Red Flag Warning Update

January 20, 2025

The City of Rancho Palos Verdes remains on high alert monitoring dangerous fire weather conditions impacting Southern California. A Red Flag Warning remains in effect for the Palos Verdes Peninsula until 2 p.m. Tuesday, January 21, 2025. City staff is in close contact with the other Peninsula cities and our public safety partners, and the Los Angeles County Fire Department continues to proactively patrol the Peninsula. We thank our first responders for keeping our communities safe.

Do your part to reduce fire risk.  Avoid activities that could generate sparks, such as using power tools or machinery, and postpone outdoor burning during high-risk periods (check aqmd.gov/advisory to learn when a mandatory no burn day alert is issued). Limit grass mowing and landscaping activities, especially on dry, windy days. Construction work involving heat or sparks should be avoided, and proper safety measures, like having fire extinguishers on hand, should always be in place. Refrain from smoking outdoors, as it can easily ignite dry vegetation, and stay informed about current fire weather conditions and restrictions to ensure compliance with safety guidelines. 

Palos Verdes Nature Preserve Temporarily Closed

The Palos Verdes Nature Preserve and Abalone Cove Park are temporarily closed until further notice due to fire weather conditions.

For updates, please check rpvca.gov/trailalerts or call the Open Space and Trails Division at 310-491-5775.

Know Your Emergency Terms

During an emergency, it's crucial to understand and follow directions from public safety officials. Familiarize yourself with these key terms to ensure you respond appropriately:

Advisory: An advisory is a notification about a potential hazard or situation that may require your attention. While not as urgent as warnings or orders, advisories should be closely monitored.

Shelter in Place: If authorities tell you to shelter in place, it means you need to go indoors. Shut and lock doors and windows. Prepare to self-sustain until further notice and/or contacted by emergency personnel for additional direction.

Evacuation Warning: If you receive an evacuation warning, this means you need to start preparing to leave. If you have animals, children, or need additional time evacuating, this is the time to leave.

Evacuation Order:  If you receive an evacuation order, this means you need to leave immediately. Emergency responders have determined there is an imminent life safety risk and you need to evacuate. 

Always remember, you don’t have to wait to evacuate. If you feel unsafe, LEAVE.

Stay Ready, RPV

• Plan Ahead: Keep your mobile phone and other devices charged with the ringer on so you can receive and hear emergency alerts throughout the day and night. Have working flashlights for all family members ready and within reach. 
• Know Your Zone: Get to know the Peninsula's evacuation readiness platform at PVPready.gov. Find your zone, write it down, and keep it somewhere that’s easy to find in an emergency. During an emergency, such as a wildfire, the website will show which zones are under evacuation the moment an order is issued by authorities.
• Be Evacuation Ready: Prepare your family and home ahead of time for the possibility of having to evacuate. Park your vehicle in the driveway (to avoid being stuck behind an electricity-operated garage door) and facing the street so that you do not have to back out. For tips on making an evacuation plan and what to include in your family's emergency kit, download the L.A. County Fire Department’s “Ready! Set! Go!” Personal Wildfire Action Plan at fire.lacounty.gov/rsg. An Equine Emergency Resources Booklet (PDF) is available on the City website.
• Stay Informed: Sign up for Alert SouthBay emergency alerts by texting "alertsb" to 888-777 or by going to alertsouthbay.com. Watch local newscasts and have a battery-operated radio handy so that you can access news if the power goes out.

Water Supply and Quality

The local water agency, California Water Service (Cal Water), confirms that water quality remains unaffected by ongoing wildfires in Los Angeles, with customers in the district experiencing no disruption to their water supply. Cal Water has implemented comprehensive emergency preparedness strategies.  In 2020, Cal Water, in collaboration with the Peninsula cities, completed the Palos Verdes Peninsula Water Reliability Project, which enhanced the dependability of the water infrastructure on the Palos Verdes Peninsula and will help ensure that all Peninsula residents and firefighters continue to have safe and available water service for their everyday and emergency needs.   The project replaced a portion of the existing water pipeline and added a second pipeline, including seven miles of new pipeline, to deliver water to homes and businesses. Additionally, the project added a second pump station on Crenshaw Boulevard on a separate electrical grid that will help guard against the risk of prolonged water service outages caused by disruptions such as natural disasters. Fire hydrants served by CalWater have been assessed and are fully operational. Additionally, Los Angeles County Fire Department annually inspects fire hydrants on the Palos Verdes Peninsula.  CalWater stands ready to support the community, maintaining safe and stable water service even under challenging wildfire conditions.

