Sonoma County Releases Official Evacuation Zone Maps

SONOMA COUNTY, CA — Official evacuation zone maps have been released for unincorporated areas of Sonoma County as well as most of the incorporated communities, the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office announced Friday.

In the past, evacuation zones were different for each incident but the county has established standardized zones and urged residents Friday to learn their zone and be ready to go when an evacuation order is issued for a fire or any other emergency.

"With wildfire season upon us, these official evacuation zone maps are an essential part of doing everything we can to make sure our families and neighbors are safe if disaster strikes," said Supervisor Lynda Hopkins, chair of the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors. "We all need to learn our zones and know what to do and where to go if our zone is ordered to evacuate."

During the Kincade Fire in October 2019, for example, more than 190,000 residents in the county were ordered to evacuate their homes.

Residents can find their zone by entering their address at Socoemergency.org/evacuation-map/. Residents are urged to write down their zone number and consider learning the zones near their residence to help them better understand the level of risk to their property when an emergency arises. It also is important for residents to know evacuation zones for their workplace and their children's schools.

The sheriff's office incorporated feedback from residents and first responders into the final, official maps released Friday. Evacuation zone numbers in unincorporated Sonoma County now have SON before the number.

The community input came after draft maps were used to evacuate residents from the Walbridge and Meyers fires in August 2020 and the Glass Fire a month later. When the fires hit, the sheriff's office was in the process of developing the maps and was nearly finished but released the draft maps due to the scale of the incidents.

Additionally, the sheriff's office is handing out evacuation tags to residents of its two contract cities — Windsor and Sonoma — and residents of unincorporated areas.

"Evacuation tags are a crucial tool to help us more quickly ensure that neighborhoods are evacuated during a disaster," said Sheriff Mark Essick. "When they evacuate, residents tie the tag in a location that is highly visible from the street. This saves time because first responders can immediately check the next home. As we all know, seconds can count during evacuations and we are excited to bring this new time-saving tool to our residents."

Residents are encouraged to place the tag where first responders can easily see it, such as a mailbox, a gate or their front door. For properties where there is more than one home, the tag should be placed near the street but not until residents of all the homes have evacuated.

The county also urged residents Friday to sign up for emergency and evacuation alerts from Socoalert.com and/or Nixle.com.

Residents should also make sure their cell phone settings are set to accept emergency and public safety text alerts through the federal Wireless Emergency Alerts —WEA — system. A WEA message is sent to all cell phones in a certain geographic area or within a certain area code and is accompanied by a special warning tone, much like an Amber alert.

Evacuation packs are being distributed by the county through organized neighborhood groups and at county libraries. They are available in English and Spanish and include a personal emergency plan template, evacuation checklist and tips for power shutoffs. The packs are being distributed to 10,000 households.