Preparing Your Organization for Wildfires
By Kara Stamets, Senior Content Marketing Specialist, Alertus Technologies
Wildfire season typically ranges from May to November in the US and is most prevalent in the West, however, wildfires can ignite and spread quickly at any moment, anywhere throughout the year. Strong winds and low humidity have recently created hazardous conditions fueling devastating wildfires across Southern California.
Municipalities must be prepared to send emergency alerts to affected communities, and businesses must swiftly notify personnel with evacuation and safety instructions. Since wildfires spread extremely fast, every second counts. Below, we share steps all organizations 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 regarding fire alarm and mass notification systems and directions on protecting assets.
Employee health considerations – when facing poor air quality, move employees indoors and provide N95 respirators.
Leverage a Mass Notification System
After discussing the dangers of wildfires, providing helpful information to employees, and assessing your facility's organizational readiness, 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 real-time emergency messages to groups of people during urgent events.
When dealing with a wildfire, it is paramount for an organization to ensure that their fire alarm system is NFPA-72 compliant. Alertus’ Fire Alarm Control Panel Interface meets this standard and takes fire alarm event information from the fire panel, applies innovative logic technologies, and broadcasts messages over multiple communication paths.
It is also critical for employees to have a working cell phone set up to receive 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 due to network congestion, geographic landscape, and weather, for example, so enhancing your audible warning systems such as fire alarms and sirens with visual notifications will increase your chances of reaching all employees across your facility. 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 premises due to a wildfire, alert your employees in noisy environments indoors with speakers and digital signage and employees working outside by utilizing wide-area outdoor notification to reach broad areas.
Wildfires leave great devastation and loss in their paths, and all organizations 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.