Evacuation: Can you avoid gridlock?

Despite being off-season, LA's recent wildfires were extremely destructive, killing 29 people, destroying over 18,000 structures, and prompting the evacuation of more than 200,000 people. By these isolated metrics, the wildfires surpassed entire fire seasons in Oregon (including 2024 & 2020). But of course, damage to people tends to be higher when disaster strikes population centers. The similarly urban Maui fires of 2023 remain the deadliest in our nation's modern history, with over 100 fatalities.
One major challenge during LA's wildfires was evacuation capacity. As in the Maui and Paradise fires, limited escape routes caused gridlock, often forcing evacuees to abandon vehicles and flee on foot. Long-term solutions to this challenge are tricky. Perhaps a first step is to simply check this map to see if your community has limited evacuation capacity. Create an emergency evacuation plan that includes multiple routes, and practice those routes when going about your regular business in town. Check out our Evacuation and Assembly webpage and our Family Emergency Planning webpage for more details on next steps. 

Click to learn if your community has limited evacuation capacity

Click to learn more about Oregon's evacuation levels and how to prepare for an evacuation

Click to download our Family Emergency Plan worksheet