Helping the Community Stay Informed with SREC's Interactive Evacuation Map

During wildfires and other large-scale emergencies, one of the most common questions people have is simple: Am I in an evacuation zone?

While emergency alerts are sent through a variety of channels, not everyone receives those notifications. As a result, 911 often experiences a surge of calls from residents seeking evacuation information, adding to the workload during already busy incidents.

As a result, 911 often experiences a significant increase in calls from people simply trying to determine whether they are in an evacuation zone.

Innovating for improvement
To help address this challenge, SREC's GIS, Technology, and Fire Dispatch teams developed a live, interactive Evacuation Address Lookup Map in 2023 that allows residents to quickly search an address and determine whether it is located in or near an evacuation area. The goal was simple: provide the community with real-time access to critical information while helping reduce non-emergency calls to 911 so call takers can remain focused on life-safety emergencies.

The tool was originally being developed and tested in a beta environment when this summer's fires began. As the incidents grew and the need for public information increased, the application was reviewed and approved by field personnel and emergency management partners before being deployed for public use several days into the fire response. 

To check whether you're currently in or near an evacuation zone, visit:
👉 https://bit.ly/SRECOfficialEvac