What should be in a wildfire go bag?

A wildfire go bag is designed for a 60-second departure, not 72-hour self-sufficiency. It should contain: a waterproof pouch with IDs, insurance card, and a medications list; a 7-day supply of prescription medications; N95 or P100 respirator masks; cash in small bills; and the printed addresses of two evacuation destinations and your out-of-state contact. Dress for the evacuation in long pants, a long-sleeve cotton shirt, and sturdy shoes. A deeper 72-hour household kit goes in the vehicle during fire season, not on your back.

When should I evacuate during a wildfire?

The honest answer is earlier than official orders. Evacuating on a Warning rather than waiting for an Order consistently produces safer outcomes: lighter traffic, daylight conditions, and time to load what matters. If you live in a wildland-urban interface (WUI) area, your household’s risk tolerance should be set to "leave at Warning." Anyone with mobility limitations, young children, or respiratory conditions should leave at the first indication of threat in the area, even before a formal Warning is issued.

What's the difference between an Evacuation Warning and an Evacuation Order?

An Evacuation Warning (sometimes "Advisory" in some jurisdictions) means there is a potential threat to life or property and you should be ready to leave. An Evacuation Order means leave now, a real and imminent threat to life or property exists. A small number of counties use additional levels like "Shelter in Place" during rapid evacuations. Every household member should know which language your local agency uses before fire season begins.

How do I protect my home from embers?

Embers cause most structures that ignite during a wildfire, even homes not in the direct burn path. The highest-ROI protections are: 1/8-inch mesh screens on every attic, crawlspace, and dryer vent; a Class A fire-rated roof; clean gutters free of pine needles year-round; and a 5-foot ember-resistant zone around the structure with no vegetation, no wood mulch, and no combustible storage. These four changes account for the majority of structure-saving outcomes in major wildfires.

How bad is wildfire smoke for my lungs, and when should I stay indoors?

Wildfire smoke is a mix of fine particulate (PM2.5) and hazardous gases. Short exposure irritates eyes and airways; sustained exposure above AQI 150 causes measurable lung damage, especially in children, older adults, and anyone with asthma or heart disease. At AQI 101 or above, limit outdoor activity; at 151 or above, stay indoors with windows closed and run a HEPA air purifier; at 301 or above, consider sealing one interior room with painter’s tape and plastic sheeting. Wear N95 masks when you do go outside.

What's a PSPS and how is it related to wildfires?

A PSPS (Public Safety Power Shutoff) is a preemptive outage that utilities impose during high fire-weather conditions to reduce the risk of their equipment starting a wildfire. PSPS events can last hours to days and are most common in California but are expanding to other Western states. If you live in a PSPS zone, your wildfire kit and your power-outage kit should overlap by design, because a wildfire day often starts with a utility outage, not with fire on the hillside.

Wildfire preparedness

Wildfire Preparedness Kit + Defensible Space Checklist

Wildfire is one of the few disasters where the work that saves your home happens before fire season starts. This is the calm, complete wildfire preparedness guide we built for real families: know your wildland-urban interface risk by address, complete the defensible space and home hardening that keeps embers out, build an evacuation go bag you can grab in a minute, and know what to do the moment a Warning or Order is issued. No doom language, no prepper theater.

Know your wildfire risk at your address.

Wildfire risk is hyper-local. A home in a wildland-urban interface (WUI) has fundamentally different exposure than a home three miles away in a fully developed neighborhood, even in the same county. California’s Fire Hazard Severity Zones, Oregon’s Wildfire Risk Map, and the USFS Wildfire Hazard Potential all publish this information, but reading the raw GIS layers is not a user-friendly experience.

BeAware pulls your address-specific wildfire risk, historical burn perimeters within 10 miles of your home, and current red-flag or fire-weather watch status into one view so you know whether your home needs a basic plan or a serious home-hardening investment.

Check wildfire risk at my address

Defensible space: the work that actually saves homes

Structure-loss data from recent major wildfires is consistent on this point: homes that follow defensible-space guidance and have basic ember-resistant construction survive at dramatically higher rates than homes that do not, even when both are in the same burn path. The work is not glamorous (mostly yard work) and it costs less than most kits. It is the single highest-ROI wildfire preparation you can do.