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) is a regional water wholesaler with a primary role of providing adequate and reliable supplies of high-quality water to its member agencies. MWD has water supplies available to support firefighting efforts across its service area, including the Palos Verdes Peninsula. While the Palos Verdes Reservoir is out of service due to a planned shutdown, a new bypass pipeline has been installed to maintain reliable water supply to the Peninsula communities through West Basin Municipal Water District. This bypass line delivers the same flow and pressure as the reservoir had, ensuring continued service. MWD also has other water sources available to support firefighting efforts and closely coordinates with local fire agencies when there is the need. It is important to note that the PV Reservoir, when operational, is a treated water reservoir, covered to protect water quality, and is not accessible for firefighting by helicopters.  However, MWD has other reservoirs across its service area are available for firefighting, and they are coordinating closely with local fire agencies to support this effort. When needed, firefighters can also use specialized aircraft called "Super Scoopers" to combat wildfires using  ocean water.

Fire Prevention and Response

A HeloPod™ firefighting dip source and cistern was installed at the Ken Dyda Civic Center in Rancho Palos Verdes in 2023. This innovative system, funded by Cal Water's Firefighter Grant Program, allows helicopters to fill their water tanks faster, enhancing our local firefighting capabilities when there is a need.

Also, a network of wildfire detection cameras has been installed on the Palos Verdes Peninsula through Pano AI. These cameras provide early detection of wildfires through artificial intelligence technology, allowing first responders to act quickly. Pano is a 360-degree, ultra-high-definition camera system. When placed on a high vantage point, Pano scans the landscape to identify, evaluate, and warn of wildfire activity within a 15-mile radius. In the event of a fire, it provides fire-monitoring professionals auto-centered images with enhanced zoom, speeding confirmation, and triangulation of the exact fire location. Pano’s Rapid Detect wildfire detection solution has been successfully deployed in Napa, Santa Cruz, and Sonoma counties. This project, funded by a $1.5 million state budget allocation secured by Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi, enhances the Peninsula’s ability to prevent and respond to wildfires.   

Brush Clearance 

Cities and the Los Angeles County Fire Department play a proactive role in wildfire prevention by conducting annual brush clearance, which complements residents' efforts in maintaining defensible space around properties. Brush clearance efforts focus on managing vegetation near structures while preserving the integrity of open spaces. The primary goal of brush clearance is fire mitigation, creating a defense against potential wildfires. A collaborative approach between cities and residents is crucial for comprehensive wildfire prevention as it helps protect lives, homes, and the environment by establishing clear zones around structures that can slow or stop fire spread. For information on defensible space guidelines review the Defensible Space Guideline Booklet here: Defensible-Space-booklet-2021WEB[68] copy.

What is the City of RPV Doing to Clear Brush?

Just as homeowners are responsible for clearing brush around their properties to protect them from wildfire, the City of Rancho Palos Verdes is required to perform brush clearance on City-owned properties. Every year, the City safely performs extensive brush clearance covering about 300 acres throughout our open space areas using goat grazing as well as hand-operated machinery. Brush is also cleared from the City’s medians as part of landscaping maintenance.

The City works with the Los Angeles County Department of Agricultural Commissioner/Weights and Measures to maintain a list of City-owned properties where brush clearance is performed, known as Fuel Modification Zones.

What does “fuel modification” mean? Simply put, fuel modification is creating and maintaining a defensible space around your property, by removing vegetation, to increase the odds that your property survives a wildfire. In RPV, “defensible space” is 200 feet of buffer around structures.

You can learn more about how to create and maintain defensible space around your property on the City website and by downloading the Los Angeles County Fire Department’s “Ready! Set Go!” Wildfire Personal Wildfire Action Plan at fire.lacounty.gov/rsg.

Learn how to use landscaping techniques to protect your home from wildfires and meet brush clearance requirements by watching a recording of a West Basin firescaping workshop on RPVtv’s YouTube channel and going to westbasin.org/firescaping.

Download Your Residential Fire Insurance Advocacy Letter

In California, the increasing frequency and severity of wildfires have significantly impacted the residential fire insurance market. This has resulted in higher premiums, reduced coverage options, and, in some cases, policy cancellations. 

In RPV, these statewide challenges are evident, with many residents reporting increased premiums and difficulty in maintaining their fire insurance coverage. In response to these concerns, the City’s Emergency Preparedness Committee, in collaboration with City staff, has developed a comprehensive insurance resource letter.

This advocacy tool is tailored to help you, our residents and businesses, communicate effectively with your insurance providers to advocate for maintaining your current insurance policies and potentially negotiating lower premiums. We encourage you to utilize this resource to its full extent. 

To access this tool, please visit our dedicated Home Fire Insurance Information and Resources webpage at rpvca.gov/fireinsurance.

Get to Know the RPV Emergency Preparedness Committee

The Rancho Palos Verdes Emergency Preparedness Committee (EPC) is a group of local volunteers and residents with emergency management/response subject matter expertise who provide the City recommendations on matters pertaining to emergency preparedness to help ensure a high state of readiness to respond to a wide variety of emergencies and disasters. The EPC generally meets on a monthly basis, typically the third Thursday of the month. Meetings are open to the public and agendas are posted on the City website at rpvca.gov/agendas.