Wildfire Ready: Fire-Safe Fencing

A wooden fence or landscape wall attached to the house can lead a wildfire right to your home, especially if plant debris, dead vegetation, or other flammable yard waste and leaf litter has gathered at the bottom. Residents that live within or immediately...

September 17th Fire Weather Watch Upgraded to Red Flag Warning for North Bay Mountains

UPDATE 9/19/21 AT 10:00 A.M. 

The National Weather Service has upgraded the Fire Weather Watch to a Red Flag Warning which will be in effect from tonight, September 19, at 11PM through Monday, September 20, at 8PM. Dry northerly offshore ...

Wildfire Ready: Maintaining Your Preparedness

Wildfire seasons have been more destructive in recent years and have the potential to be longer in duration locally. The level of preparedness in our community has greatly improved at a personal and regional level in response to the changing conditions. M...

Wildfire Ready: What to Do During a Wildfire in your Area

Wildfires occur without warning and evacuation orders can be issued quickly. You should be prepared to take the necessary steps to help increase your chances for an efficient and safe evacuation. Learn what to do when it’s time to go!

If a wildfi...

Fire Weather Watch Upgraded to Red Flag Warning for Dry Lightning Issued for ALL of Sonoma County

UPDATE 9/9/21 AT 11:30 A.M.

A Red Flag Warning has been issued and will go into effect from 5PM today (Thursday, 9/9) to 11AM tomorrow (Friday, 9/10) for the potential of dry lightning and gusty/erratic winds. Thunderstorm chances will increase late this a...

Wildfire Ready: National Preparedness Month

September is National Preparedness Month, and the City of Santa Rosa wants to highlight the importance of preparing for disasters and emergencies that could happen at any time. This year’s theme is “Prepare to Protect. Preparing for disasters is protectin...

Wildfire Ready: Tips for Preparing to Evacuate Pets and Animals

Pets are an important member of your family, so they need to be included in your family’s emergency plan. Owners of pets and animals should plan and prepare to evacuate their pets in the event of a wildfire. Preparing animals for an evacuation r...

Wildfire Ready: Preparing Our Vulnerable Populations to Evacuate from a Wildfire

The City of Santa Rosa has made significant enhancements in our ability to alert and warn our community in the event of a disaster, including wildfires. Our goal is to provide early notification whenever possible, so our community has time to safely evacu...

August 18th Red Flag Warning Canceled Early

UPDATE 8/18/21 AT 12:00 P.M.

Winds have subsided in the North Bay Mountains which allowed the National Weather Service to cancel the Red Flag Warning a little early. Little to no winds materialized in the Santa Rosa area as of noon today. Residents in Sono...

Wildfire Ready: Back to School & Emergency Alerts

As our students return to school, parents and guardians should ensure their SoCoAlert accounts are set up to receive potential emergency alerts for an area that your child’s school is within. If your child has changed schools or started a new one, make th...

Wildfire Ready: Maintaining Weeds & Dry Grasses During Fire Season with Proper Equipment & Protocols

Sonoma County residents and landscape contractors are urged to use proper equipment and adhere to recommendations when cutting dry seasonal grasses in an effort to help reduce the threat of fires this wildfire season. Jurisdictions across Sonoma County ha...

Wildfire Ready: Understanding the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI)

The Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) is defined as areas where homes and buildings are built near or among lands prone to wildland fire. The WUI is a geographical area, not a place. In Santa Rosa, we also refer to the portions of the City in the WUI as the ...

Wildfire Ready: Preparing Your Deck For Fire Season and Making it Safer

Decks are often one of the most beautiful parts of a home, but they can also contribute to the spread of a wildfire. There are several critical steps that you can take, that range from the type of material used to build or rebuild the balcony or deck, kee...

July 19th Red Flag Warning Canceled for Dry Lightning

UPDATE 7/19/21 at 8:00 a.m.

CANCELED: RED FLAG WARNING IS CANCELED FOR DRY LIGHTNING

The National Weather Service has canceled the Red Flag Warning. Convection no longer looks favorable for the region so they have canceled the Red Flag Warning which include...

Wildfire Ready: Removing Ladder Fuels & Properly Spacing Plants and Trees on Your Property

Ladder fuels are the vegetation that allows fire to spread up from the landscape into a tree. Common ladder fuels include tall grasses, shrubs, and tree branches, both living and dead. The removal of fire ladders and fuels is part of creating defensible s...

Wildfire Ready: Harden Your Home with Gutter Guard and Vent Screen Installations

Installing gutter guards and retrofitting your vent screens are some of the easiest ways to protect your home against wildfires. This is also known as home hardening and helps improve the chances of your home withstanding a fire due to ember cast, radiant...

