up for alerts, find the home’s evacuation zone and clear the first five feet.
Sources: San Diego Fire-Rescue Department; California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection; San Diego County Office of Emergency Services; AlertSanDiego
