Flagstaff has created evacuation zones that are designed to help speed up getting people to safety while minimizing the number of residents asked to flee.
The zones are intended for all types of hazards, not just wildfires. But Daniel Kelly, the city’s emergency manager, said the idea came after last year’s massive wildfire in New Mexico, that state’s biggest.
"What they had to do was they had to issue hundreds of evacuation notices, some of them within a matter of minutes," Kelly said.
He said planning out evacuation zones will make emergencies more efficient to manage because they can better target residents who need to flee specific areas.
The city has warned that residents should know not only the zones for where they live but those where they work and where their loved ones are. The zones are found on Coconino County’s government website.
