Fire Department Details New Evacuation Plans for West Pasadena’s San Rafael Hills in the Event of Wildfire

In a Monday virtual meeting, Pasadena Fire Dept. officials discussed details of a new evacuation plan the Department has developed for the safe evacuation of  West Pasadena’s Arroyo area San Rafael Hills in the event of a wildfire.

Chief Chad Augustin earlier told Pasadena Now that shortly after he assumed command of the Department 10 months ago he surveyed the hills west of the Rose Bowl and — seeing some similarities to the Northern California Oakland Hills neighborhood where a devastating wildfire killed 25 in 1991 — decided it was imperative that Pasadena have an evacuation plan in place.

Speaking to members of the community at a virtual meeting, Deputy Chief Tim Sell said the city’s new “Community Wildfire Protection Plan” (CWPP) identifies evacuation options for those who live and work within the Arroyo area and recommends measures to reduce the ignitability of structures throughout the area.

The plan was developed by Pasadena’s Fire Department in consultation with key stakeholders, other city departments and the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

According to the plan, when there is a fire in the area, a determination on the need to evacuate will be immediately made by police and fire departments.

Sell said residents will be immediately notified if evacuation is necessary, through door-to-door knocks by law enforcement, rolling street announcements by police or fire departments, reverse 911 or social media, among others.

While the fire is occurring, the police and fire departments will also determine if the evacuation need is temporary or long-term, and if portions of the power grid need to be shut down.

The CWPP provides reunification areas for families separated by evacuation, according to Sell.

“We want to make sure that we got reunification areas that we can set up so families can be reunified with other members of their families. They can seek shelter long term if needed.”

According to the official, among the “aggressive” fire prevention approaches the fire department has adopted to reduce the risk of rapid fire spread include the annual inspection of over 3,000 property Hazardous Vegetation in the Arroyo area and of over 4,000 citywide, as well as the identification of properties located in Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones.

The department has also adopted fire codes and ordinances requiring defensible space of 100 feet around homes and a clearing area of 30 feet immediately surrounding homes.

Sell said homeowners should make sure that the area in and around their house is compliant to city ordinances for their safety during the occurrence of wildfires.

Meanwhile, in the same meeting, Fire Chief Chad Augustin called on the members of the community to urge their councilmembers to convince neighboring cities to ban fireworks as these could spark wildfires.

Currently, there is an ordinance in Pasadena prohibiting fireworks but reportedly illegal fireworks coming from neighboring cities are being sold and brought into Pasadena.

“I encourage you to continue to advocate to your city councilmembers that they advocate for communicating with the neighboring cities to make fireworks illegal,” Augustin said.

Augustin said he will present the CWPP to the Public Safety Committee in early 2022.