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Do you know your evacuation zone?

On July 8, the Bear Valley Police Department and Bear Valley Community Services District teamed up with the Kern County Fire Department and other local partners to host a Wildfire Evacuation Tabletop Exercise. During the exercise, an important question came up — do Bear Valley residents know their evacuation zones?

Kern County uses an emergency management tool called Genasys Protect to help manage evacuations. For emergency response purposes, Kern is divided into hundreds of zones. When a wildfire or other emergency occurs, residents in a specific zone may be instructed to shelter in place, seek a refuge point, or evacuate. This system helps emergency officials coordinate disaster responses more effectively.

Bear Valley is divided into several evacuation zones. To find your zone:
• Visit https://protect.genasys.com
• Enter your address
• Write down your zone and keep it somewhere easy to find
• You can also download the “Genasys Protect” app for access on your mobile devices.

Emergency officials will reference zone names in alerts to let residents know which areas are affected.

We also recommend keeping copies of local evacuation routes and refuge points handy. For your convenience, we've attached them here.

Learn more about Genasys Protect here:
https://kerncountyfire.org/15143/a-new-evacuation-management-tool-activated-in-kern-county/

We also recommend signing up for these emergency alert systems to stay informed:
• ReadyKern (Kern County Fire Department): https://kerncountyfire.org/education-safety/ready-kern/
• Nixle (Bear Valley Police Department): https://www.bvcsd.org/nixle