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Protecting Your Home & Preparing to Evacuate
Living in Aliso Viejo means your home might be susceptible to unpredictable disasters including wildfires and earthquakes. It’s important to understand your hazards and prepare accordingly.
Hazard Maps
Have you ever wondered if your home is in the high-fire severity zone or a high ground shaking area in an earthquake?
Evacuation Zones
The City of Aliso Viejo is divided up into 22 all hazard evacuation zones. To find your evacuation zone, utilize the PDFs below or the Aliso Viejo City GIS system. Aliso Viejo City GIS is a Geographical Information System (GIS), which provides detailed information about properties from a spatial perspective. To find your evacuation zone on the GIS map:
- Open the GIS map by clicking here.
- Click on the layer list icon in the top right corner.
- Check the box next to Evacuation Zone.
- Enter a street address or an Assessor’s Parcel Number (APN) in the search window to locate a particular property.
Evacuations
The Orange County Fire Authority’s campaign Ready, Set, Go provides tips to live by when preparing for wildfires and other hazards.
Ready!
Get Ready! Survey your place of residence. Check for any and all possible vulnerabilities your home may have to wildfires. View specific survey criteria.
Create a defensible space. Simply, a defensible space is the outdoor landscape between your home and the approaching fire. Be vigilant in managing and maintaining your outdoor space. Even techniques and practices as simple as planting fire-resistant plants and ridding your yard of dead vegetation are easy ways to help reduce the threat of wildfires to your home. For more detailed information on creating a defensible space around your home, please visit Vegetation Management.
Set!
Get Set! Pack a Disaster Kit and a Go! Bag. You want to keep items in your kits and bags that will you sustain life for 5 to 7 days after potential evacuation. Some key items are prescription medications, important documents, food, clothing, and water. Remember that the kits and bags should be personalized to fit your needs. View more information on potential items and ways to pack your kits and bags (PDF).
Go!
Get Going! If you find yourself in a situation where you have to evacuate, you want to be able to immediately answer a few important questions:
- When to leave?
- Where to go?
- What to take?
- How are you going to get there?
An escape route is a preplanned route designed to help your family get to a safe area during a wildfire. It’s important to map out several routes out of your neighborhood in case roads are blocked or unsafe for travel. See OCFA’s tips for evacuations (PDF). In a disaster, the evacuation routes, shelter locations and all other pertinent emergency information will be relayed to the public via AlertOC, through the City’s Public Information Officer, and by first responders on-scene.
Emergency Evacuation Video
Hi-Lo Siren for Emergency Evacuation Orders
Some of the Sheriff's Department's patrol units are now equipped with a new siren feature to alert residents to evacuation orders during emergencies, such as a fire or flood. The system also is equipped with an external PA system that can play recorded messages to notify residents about the need to evacuate.
Our priority during any emergency is your safety, and this new tool will help bolster our response efforts during mass evacuations. Remember: When you hear hi-lo, it's time to go!