Evacuation: How & When to Get Out

Don’t hesitate because you don’t know what to do. Learn how to be prepared for an evacuation, how to know when it’s time to go, and what to do when the time comes. While some of the details are specific to Crystal Lakes, most of this information is useful to property owners in any community affected by wildfires.

NOTE:  There are two glitches in the video at the points where the evacuation siren sounds are played that result in 15-20 seconds of silence after each siren before it moves on to the next slide. Please be patient -- the video isn't frozen and will pick back up again in a moment.

Note: The above video contains a reference to marking your cistern for possible firefighter use. After much review and discussion, CLVFD has determined that neither we nor any other fire agency that might come into our area during a large wildfire is likely to find it useful to tap into individual cisterns (even assuming we had proper equipment to match homeowners' fittings), so we no longer recommend taking that step. We only recommend marking naturally occurring water sources like ponds and outside cisterns installed for the express purpose of providing water for wildland firefighting. Thank you.

Evacuation Advice -- Includes how to understand evacuation orders, when to evacuate, what to do in an evacuation, how to prepare for evacuations, how to prepare a go-box, how to prepare your pets for evacuation, and how to stay informed. 

Potential Evacuation Routes -- This map shows various routes out of the Crystal Lakes area so you can be aware of the options. In the event of an evacuation, always follow the directions of emergency personnel.