Wildfire Evacuation Preparedness · Free · Global
When the air
turns orange,
it's too late to plan.
Wildfires give you hours, not days. RallyPack helps families in the Americas, Eastern Europe, Australia, and beyond build an evacuation plan — wildfire risk is year-round now, not just in season. Free and open source.
No account required for the quiz · Always free · Open source
Typical wildfire evacuation warning window — often less for rural and interface zones
Embers travel ahead of a fire front, igniting homes before flames arrive
Of defensible space recommended around structures in fire-prone areas
Plan for the minimum, not the promise of aid
Four things that decide how a disaster goes.
72 hours minimum
Assume your household is on its own for at least 72 hours — and build toward 7 to 14 days where wildfire, extreme heat, outages or remote access make that realistic. Help may be delayed, shelters may be full or distant, and normal services may be unavailable.
Year-round risk
Peak months are real, but dangerous conditions recur outside the historic season. Keep supplies, documents, contacts and animal plans current all year, and raise readiness when heat, drought, wind, holidays or utility shutoffs converge.
Three departure modes
Practise leaving in 15 minutes, leaving in one hour, and preparing for a 72-hour displacement — rather than one generic “pack the car” plan.
Water is a dependency
Hydrants, wells and municipal supplies can fail or be strained exactly when a fire is unfolding, and drinking-water networks are not built to suppress a wildfire at community scale. Store, protect and conserve water in advance.
Emergency numbers by region
Know the number before you need it.
Americas
911 (US, Canada, Mexico) · 123 (Colombia, Chile) · 911 (Argentina, Brazil)
High-risk areas:
California · Oregon · Washington · Utah · British Columbia · Alberta · Mexico · Brazil · Chile · Argentina · Colombia
North, Central, and South America face record-breaking wildfire seasons. CalFire, Natural Resources Canada, and CONAFOR (Mexico) track thousands of incidents annually.
Australia & Oceania
Australia: 000 · New Zealand: 111 · Bushfire info AU: 1800 679 737
High-risk areas:
New South Wales · Victoria · Queensland · Western Australia · New Zealand
Bushfire seasons intensify during Southern Hemisphere summer. The Rural Fire Service issues warnings and Total Fire Bans.
Eastern Europe & Mediterranean
EU-wide emergency: 112 · Greece: 112 · Türkiye: 112
High-risk areas:
Greece · Bulgaria · Romania · Croatia · Türkiye · Portugal · Italy · Cyprus
Southern and Eastern Europe face severe wildfire seasons worsened by heatwaves. Each country routes civil protection alerts through 112.
The six things that save lives
What your wildfire plan needs to cover.
Know Your Evacuation Level
Understand your local evacuation zones (Levels 1-3 in the US, 'Get Ready / Leave Now' in Australia). Sign up for official alerts before high-risk conditions return.
Two Escape Routes, Memorized
Wildfires close roads without warning. Map two routes out of your area — one may be blocked by fire or smoke.
Defensible Space & Hardening
Clear vegetation within 30m of your home. Cover vents, remove ember traps, and move flammable items away from structures.
Go-Bag by the Door
Documents, medications, cash, phone chargers, N95 masks, and at least 72 hours of water and food — build toward 7 to 14 days. Pack before high-risk conditions return, not during.
Air Quality Plan
Wildfire smoke travels hundreds of kilometers. Keep HEPA filters, know how to create a clean-air room, and track AQI daily.
Water & Hydration Ready
Store at least 4 liters per person per day. Power outages and damaged infrastructure can cut water supply for days.
RallyPack for organizations
Send emergency alerts to your community.
Fire departments, shelter operators, and community organizations use RallyPack to send real-time evacuation alerts and shelter-open notices to their members. Approved alerts reach people via email, in-app, and Telegram — even when cell towers are overloaded.
Answers
Wildfire questions, answered.
- How much warning does a wildfire usually give?
- Typically 6 to 48 hours, and often less in rural or wildland–urban interface zones.
More detail
Wildfire evacuation orders can arrive as a warning level, a 'be ready' notice, or an immediate 'leave now' instruction that gives you minutes. Know your local evacuation levels and sign up for official alerts before fire season.
- What is defensible space and how much do I need?
- Roughly 30 metres of cleared, low-fuel space around a structure, plus an ember-resistant home.
More detail
Clear dry debris from the roof, gutters, deck, vents and the immediate perimeter; cover vents; remove ember traps; and move flammable items away from structures. Embers can travel more than 2 km ahead of a fire front and ignite homes before flames arrive.
- How does drought affect wildfire risk?
- Drought, heat and wind dry grasses, shrubs and living vegetation, making it far more likely that an ignition becomes a large, fast-moving fire.
More detail
Severe drought also lowers stream, river, lake and reservoir levels and removes natural fire breaks and convenient water sources for suppression, which can allow fires to spread farther and faster. Prolonged drought can eventually reduce fine-fuel growth in some ecosystems, so it does not guarantee more fire everywhere — but where fuel remains, the landscape is more flammable and fire behaviour more extreme.
- How does wildfire affect my drinking water?
- Fires can strain water sources during an incident and contaminate watersheds afterwards, while municipal networks are not designed to suppress a fast-moving wildfire at community scale.
More detail
During major incidents, water availability can be constrained by dry reservoirs, reduced streamflow, damaged pumps, power outages, low pressure or competing municipal demand — a local, incident-scale strain rather than a driver of regional drought. Afterwards, ash, sediment, debris, metals and nutrients can wash into streams and reservoirs, increasing treatment requirements and reducing storage. Store, protect and conserve household water, and never treat hoses, pools or hydrants as a substitute for evacuating.
- How do I keep wildfire smoke out of my home?
- Create a clean-air room with a HEPA filter, keep windows and doors closed, and track local air quality daily.
More detail
Wildfire smoke travels hundreds of kilometres and can affect people far from the fire itself. Keep N95 masks available, run filtration with backup power where possible, and plan for people with respiratory or cardiac conditions first. Masks do not make an evacuation zone safe.
- Can I go back home after evacuating?
- Only once officials explicitly reopen the area — do not return for property, pets or livestock after you leave.
More detail
Returning into a closed evacuation zone risks your life and pulls responders away from the incident. Wait for an official all-clear, and expect hazards such as hot ash pits, damaged utilities, weakened trees and contaminated water after you are allowed back.
Sources
Every figure and recommendation on this page traces back to the agency that produced it.
- FEMA — Evacuation and shelter-in-place planning considerations, including the 72-hour minimum sustainment benchmark and planning horizons up to 14 days
- US National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) — Large-fire incident data, national wildland fire outlook and human-caused ignition periods
- CAL FIRE — California incident, cause and structure-loss data
- Copernicus EFFIS — European forest fire information system — burned area and fire danger
- NFPA — Fireworks ignition estimates and home fire loss data
- US Drought Monitor / Drought.gov — Drought conditions and wildfire-management sector data
- US Forest Service — Drought interactions with wildfire, water sources and suppression logistics
- USGS — Post-fire water quality, sediment and watershed impacts
- NOAA — Seasonal climate patterns including El Niño and La Niña effects on fire weather
- American Red Cross — Household and evacuation preparedness guidance
Wildfire readiness
Find out how ready you really are.
The free readiness quiz scores your plan in three minutes — no account required. Then see how your neighborhood compares on the RallyPack readiness map.
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