Excessive Heat Warning 12PM Friday (7/9) through 11PM Sunday (7/11)

Update: 7.9.21

*UPDATE - Heat Advisory Issued For North Bay Valleys* 

The National Weather Service has now issued a Heat Advisory for the North Bay Valleys from 12PM Friday, 7/9, through 11PM Sunday, 7/11. This advisory includes ALL of Sant Rosa. T...

Wildfire Ready: Considerations for Using Mulch for Groundcover Around the Home

As you continue to prepare for wildfires and the current drought conditions, it is important to make fire-wise decisions to protect your home and property. This includes the use of mulch as a ground cover. Mulch can provide benefits around your home but, ...

SR Fire Department Reminds Residents About Use & Dangers of Fireworks in Advance of Fourth of July

Summer is officially underway which means increased outdoor activities, with the Fourth of July being no exception. The City of Santa Rosa Fire Department wants to remind residents that the possession, storage, sale and use of all fireworks is illegal wit...

Wildfire Ready: One Less Spark—One Less Wildfire

The “One Less Spark—One Less Wildfire” campaign is designed to provide constant reminders during this fire season to reduce the numbers of vehicle and equipment fires throughout our community and across the state. By reviewin...

Heat Advisory and Excessive Heat Warning

The NWS has issued a Heat Advisory for the North Bay, including all of Santa Rosa, which will be in effect from 11AM Wednesday (6/16) through 1PM Friday (6/18). The Heat Advisory for Wednesday will be upgraded to an Excessive Heat Warning for the North Ba...

Wildfire Ready: Know Your Zone, Learn Your Ways Out, Prepare a Go Bag

Being prepared for an emergency includes knowing your evacuation zone and understanding all of your ways out of your neighborhood. In the City of Santa Rosa zones are organized by neighborhoods and geographical areas instead of numbers or letters. Having ...

Wildfire Ready: Ensuring Defensible Space on Your Property

Wildfire season is here and knowing how to create defensible space can potentially save your home and property. Defensible space is the buffer you create between a building on your property and the grass, trees, shrubs, or any other wildland that surround...

Questions About Evacuation Tags?

While evacuation tags are helpful in some communities, including rural areas where first responders may need to spend more time to reach rural residents, within the Santa Rosa city limits – a more densely populated community – evacuation tags are not util...

Wildfire Ready: Understanding High Wind Advisories and Red Flag Events

The recent warm and breezy conditions have continued to dry out drought stressed vegetation in and around Santa Rosa.  Following the declaration of Fire Season on Monday, May 17, 2021, the recent weather conditions have caused concern amongst res...

SRFD to Declare May 17th Official Start of Wildfire Season in Santa Rosa

The City of Santa Rosa Fire Department will officially declare May 17, 2021 as the start of this year’s wildfire season in Santa Rosa. The date has been set following several days of Red Flag Warning conditions just outside the City limits in the North Ba...

Red Flag Warning In Effect from 11pm Friday, 5/7 to 6am, Monday 5/10 for North Bay Mountains

**RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 11 PM FRIDAY, 5/7 TO 6 AM PDT MONDAY, 5/10 FOR AREAS INCLUDING THE NORTH BAY HILLS**

The NWS is forecasting a moderate early season offshore wind event. This will occur as fuels are near record dry levels after a very dry ...

City of Santa Rosa Names New Fire Chief

The City of Santa Rosa has selected Scott Westrope as the next Chief of the Santa Rosa Fire Department following a nationwide and extensive recruitment.

Westrope has served 21 of his 27-year fire service career with the Santa Rosa Fire Department – includi...

Council to Consider Ordinance Allowing Vegetative Debris Pile Burning for Wildfire Mitigation

At their March 16th meeting, City Council will consider an Ordinance allowing property owners to burn vegetative debris piles as a way to reduce the threat of wildfires. This type of pile burning, under appropriate weather conditions, can rapidly eliminat...

$33.9M in Federal Funding Allocated to City for Rebuilding & Resiliency

Know Your Emergency Alerts

Emergencies can happen anywhere, at any time. That is why it is important to understand the different warning notifications and systems public safety officials will use to alert you during an emergency. Some of these systems require prior registration inc...

Alert and Warning Exercise on August 17

The County of Sonoma, City of Santa Rosa, and the National Weather Service Bay Area will conduct an emergency alert and warning exercise comprised of two individual tests on August 17. The effort includes a countywide test of the NOAA Weather Radio warnin...