Zone 0 (0-5 feet from home)

Ember-resistant zone

Remove all vegetation within 5 feet of the structure
Use non-combustible mulch (gravel, stone, decomposed granite) — no wood chips, no bark
Clear gutters, roof valleys, and under decks of leaves and pine needles year-round
No woodpiles, propane tanks, trash bins, or combustible storage within 5 feet

Zone 1 (5-30 feet)

Lean, clean, and green

Remove dead vegetation, pine needles, and dry leaves year-round
Prune tree canopies so the lowest branches are at least 10 feet off the ground
Space shrubs at least two times their height apart
Keep irrigated vegetation healthy; water-stressed plants ignite faster

Zone 2 (30-100 feet)

Reduced fuel zone

Keep grass mowed below 4 inches
Remove dead and downed wood, including fallen branches and stumps
Maintain at least 10 feet of horizontal space between tree crowns

For a complete seasonal maintenance calendar and zone-by-zone tool list, see our step-by-step defensible space guide. For home hardening (ember-resistant vents, roofing, siding, window film), see the complete home wildfire defense guide.

Build your wildfire go bag and evacuation kits

Unlike hurricane or earthquake kits (which are stationary), wildfire kits are structured for a fast departure. Three layers: a go bag you can grab in a minute, a household kit that lives in the vehicle during fire season, and pre-staged valuables you load in five minutes when the Warning escalates. Tap each item to check it off; progress is saved on this device.

0 of 27 checked

Go bag (grab and leave in 60 seconds)

Household kit (in the vehicle during fire season)

Pre-staged valuables (5-minute load list)

Vehicle readiness (habit during fire season)

Home hardening (one-time work, done before the season)

Air quality (for smoke events even 100+ miles from the fire)

Want the whole kit assembled in one box, sized for your household, with the right N95s, the right go bag, and the right HEPA purifier already chosen? BeEquipped curates wildfire kits where every item is matched to the evacuation and smoke-event scenarios real families actually face.

Shop the BePrepared wildfire kit

Evacuation timeline: Warning, Order, and the drive out

For a dress-rehearsal version of this timeline, run the drill once in normal weather, calmly, with the family. Our 15-minute wildfire evacuation checklist is the shorter walkthrough to practice against.

Before fire season (the work that actually matters)
Complete the defensible space work and home hardening below. Build the go bag, household kit, and vehicle kit. Identify two evacuation destinations in different directions and your out-of-state contact. Register for your county emergency alert service (Nixle, CodeRED, or county-specific apps).
Evacuation Warning issued
An Evacuation Warning means there is a potential threat to life or property. Start loading the vehicle with pre-staged valuables and the household kit. Put gas in the car if needed, though prefer to skip lines by leaving earlier. Dress every household member in long pants, long-sleeve cotton, and sturdy shoes. Move pets into carriers. Monitor the NOAA radio and local emergency alerts continuously.
Evacuation Order issued, or you see fire or thick smoke
An Evacuation Order means leave now. Do not wait for an Order if you feel threatened; leaving on a Warning is always safer than leaving on an Order in heavy traffic. Take the go bag, the pet carriers, the pre-staged valuables list, and the keys. Close all windows and interior doors behind you to slow ember intrusion. Leave outdoor lights on so firefighters can see your home.
During the drive out
Drive with headlights on. Windows up. Recirculate the air. If ash is falling thickly, wear N95 masks inside the vehicle too. Do not stop in canyons, under tree canopies, or in narrow lanes where a rollover accident would trap following cars. Follow official evacuation routes even if they feel longer; shortcuts through hills are where people die.
After the all-clear
Do not return until the area is explicitly reopened. Even cleared areas may have hotspots, flare-ups, toxic debris, and unsafe utilities. Check in with the out-of-state contact to confirm you are out. Photograph your property before moving anything for insurance. Expect power, water, and internet to be out for days to weeks.

Wildfire smoke, even when you are not evacuating

Wildfire smoke routinely travels hundreds of miles beyond the fire itself and affects far more families than the evacuation zones do. In bad years, communities a thousand miles from the nearest fire front still see AQI over 200 for weeks. If you have children, older adults, or anyone with asthma or heart disease in the household, the smoke plan is as important as the evacuation plan.

