By Kara Stamets, Content Marketing Specialist at Alertus Technologies

May is National Wildfire Awareness Month, an annual dedication to prevention and awareness. As we close out the month, it is a critical time to ensure that your organization is ready for the season ahead. Drought, higher temperatures, overgrown forests, high winds, and population growth intensify wildfires that commonly begin due to human-related activities such as unattended campfires and fireworks or natural causes like lightning strikes.

Although wildfires are most prevalent in the west, all states should prepare for wildfire threats. According to the National Interagency Fire Center, the U.S. has experienced 27,409 fires that have burned 1,889,439 acres over the past five months – a significant increase from previous years. The Coastal Fire recently blazed through Laguna Niguel, California, burning 200 acres, destroying 20 homes, and damaging 11, and in New Mexico, a wildfire destroyed 350 homes and burned through 310,000 acres. Even in Florida, wildfires burned 16,550 acres in Palm Beach County, and in Broward County, the 2-Bravo fire recently torched 5,650 acres in the Everglades. 

Wildfires spread extremely fast, so every second counts to protect your employees if a wildfire is approaching your facility. Below, we share steps an organization can take to prepare for wildfires and enhance communication with their employees.

Prepare & Inform

A critical first step that organizations should take, advised by FEMA’s Wildfire Preparedness Guide, is identifying an individual or a team of individuals who will lead the charge in communicating:

• The danger and impact of wildfires on health and safety. 

• The importance of swift and steady evacuation.

• Fire exit routes in the building.

• The National Weather Service’s fire warning stages:

  • Fire weather watch (fire danger occurring in 12-72 hours)

  • Red flag warning (fire expected within 24 hours)

  • Extreme Fire/Evacuation notice (leave the area immediately)

• A list of materials needed to create an emergency supply kit to keep at your desk or in your vehicle. 

Organizational Preparedness

Is your organization prepared to support employees during and after a wildfire emergency? According to FEMA’s Wildfire Preparedness Guide, organizations should assess:

• Facility safety, such as accessibility measures or providing a well-stocked reserve of emergency supplies.

• Human resource guidelines, providing reliable insurance policies or flexible work options.

• Business continuity plans on data accessibility or instructions on operating at alternate locations. 

• Emergency operations such as mass notification systems or providing directions on how to protect assets. 

• Employee health considerations, such as if a wildfire is in the area, employees working in the field may be affected worse by poor air quality, so move employees indoors and provide N95 respirators. 

Leverage a Mass Notification System 

After your organization has discussed the dangers of wildfires, provided helpful information to employees, and assessed their facility's current policies and procedures, the next step is to identify how your organization will notify all employees during a wildfire emergency. A mass notification system (MNS) includes various communication tools that distribute emergency messages in real-time to groups of people during urgent events. 

For a wildfire, it is paramount for each employee to have a working cell phone set up with push notifications to be informed about what is happening in their community. Organizations should also consider incorporating real-time weather monitoring into their MNS. 

Cell service can be unreliable in dire situations, so enhancing your audible warning systems such as fire alarms and sirens with visual notifications will increase your chances of reaching all employees. An audible-visual notification product such as the Alertus Alert Beacon® combines strobes, alert text, and clear audio connected to the Alertus System via ethernet, WiFi, or FM Radio, which is helpful during wildfire emergencies if the power is out.

When it is time to evacuate the premise due to a wildfire, alert your employees in noisy environments indoors with digital signage and employees working outside by utilizing loudspeakers that reach broad areas. 

Wildfires leave great devastation and loss in their paths, and all companies in high-risk areas should have a wildfire preparedness and evacuation plan available. Doing so will better equip your employees to vacate the site with proper resources and information safely.