As wildfire risks continue to evolve across the Bay Area, Orinda officials are urging residents to prepare their homes, understand evacuation routes and take steps to protect themselves before an emergency occurs.
To help residents understand the risks and options, the City of Orinda will host “Safe at Scale: Weathered: After the LA Firestorm” on Oct. 29 at the Orinda Theatre. The PBS documentary “Weathered: After the LA Firestorm” will be shown, followed by a panel discussion on wildfire preparedness and regional resilience.
Orinda City Manager Linda Smith said the risks facing the community have increased as more of the city was included in the state’s updated Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones in 2025.
The designation reflects the dangers associated with living in the wildland-urban interface, where homes and developed areas intermingle with vegetation and open space.
“We know that fire behavior has evolved with the changes in climate,” Smith said. “Taking an area already at high risk and adding climate change to the mix can make the situation of a wildfire more catastrophic than previously anticipated.”
Smith said that makes evacuation planning increasingly important. Modeling different wildfire conditions and their effects on evacuation can help officials understand the time constraints and make better decisions during an emergency.
The January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires offer a recent example of how quickly conditions can deteriorate. Smith said extreme winds, dry vegetation, steep terrain, flying embers and densely developed neighborhoods contributed to the rapid growth of the Palisades Fire and the need for large-scale evacuations.
Orinda residents should not assume they will have ample time to prepare after a fire starts, Smith said.
A wildfire also does not need to be immediately adjacent to a home to pose a threat. Embers can travel a mile or more and ignite structures ahead of the main fire front.
“That is particularly relevant to Orinda, where we have homes intermixed with a lot of vegetation and difficult terrain,” she said.
Preparing homes and families
Smith said homeowners can reduce their risk by hardening their homes and following the state’s new Zone 0 guidelines, which focus on the first five feet surrounding a structure.
Residents should keep combustible materials away from the home, install ember-resistant vents and keep roofs and gutters free of leaves and debris. When replacing roofs or decks, homeowners should consider fire-resistant materials.
Other steps include keeping the area beneath decks clear and addressing vegetation, fences and other features that could allow fire to spread directly to a home.
Orinda’s geography also presents significant challenges for evacuation. The city has narrow roads, hills, neighborhoods with limited access and relatively few major routes out of the community.
During a major wildfire, many residents may be trying to use the same roads to evacuate while emergency vehicles travel in the opposite direction.
Smith said every household should know its evacuation zone, a primary evacuation route and at least one alternate route. Families should establish a meeting place in case members become separated and determine how children, pets, elderly family members and anyone requiring assistance will evacuate.
Residents should also know what essential items they will take with them and, on Red Flag days, obey parking restrictions designed to preserve roadway space for evacuation traffic and emergency vehicles.
Smith said preparedness also requires cooperation among homeowners, government agencies and insurers.
The city is working with state Senator Tim Grayson’s East Bay Wildfire Coalition on regional wildfire resilience efforts, including engagement with insurers and government agencies.
The California Department of Insurance’s Safer from Wildfires framework focuses on three layers of protection: the structure, the immediate surroundings and the broader community.
“We need to move from individual preparedness to community resilience,” Smith said.
‘Preparedness is a continuum’
Smith encouraged residents to use OrindaReady.com to learn about wildfire preparedness, evacuation information, fuel-reduction assistance, home-hardening resources and emergency alerts.
If she could ask Orinda residents to take one action, Smith said, it would be to prepare both their home and themselves for wildfire and evacuation.
“Preparedness is a continuum,” she said, including “hardening your home, managing vegetation, understanding your neighborhood’s evacuation constraints, knowing your evacuation zone, receiving alerts and being willing to leave early.”
Smith also emphasized that wildfire preparedness cannot stop at Orinda’s borders.
“Just as the City of Orinda and our residents are preparing for wildfire, it is important that other communities around us do the same,” she said. “That is why we are hosting ‘Safe at Scale’ and participating in regional discussions and planning activities to reduce risk and ensure smooth operations in the event of an emergency.”
The Oct. 29 event will begin with a screening of the PBS documentary “Weathered: After the LA Firestorm,” which examines the Los Angeles wildfires and lessons for communities facing increasing wildfire risk.
A panel will follow featuring Grayson, Steve Hawks of the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety, Moraga-Orinda Fire District Chief Jeff Isaacs and “Weathered” director Trip Jennings. Orinda City Councilmember Latika Malkani will moderate. Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan may also participate, depending on her schedule.
Doors open at 6 p.m., with the film beginning at 7 p.m. The panel is scheduled for 8:10 p.m. and will be available to attendees at the Orinda Theatre and also via Zoom.
For more information about wildfire preparedness and resources available to Orinda residents, visit OrindaReady.com.
