In light of all the terrible news about wildfires this week, I would like to share some websites which can help you make your home and surroundings as safe as possible.
What you can do for you
UCANR has a Homeowner's Fire Mitigation Guide that includes a lot of information about how to fire-proof your home and surroundings. Take a look at the toolbar on the left side of the webpage. Under “Additional Information” there are several useful checklists including Quick Fixes, Pre-Fire Readiness, and a Pre-Evacuation Checklist.
This blog post has a list of UCANR fire experts (with contact info) who can answer questions related to fire prevention, impacts, and general wildfire science.
UCANR has a Center for Fire Information and Outreach. Of interest is their Fire Information Toolkit, which contains information for homeowners including a Homeowner Wildfire Assessment and after-fire resources for when it's time to go back to your property and start rebuilding.
CAL FIRE has up-to-date information on all the active fires in California. The site also has evacuation information, including video instruction for evacuation pre-planning.
What you can do for others
I read a news article that stated that the average age of fire victims so far is about 80. If you have some elderly neighbors, check in with them to see that they have the resources they need to be safe.
I'm sure there are a lot of great organizations out there collecting donations of goods and funds to help people displaced by fire. I'll list a couple here and feel free to add more in the comments. As always, you need to make sure that an organizations values and priorities are aligned with yours before making a donation. Redwood Credit Union is collecting donations for North Bay Fire Relief. 100% of your donation goes to victims of the fires and you can designate a county for your funds or have the funds equally distributed among all the counties affected by fire. Nature's Select, a Northern California pet food company, is offering a buy one-get one deal where if you purchase a bag of dog or cat food, they will match it with a second bag. The company is delivering the pet food to families affected by fire.