San Ramon Valley Fire District marks evacuation zones near Mt. Diablo communities
Driving down Camino Tassajara past the Mustang Soccer League fields, a red sign posted at the roadside reads: You are entering Evacuation Zone CCC E269.
The San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District has put up 50 of those signs largely around neighborhoods that back up to Mt. Diablo — areas with limited ways out and a lot of dry fuel on the hillsides. It's designed to create a constant reminder of where to go in case of an emergency.
"This is one of the higher risk areas we have because of the types of fuel and because of the way the weather impacts it," Fire Chief Jonas Aguiar said while pointing to Blackhawk on a map.
Aguiar walked CBS News Bay Area through the district's master evacuation plan for its most vulnerable communities, places like Diablo, Blackhawk, and Camino Tassajara. Each zone on the map has a number, and if an evacuation is ordered, residents who are signed up through Zone Haven get automatically notified.
"Each one of these numbers is associated with a specific zone," Aguiar explained. "If there's an evacuation that takes place, you will be automatically notified if you're signed up through Zone Haven."
Researchers from UC Santa Barbara recently evaluated wildfire risk across the country, studying wildfire deaths from 2008 to 2024, including the 2018 Camp Fire that devastated the town of Paradise. They found communities with fewer evacuation routes accounted for the majority of wildfire deaths.
In the Bay Area, several locations fall into that high-risk category. The most dangerous areas are those with few exits and a high burn hazard. That represented parts of Marin County and areas of Contra Costa County like Alhambra Valley and Clayton. Camino Tassajara is among them, with just two ways out in an emergency.
"There's not too much we can do here," said Tim Niemi, a Danville resident who has lived off Camino Tassajara for about eight years with his family. They've already come close to an evacuation once before.
The hillside was recently cleared, but late spring rain brought new vegetation back in many areas. That creates fresh fire fuel.
It's exactly the kind of thing Aguiar is watching closely. On top of ongoing vegetation abatement, the fire district is planning evacuation drills in high-risk neighborhoods this summer. They want to make sure that if the real thing happens, it isn't anyone's first time going through the motions.
"We don't want the first time someone evacuates to be a real emergency," Aguiar said. "We're going to error on the side of caution and get folks out soon."
Aguiar said forecasts show high winds could trigger a Red Flag Warning as soon as later this week.
For early June, he said, it's not a good sign for what's shaping up to be another serious fire season.
