TopangaSurvival.com

The TEM Task Force is proud to introduce a new guide in Topanga’s arsenal to aid in disaster survival. The Topanga Evacuation Guide is specifically written for our mountain community and is now available. Each Topanga resident and business has been mailed a copy. You can also download a copy below.

This guide is your Go-To-Book to aid in an evacuation. Keep it in your To-Go-Bag or in your car’s glove box.

The Topanga Evacuation Guide is designed to help residents safely leave the canyon when ordered by law enforcement — or when life-threatening danger arises. This essential guide provides the critical information you’ll need during an evacuation and serves as a companion to the more comprehensive Topanga Disaster Survival Guide, which explains how to Prepare for, Respond to, and Recover from a disaster.

In the Evacuation Guide, you will find:

• Where to get Real-Time Emergency Info
• What to do in a PSPS (Public Safety Power Shutoff)
• How to prepare during Red Flag conditions
• Steps to evacuate, including checklists to make it easier
• Different ways to Shelter in Place as last resort
• Repopulation information, including how to obtain a Topanga Access Card
• Evacuation Zone Maps and FRS channels by neighborhoods

Together, these Topanga one-of-a-kind guides are tools to help every resident stay informed, learn how to prepare and make smart evacuation decisions, and how to protect families and pets when disaster strikes.

TCEP, Co-Chair of the TEM Task Force, helps Topanga residents prepare for natural disasters such as wildfires, floods, and earthquakes, and provides verified status updates during major emergency incidents.

Founded in 1994 as a nonprofit, all-volunteer organization, TCEP has helped residents survive their fair share of disasters by providing critical information needed to prepare, respond and recover from potentially devastating events.

When all is calm, TCEP’s Neighborhood Network and Outreach programs educate the public on the unique dangers of living in a “wildland-urban intermix” (WUI). Being one of the main leaders in conducting drills, hosting community fairs and presentations, and through targeted mailings, TCEP helps Topangans prepare by offering tips on hardening your home, creating a family emergency evacuation plan, assembling emergency kits, and signing up for alerts and notifications.

When disaster strikes, TCEP operates an Emergency Operations Center (EOC) utilizing a wide ranging communications network that gathers, verifies, and pushes out critical updates via a TELEPHONE HOTLINE (310-455-3000), on the WEB (tcep.org/emergencystatus), and during major incidents when TCEP is fully activated, FRS RADIO (channel 15) Top Of The Hour reports.

CLICK HERE for helpful emergency info on alerts and notifications, FRS radios, and back-up power options.

Want to make your home and property safer from wildfire? Experts have spent decades studying what really works in our canyon, and the first line of defense starts with creating defensible space around your home.

Below are quick references to get you started on your path to home safety. For detailed information, refer to the Topanga Disaster Survival Guide.

Hardening Your Home

The TEM Task Force recommends scheduling a Home Ignition Zone Evaluation. Through the RCD of the Santa Monica Mountains’ Wildfire and Community Resilience Program, trained evaluators will walk your property with you, looking at how vulnerable your home and landscape may be to fire and flying embers. You’ll get clear, practical recommendations tailored to your home—covering both defensible space and home-hardening improvements. Contact the RCD to sign up.

We also encourage you to explore Topanga’s Fire Safe Council. Their website offers valuable resources, including video presentations and step-by-step guidance, to help you better protect your home and property from wildfire.

Join the Topanga Firewise Community

Topanga, being a Firewise USA® Community means we all benefit. It raises awareness about wildfire risks, may qualify some for insurance discounts, builds a stronger, more connected community, and opens doors to grants and resources.

Research shows that well-prepared homes are far more likely to survive a wildfire — and Firewise neighborhoods also give firefighters a safer place to work when they come to protect us.

As you harden your home and perform your brush clearing, be sure to submit the time and money you have spent to Firewise. *This is an annual program for Topanga — so the more people that participate, it will help sustain the Firewise benefits for all.

Go to Onetopanga to get more information on how you can contribute to being Firewise.

Have you ever been stuck or denied access at an emergency roadblock during a disaster?

The Topanga Access Card is a personal identification card unique to Topanga, California to expedite re-entry into the canyon. 

The Topanga Access Card is an official program of the Topanga Town Council and is supported by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the California Highway Patrol. This card can be used in lieu of a California Driver’s License in disaster conditions for resident re-entry at Topanga ‘resident only’ roadblocks, and will only be accepted when officers deem it safe for residents to enter the canyon.

If you have a caregiver, be sure they also carry a Topanga Access Card. For those who are more vulnerable, having that added support during a disaster can make all the difference—the Access Card gives caregivers the ability to reach you and assist with evacuation when it matters most..

Visit OneTopanga.com to learn more about the Access Card program, and to order this year’s card.

On a windy afternoon, a brush fire sparks in the hills. Deputies set roadblocks and start to evacuate by zones—and your phone buzzes. It’s AlertLA with clear instructions for your part of Topanga: leave now or stand by, which route to take, and where to get more updates. It’s quick, targeted, and helps our community move together when minutes matter.

Landlines are already in the county’s mass notification system, but cell phones and emails aren’t. To get texts and email alerts, you will need to add your information.  If you are already registered, be sure your contact info is current. Because AlertLA uses geocoding, each phone number or email can be tied to one street address, so make sure it’s the right one.  AlertLA notifications are not just for residents—businesses can also sign up.

If evacuations are issued, they’ll often follow Topanga Tactical Zones—so Know Your Zone, and when an alert arrives, listen to the entire message to catch details meant for your area.

The Topanga Emergency Management Task Force urges everyone who lives or works here to register or verify your info on AlertLA today. It’s free, and it can make all the difference when an emergency unfolds.

Learn more about AlertLA and Register here.

Topanga is a unique community—both in terms of its community spirit and natural beauty—but natural beauty comes with a price.  The same forces of ecology and geography that make Topanga one of the most spectacular places in Southern California have also made it particularly vulnerable to natural disasters such as wildfires and floods.

The Topanga Disaster Survival Guide, first published in 2005 and then updated in 2017, is a culmination of planning, insights, best management practices, and recommendations into a single booklet for the Topanga community.

“As you read through your Survival Guide, you will find potentially life-saving information. Focus on the Preparedness section and then create your Emergency Plan using the templates in the back of the Guide. Every Topanga resident needs an emergency evacuation plan that includes multiple ways to get early notification of a wildfire,” said Scott Ferguson, Board Chair of the Topanga Coalition for Emergency Preparedness (TCEP).

Stacy Sledge, Board Member of the Topanga Town Council for over 25 years, expressed gratitude to the many organizations and residents who selflessly contributed their time to both guides— the Survival Guide and Evacuation Guide. “These guides are a true labor of love representing a dedication for the greater good,” she said. “As we have found in past wildfire events, it takes the cooperation of everyone, and their ability to act swiftly and smartly, to help keep each other and Topanga safe.  These guides are more than just an opportunity to better understand disasters, it is a tool that can possibly save your life and countless others.”

REVISION NOTE: This Topanga Disaster Survival Guide is currently going through updates to reflect the most current protocols for emergency preparedness, response and recovery:

Section 3:  Pages 52 & 53 have been removed and will be updated soon. 
Section 7:  The most updated Topanga Zone Maps can be found on OneTopanga.com.

You can download the Topanga Disaster Survival Guide here.