AQI thresholds and what they mean for your behavior:

0-50 (Good): normal activity.
51-100 (Moderate): sensitive groups should limit prolonged outdoor exertion.
101-150 (Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups): children, older adults, and people with respiratory or heart conditions should limit outdoor activity.
151-200 (Unhealthy): everyone should limit outdoor exertion. Close windows, run HEPA, consider N95 if outside.
201-300 (Very Unhealthy): stay indoors, windows closed, HEPA running. N95 mandatory outdoors.
301+ (Hazardous): seal a clean room with painter’s tape and plastic sheeting on windows and door gaps. Run HEPA continuously.

For HEPA purifier selection (CADR matched to room square footage), see our air purifier sizing calculator. For the full indoor air strategy, our ultimate guide to wildfire air quality protection goes deeper than space allows here.

Special situations: PSPS, pets, and late-notice evacuations

Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS)

In California and increasingly in other Western states, utilities impose preemptive outages during high fire-weather conditions to reduce the chance of their equipment starting a fire. PSPS events overlap fire-weather days by design. If you live in a PSPS zone, your wildfire kit and your power-outage kit should be functionally the same kit — a fire-weather day often begins with a utility outage hours before any fire is visible.

Pets and livestock

Have pet carriers out and accessible, not in the attic. Keep leashes and harnesses staged next to the go bag. If you have livestock, identify the closest designated large-animal evacuation center before fire season begins; hauling horses, goats, or chickens during a Warning is slower than you think.

Late-notice evacuation (you missed the Warning)

If you see fire close or smoke is so thick you can see flames, leave immediately by the fastest clear route, even if it is not an official evacuation route. Do not stop to gather more than the go bag. Do not return for items. Drive toward the wind if possible; fire moves with the wind, and driving upwind takes you away from the fire front faster than driving downwind.

Wildfire alerts: WEA and your county system

Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) deliver NWS red-flag warnings and high-wind advisories directly to phones in the affected cell. For wildfire-specific evacuation orders, WEA is usually supplemented by your county’s own alert system (Nixle, CodeRED, or county-specific apps), because evacuation zones are smaller than WEA coverage areas.

WEA is enabled by default, but verify:

iPhone: Settings → Notifications → scroll to Government Alerts and enable every category.
Android: Settings → Notifications → Wireless Emergency Alerts and enable every category.
County-specific: search "[your county name] emergency alerts" to find the opt-in SMS or app that distributes evacuation-zone-level orders.

BeAware layers red-flag warnings, fire-weather advisories, and active wildfire perimeters within 10 miles of your address so you see a single coherent view of how close the threat is.

Wildfire preparedness FAQ

Deep dives from our article library

Each of these articles goes deeper on a single part of wildfire preparedness than a single page can.

Creating a Wildfire Defensible Space: Step-by-Step Guide

Zone-by-zone walkthrough with tools, quantities, and a seasonal maintenance calendar for the three defensible-space zones.

Complete Home Wildfire Defense Guide

Home hardening deep dive: ember-resistant vents, roofing, siding, window film, and the budget-ranked priority order for a whole-house upgrade.

15-Minute Wildfire Evacuation Checklist

What to grab, in what order, when a warning becomes an order. Run the drill once calmly before you need it under pressure.

Fire-Resistant Plants: What to Grow in Wildfire Zones

Long-term landscaping plays: what to plant, what to rip out, and which common ornamentals (looking at you, juniper) function as fuse cords.

Ultimate Guide to Wildfire Air Quality Protection

Indoor air strategies for smoke events, including when to run HEPA, when to seal a clean room, and AQI thresholds that should change your behavior.

Air Purifier Sizing Calculator for Wildfire Smoke

Match CADR to room square footage so you are not buying a bedroom-sized purifier for a great-room-sized problem.

Preparedness for every season, every risk

Wildfires are one of many risks your address might face. BeAware monitors all of them, BeReady builds the plan, BeEquipped ships the kit, and BeAdvised puts you in a room with an expert when you want one.

See all BePrepared solutions