Encinitas commission presents wildfire-preparedness survey; residents cite unclear evacuation routes, alert gaps and resource concerns

At its March 31 meeting the Encinitas Public Health and Safety Commission heard results from a community workshop and a city survey on wildfire preparedness that staff said highlight widespread concern about evacuation planning, emergency alerts, and local fire resources.

City staff and the fire department described outreach that produced 30 workshop attendees, 146 workshop comments and 125 completed survey responses. "It was a lot of work to set up the workshop and then also, collect all this information," said Josh, a city staff member who presented the results. "We did a lot in a couple weeks of promoting this," said Chief Gordon of the Encinitas Fire Department during the presentation.

The survey and workshop responses were summarized into eight core themes, staff said: emergency alerts and public outreach, evacuation and emergency planning, emergency response/fire service resources, neighborhood preparedness, app and website awareness, home and property preparedness, law enforcement and resource concerns, and immediate actions residents want prioritized.

Key findings reported by staff included: 125 survey responses and 30 workshop attendees; respondents skewed toward older households…