The Irving Fire in Marin County last week prompted evacuation orders just an hour from when the wildfire started.

The quick orders by officials this fire season got people wondering whether Cal Fire has changed its evacuation protocols.

Cal Fire told KRON4 there is no official change in evacuation criteria, but they said they are evacuating earlier now and we should get used to it.

It’s the new normal. Cal Fire said it’s because they are battling a new breed of wildfire that is hotter and moves faster.

“We will evacuate sooner than later to save lives,” Cal Fire Spokeswoman Amy Head said. “These fires now are so intense and moving fast, and with what happened last year, we don’t want to wait.” 

Head says the early evacuation orders of the Irving Fire that were sent out just 1 hour after the fire started on Sept. 10 near Samuel P. Taylor State Park in Marin County is the new normal. You can blame the population boom creating extra traffic, the drought which has ripened the vegetation into wildfire fuel, and the amount of people moving out into the country living in the woods among the hard-to-navigate narrow, windy country roads. 

“Remote areas, one lane are hard to get to,” Head said. “We need people out-of-the-way. The quicker they get out the better.”

And Cal Fire wants people to know we are entering the most dangerous time of the fire season, and when they call for evacuations, you should take it seriously.

“September, October, Indian summer, the heat is coming and the winds and this when it gets bad and scary and people should be ready for a big wildfire and ready to evacuate,” Head said.

Cal Fire has set up a website that details out everything you should do now to prepare for a wildfire evacuation.

Here is the link: http://www.readyforwildfire.org/Pre-Evacuation-Preparation/

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