Immediate danger? Call 911.
An evacuation order means an immediate threat to life and a direction to leave immediately. An evacuation warning means a potential threat; CAL FIRE advises people who need additional time and those with pets or livestock to leave immediately at that stage. Prepare household triggers before an incident, especially when transport, medical equipment or animal loading takes extra time. [EV1]
Do not turn a checklist into a reason to delay. If instructed to leave, take people, essential medicines, mobility aids, pets that can be collected safely, keys and ready bags. Leave possessions that cannot be gathered safely. Property-preparation tasks belong earlier, and only when time and conditions permit. [EV2]
1. Confirm who is with you and who is elsewhere. Use the household's agreed reunification plan rather than returning toward danger to collect someone who is already safe.
2. Take the ready bags and essential medical or accessibility equipment. Keep shoes and the necessary mobility aids immediately reachable.
3. Follow the current official route instructions. Do not enter a closed road or improvise a shortcut through brush or a canyon.
4. Go to a safe destination outside the affected area. A school listed in an old handbook is not necessarily an activated shelter. Check current official shelter information when possible.
5. Once safely underway or stopped in a safe place, send a short status message to the out-of-area contact. Notify a coordinator only if doing so does not delay departure or distract the driver.
6. Return only when officials permit it. An old map, a neighbor's return or the absence of visible flames is not an all-clear.
Before an emergency, identify at least two lawful routes from your own home to maintained public roads and practice them in normal conditions. Include a plan for a vehicle, driver or powered gate becoming unavailable. Keep a paper street map and an offline map, but understand that neither contains live closure information. [EV3]
The 2020 and 2024 manuals describe north, south, east and west connections using Camino del Sur, Camino del Norte, Carmel Valley Road, San Dieguito Road and regional highways. Their mileage, turn instructions, lane assumptions and gate availability have not been certified for this edition. They must not be treated as current incident-specific directions.
The public EPC website documents the five connections below. These are planning references, not live directions or proof of current vehicle access. The pages were checked on October 12, 2026 and display no inspection date or current passability statement. View the page and its video before an incident; do not watch or scan while driving. [L1–L5]
• Caminito Lazanja to Camino del Sur. The EPC detail page links a video with this route name. [L2]
• Doug Hill to Carmel Valley Road. The EPC detail page links a video with this route name. This trail is infrequently maintained. High-clearance vehicles may be needed to assess the route. Clearance or repairs may be required before regular passenger vehicles can use it. Passenger-vehicle access must be confirmed for current conditions; do not enter an unsafe or closed route. Maintenance information was provided by Nick on October 12, 2026; no independent physical inspection was performed for this edition. Last physical inspection date: ____________________. [L3]
• Encendido to San Dieguito Road. Listed on the EPC emergency-exits landing page and Encendido detail page. [L1, L4]
• Encendido through Santa Monica to Camino del Sur. The landing page names this connection; the detail page includes “Encendido Alt. 2 to the Santa Monica Community” and an embedded video titled “Encendido to Camino del Sur Emergency Exit.” [L1, L4]
• Entrada de Luz East to Black Mountain Park / Carmel Valley Road. The EPC detail page links a video with this route name. [L5]
Before relying on a connection, check current official directions, gate and bollard access, obstructions, road surface and vehicle limitations. Follow responders and posted closures. Do not assume a route is safe because it appears in a video. The route pages and readable addresses in this chapter remain the fallback if a video link changes; essential emergency actions remain in print.
Suggested household drill: time an ordinary, safe departure from the decision to leave until everyone is belted in with the essential equipment. Repeat with the usual driver absent. Record the longest step. If it is finding medicine, loading a wheelchair or catching a pet, change the preparation rather than simply promising to hurry next time.
Keep the vehicle ready before high-risk conditions. The old instruction to stop for supplies while evacuating is removed: supplies and fuel should be addressed beforehand, and shopping must never delay escape.
https://www.fire.ca.gov/prepare/get-ready-to-go
https://sites.google.com/santaluzepc.com/santaluzepcdec2025/info-for-residents/epc-emergency-exits