Sign up for AC Alert to get official emergency information

Get emergency information and instructions from the City quickly by signing up for AC Alert, the official emergency messaging system used in Berkeley and throughout Alameda County.

Sign up all your household’s phones and email addresses, so information spreads to as many people as possible in your home. Pair this with knowledge of your Zonehaven evacuation zone – a label that will be used in AC Alerts to rapidly identify areas under threat.

Signing up for AC Alert and knowing your evacuation zone allows you to act quickly during an oncoming fire. Every second matters in a crisis.

Sign up all devices and provide addresses of interest

When you sign up for AC Alert, you will be asked to sign up with your addresses of interest. AC Alert is an opt-in system, so if you do not sign up, you will not receive these vital alerts.

Providing this information will help you to get emergency messages for the places you care about – such as your home, office, or a child’s school.

Once you have an AC Alert account, you can also download the Everbridge App to receive non-emergency messages from AC Alert on your smartphone (iOS or Android).

Connect the app to your AC Alert account by clicking “Find an organization or subscription” and type “AC Alert.” From there, you can log into your AC Alert account. This is a particularly good option for people who always have their mobile phones but don’t regularly check their email.

Fire season alerts reflect different threat levels

During fire season, AC Alerts include Red Flag Warnings, Extreme Fire Weather alerts, and, if necessary, evacuation warnings and orders. Here’s what you can expect this fire season:

• Red Flag Warnings will be sent to all AC Alert subscribers via email and text.
• Extreme Fire Weather alerts will be sent to all AC Alert subscribers through email, text, and voice calls.

• If there is a fire evacuation, AC Alert messages will be sent to subscribers and AT&T landlines in affected areas. Officials will geo-target messages to evacuation zones under warning or order.

Use all tools to prepare, respond to emergencies

Signing up for AC Alert connects you to Berkeley’s primary emergency notification system, which fits within a larger set of tools you can use to get other critical pieces of information or as a backup if another system is inaccessible.

Learn your Zonehaven evacuation zone — which will be included in evacuation warnings orders sent via AC Alert. You'd see the number in the AC Alert message if your zone is affected. In Berkeley, all the zone labels start with "BER-" — such as BER-E044 or “Berkeley Zone 44.”

Post your evacuation zone number on your fridge so everyone in your household can memorize it or quickly reference it. Bookmarking the Zonehaven website on your smartphone or computer will allow you to quickly reference and access information.  

We also use 1610 AM radio to broadcast emergency messages. If power is out, that may be a valuable resource. Learn more on our Emergency Notifications Page.

Sign up for AC Alert and know your Zonehaven evacuation zone so you can be reached and act quickly in an emergency.

Resources:

• Fire weather and evacuation
• Know your Zonehaven evacuation zone to identify your neighborhood in emergency alerts
• Sign up your household’s cell phone, landline, and email for AC Alert. 
• Use our one-page Wildfire evacuation checklist: PDF | MS Word to track key tasks for evacuation. 
• Use our Fire weather planning tool to plan when you’ll leave, where you’ll stay, and define your evacuation routes on foot and by car.
• Vegetation management: remove debris, trim plants, and prune trees to help protect your home from a spreading fire.