BERKELEY
As wildfires become more frequent and severe, Berkeley hills residents should learn key fire weather terms, sign up for emergency notifications, look up their evacuation zone and make plans to leave during extreme fire weather.
During “Extreme Fire Weather” — rare periods of extremely low humidity and high winds as defined by the Berkeley Fire Department — residents living in hillside fire zones are advised to make plans to stay elsewhere. These hot and dry “Extreme Fire Conditions” allow fire to easily ignite and rapidly spread, posing particular risk to those in Berkeley fire zones 2 and 3 (the Berkeley hills), areas close to regional parklands. Hills residents should stay on heightened alert during every Red Flag Warning and:
- keep their phones on and with them at all times;
- avoid activities that could cause sparks;
- be prepared to rapidly evacuate if…
