Wildfire
The simple plan: in case of wildfire, go to the gym.
Extensive preparations have been made to shelter our campus population in the gym.
Wildfire is the disaster most likely to affect us. Campus buildings were burned in major fires in 1964 and 1977, so we know it can happen here.
We have worked closely with the local emergency agencies (Fire, Sheriff, Red Cross, County Emergency Services, and others) to develop and refine our shelter-in-place plan.
Our gym has been designated as an official safety zone, and if the fire were nearby our campus would be used (as in the ’77 fire) as a firefighter camp and staging area. They simply won’t let the [all-brick] gym burn.
Staying is actually much safer than fleeing, as proven in other fires when facilities carefully planned and prepared in advance were used.
Because this may seem opposite from what one might expect, we want to stress the point and ask for your support. If you are a parent and your student calls to report a big fire in the hills, please don’t encourage them to do the less safe thing, which would be to hop in a car and drive away.
For further information about the plan, see our Executive Summary. If you still have questions about the plan, please contact our Risk Management office. Thank you!