Chapter 36. Returning Home After an Evacuation
Returning home after an evacuation can bring relief, uncertainty, and emotional stress. Even when an evacuation order has been lifted, individual homes, yards, streets, and utility systems may still contain serious hazards.
Residents of Pleasanton, Dublin, Livermore, San Ramon, Danville, Sunol, and surrounding Tri-Valley and Bay Area communities should approach emergency reentry as a careful inspection—not an immediate return to normal life.
Wait for Official Reentry Authorization
Do not return simply because smoke has cleared, traffic appears normal, or someone in a neighborhood group says the area is open. Wait for an official announcement applying to your specific evacuation zone.
Reentry may occur in stages. One neighborhood may reopen while another remains restricted because of active fire, damaged power lines, unsafe roads, hazardous materials, or ongoing emergency operations. Authorities may also permit residents to inspect properties without authorizing overnight occupancy.
Before leaving your temporary location, confirm:
- Your evacuation zone has officially reopened
- The authorized route is open
- Any reentry identification requirements
- Whether utilities or water service remain disrupted
- Whether residents must follow special safety instructions
- Whether conditions could require another evacuation
Bring identification, essential medications, sturdy footwear, protective clothing, drinking water, a flashlight, and a charged phone. Return during daylight when possible.
Examine the Property from a Safe Distance
Stop before entering the driveway or building. Look for visible structural and environmental hazards, including:
- A sagging roof, leaning walls, or damaged foundation
- Broken windows and exposed nails
- Burned stairs, decks, or flooring
- Downed or low-hanging electrical lines
- Gas odors or hissing sounds
- Smoldering vegetation or hot spots
- Floodwater, mud, unstable soil, or debris
- Damaged propane tanks, fuel containers, or chemicals
- Fallen branches or leaning trees
Do not enter a building that appears unstable. Fire, earthquake, flood, and wind damage may weaken structural components without producing an obvious collapse. If the structure shifts, makes unusual sounds, or appears unsafe, leave immediately and contact the appropriate building department, fire agency, property owner, or qualified professional.
Treat Utilities as Potential Hazards
Assume damaged utility equipment may be dangerous. Stay far away from downed power lines and anything touching them. Report electrical hazards to 911 when they present an immediate danger and to the electric utility.
If you smell gas, hear hissing, or suspect a leak, do not enter the building, operate a switch, use a flame, start a vehicle nearby, or attempt to locate the source. Leave the area and contact 911 or the gas utility from a safe location.
Do not restore gas, electricity, or water service yourself unless the responsible utility or a qualified professional has confirmed that doing so is safe. Generators must remain outdoors and away from doors, windows, and vents to prevent carbon-monoxide poisoning.
Protect Yourself from Smoke, Ash, and Contamination
Smoke can remain indoors and outdoors after a wildfire. Continue checking local air-quality information, especially if anyone in the household is a child, pregnant, older, or living with asthma, heart disease, or another condition aggravated by smoke.
Ash from burned homes, vehicles, treated wood, electronics, plastics, paints, and household chemicals may contain hazardous substances. Avoid stirring it into the air. Wear appropriate protective clothing and follow public-health cleanup instructions. Children should not participate in ash or disaster cleanup.
Floodwater, firefighting runoff, sewage, damaged septic systems, chemicals, and contaminated wells may also make a property unsafe. Do not drink, cook with, or brush teeth using water covered by a boil-water or do-not-use notice. Private well owners should follow public-health guidance regarding inspection and testing.
The CDC provides additional guidance for returning safely after a wildfire.
Discard Unsafe Food
A refrigerator or freezer may appear normal even though electricity was unavailable long enough for food to become unsafe. Never taste food to decide whether it is safe.
Discard food that has spoiled, developed an unusual odor or texture, or been exposed to heat, smoke, ash, floodwater, chemicals, or damaged packaging. When uncertain, throw it away.
Photograph questionable food before disposal if the loss may be included in an insurance claim. Ready.gov provides current food-safety guidance for power outages.
Watch for Damaged Trees and Displaced Wildlife
Fire, wind, saturated soil, and falling debris can weaken trees and large branches. A tree may remain standing while its roots, trunk, or canopy have become unstable. Keep people, pets, and vehicles away from leaning, burned, cracked, or uprooted trees. Have suspected hazards evaluated by a qualified tree professional.
Wildlife may also enter yards, garages, sheds, or homes while residents are away. Snakes, rodents, insects, and frightened animals may hide beneath debris or inside damaged structures. Do not corner, handle, feed, or attempt to capture wildlife. Keep children and pets away and contact animal services or an appropriate wildlife agency when assistance is needed.
Document Damage Before Cleanup
Before moving, repairing, or discarding damaged property, take photographs and videos from safe locations. Record:
- Exterior and interior structural damage
- Damaged furniture, appliances, and personal belongings
- Food lost because of a power outage
- Vehicle and landscaping damage
- Utility, water, smoke, or contamination damage
- Temporary expenses and emergency repairs
Create a written inventory and retain receipts. Contact your insurance company promptly for instructions, but do not delay action needed to prevent immediate injury or additional serious damage. Never enter an unsafe building merely to obtain documentation.
Expect Emotional Reactions
Returning home can produce relief, sadness, anger, guilt, confusion, exhaustion, or anxiety. A familiar neighborhood may look or smell different. Even a home without physical damage may feel unsafe after an evacuation.
Allow household members time to process what happened. Children may need simple explanations and reassurance that adults are continuing to monitor official information. Maintain familiar routines when possible, limit repeated exposure to disturbing images, and seek professional support if distress interferes with sleeping, eating, working, attending school, or daily functioning.
Recovery is not limited to repairing property. Emotional recovery may take time, and people within the same household may react differently.
Helpful Hint
An evacuation order being lifted does not guarantee that every property is hazard-free. Enter carefully and report dangerous conditions to the appropriate authority.
Important Safety Reminder
If you encounter fire, a gas odor, downed electrical lines, structural movement, hazardous contamination, or another immediate threat, leave the property and call 911 from a safe location. Follow all continuing instructions from public-safety, health, utility, and building officials.
Important Preparedness and Safety Notice
This chapter provides general preparedness education, not real-time emergency instructions. Conditions, evacuation zones, routes, shelters, road closures, and public-safety directions can change rapidly. During an emergency, consult current information from authorized public agencies and follow all instructions issued by emergency officials. Call 911 for an immediate threat to life, active fire, serious injury, crime in progress, or another urgent emergency.
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