Sonoma County emergency officials to warn of dangerous wildfire season

SANTA ROSA, CA | May 14, 2026

Sonoma County emergency management officials urging residents to prepare for a potentially high-risk wildfire season. Officials, who will update the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, are preparing for the upcoming hot, dry months of summer and fall, when the danger of a wildfire is at its peak.

What: Wildfire Preparedness Update
When: Tuesday, May 19, no earlier than 11:30 a.m.
Where: Board Chambers, 565 Administration Drive, Santa Rosa
Watch online: Zoom link

The update will include an outlook for fire season, firefighting resources, efforts underway for countywide preparedness, disaster service worker training, preseason coordination with other counties, and a review of the County’s alert and warning platforms. The Department of Emergency Management will also provide an update on the County’s Ag Pass program, which provides access to agricultural areas during disasters.

May is Wildfire Community Preparedness Month, a reminder that people who live in fire-prone areas should take action before the hottest months arrive. The County offers the following tools and services to help residents reduce risk and stay prepared:

Unite with your neighbors. Form your neighborhood or homeowner’s association into a Firewise Community.
Create defensible space around your home. Learn how.
Harden your home against wildfire: More info.
If you are putting in new landscaping, consider making it fire-resilient to reduce your risk of wildfire.
Assemble a go-bag and build an emergency preparedness kit. Learn how.
Make sure you are ready to evacuate if the time comes. Look up your emergency zone. Make an evacuation plan.
Stay informed. Sign up for emergency alerts. Bookmark socoemergency.org, the official source for up-to-date information during an emergency.
Don’t burn outdoors until you know the rules.

Permit Sonoma’s Fire Prevention Division provides free chipper services to residents in unincorporated areas who are creating defensible space around their homes. Residents in two parts of the county – Larkfield-Wikiup and Guerneville – can sign up for no-cost wildfire risk assessments, which provide personalized recommendations for defensible space and home hardening.

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Media Contact:
Matt Brown, Communications Specialist
publicaffairs@sonoma-county.org
(707) 565-3040
575 Administration Drive, Suite 104A
Santa Rosa, CA 95403

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