Emergency Preparedness

🖨 Our 1-page fridge checklist

A simple, do-it-now emergency readiness checklist for your household — alerts, go-bag, home hardening, backup power, earthquake, and an evacuation plan. Print it and post it on the refrigerator.

NotifyLA — City emergency alerts

How to sign up (2 minutes):

• Go to emergency.lacity.gov/notifyla (link below)
• Click Sign Up, enter your cell number, email, and your Palisades address (the address is what targets evacuation orders to you)
• Add a second phone (spouse/family) so alerts reach more than one device

Alert LA County

How to sign up: same idea, County-wide — covers you anywhere in L.A. County, not just the city:

• Go to alert.lacounty.gov (link below)
• Register your phone, text, and email; list your home address
• Both systems are worth joining — City and County don't always send the same alerts

Watch Duty & Genasys Protect

How to set up:

• Watch Duty (live fire & evacuation updates, run by volunteers and widely trusted): install the free app from the App Store or Google Play, allow notifications, and add Los Angeles County to your counties
• Genasys Protect (official evacuation zones): open the site or app, search your home address, and write your zone name on the fridge checklist — evacuation orders are issued by zone name, and knowing yours saves precious minutes
• Also check Settings → Notifications on your iPhone/Android and make sure Government/Emergency Alerts are ON — those arrive automatically, no signup needed

CAL FIRE — ReadyForWildfire.org

The statewide standard: make an evacuation plan, pack a go-bag, harden your home, and know the "Ready, Set, Go!" levels. The free "Get Ready for Wildfire" app sends prep reminders.

LAFD — Ready Set Go

The Los Angeles Fire Department's local readiness program for City residents, including the Palisades.

LA County Fire — Defensible Space

Maintain up to 100 ft of cleared, defensible space around your home (up to 200 ft on steep or hazardous parcels). The Brush Clearance Unit handles inspections and requirements.

☎ Brush Clearance Unit (626) 969-2375

Harden your home against embers

Most homes ignite from wind-blown embers — not the flame front. Key upgrades the fire departments recommend:

• Box-in eaves with non-combustible materials
• Dual-pane windows with an exterior tempered-glass pane
• Ember-resistant vents and non-combustible fencing at the house
• Keep roofs, gutters, and the first 5 ft around the home clear of anything flammable

LADWP outages & Public Safety Power Shutoffs

Pacific Palisades is served by LADWP. Sign up for outage alerts and understand how power may be shut off during high-wind, red-flag fire conditions.

Home batteries, solar & generators

Ways to keep the lights, medical devices, and refrigerator running when the grid goes down:

• Home battery + solar (e.g. Tesla Powerwall) — automatic, whole-home backup with no fuel or fumes
• Portable power stations — quiet, indoor-safe backup for phones, CPAP/medical devices, and a fridge
• Standby or portable generators — the most power, but run them OUTSIDE only, away from windows — carbon monoxide is deadly and never run one in a garage

Keep your car's gas tank at least half full, too — fuel pumps don't work during outages.

Secure your home & know the shut-offs

Quakes here mean broken gas and water lines and long outages. Cut the danger before it hits:

• Install an automatic earthquake gas shut-off valve — or keep a wrench at the meter and know how to shut gas off
• Strap the water heater; anchor tall furniture, bookcases, and the TV to wall studs
• Know how to shut off gas, the water main, and the electrical panel

Water & sanitation when lines break

Store 1 gallon per person per day for two weeks — quake recovery is slower than fire. If water and sewer go out, have a bucket-toilet setup ready (a 5-gallon bucket, heavy-duty bags, and kitty litter or sawdust) so sanitation doesn't become a health hazard.

Early warning & the drill

Get California's earthquake early-warning app and know the response — seconds of warning matter.

• MyShake app — California's free earthquake early-warning system
• Practice Drop, Cover, Hold On; keep shoes & a flashlight by every bed

PPCC Disaster Readiness

The Pacific Palisades Community Council's local preparedness page — neighborhood-specific guidance and readiness resources for Palisadians.

Ready Your LA Neighborhood (RYLAN) & CERT

City programs to prepare your block together: RYLAN organizes neighbors for disasters, and CERT training (via LAFD) teaches hands-on emergency response.