The research
- Air purifier
- Water container
- Respirator
- Portable power pack
- Emergency radio
- Safety goggles
- First aid
- Headlamp
- Extra batteries
- Portable generator
- Preparedness under threat of evacuation
- How to prepare your home for a wildfire
- More ways to prepare for wildfires
- How to clean wildfire smoke from your home
- How you can help fire survivors
Air purifier
Top pick
Smoke plumes from major fires can grow so large that they’re visible from space. Eventually, all that smoke blows somewhere, and if it ends up in your home, an air purifier can make a big difference. Health-wise, it’s a much better idea to stay inside than to walk around outside wearing a respirator.
Of the more than 50 air purifiers we’ve tested, we’ve found that the Coway AP-1512HH Mighty is well priced, reliable, and a superb performer. In our 2018 test, the Coway Mighty reduced a heavy load of incense smoke by 70% in 50 minutes in a room more than four times the volume it’s designed for, according to its specs. The Blueair Blue Pure 211i Max, our pick for larger rooms, can rapidly clear the air in bigger spaces and open-floor-plan homes.
If you have central air conditioning in your home, you can address air quality beyond a single room by updating the HEPA filters in your HVAC system. We like Filtrete’s MPR 1900 Air Filter, which is dense enough to capture fine particulates, including smoke. If you’re dealing with significant wildfire conditions, though, we think most people will find that having a dedicated air purifier is worthwhile to further improve indoor air quality. Our blog post on how to clear your home of wildfire smoke goes into more detail about the research behind our picks, and we’ve taken advice from the Environmental Protection Agency on more ways to clean wildfire smoke from your home.
Water container
Top pick
Water is a fundamental consideration for every disaster. But in the case of a fire evacuation, having water is mostly about simple due diligence. You may be driving only a few hours from one location to another, to a place that (hopefully) has working utilities. But disasters are strange, and outcomes are unpredictable. If all you have to do is lift a water jug into your car to add an extra layer of readiness, it can’t hurt. It’s also a no-brainer when you’re traveling with pets.
We think the 7-gallon Reliance Aqua-Tainer is the best overall choice for disaster-preparedness purposes, including wildfires. In our research and testing, we’ve found that rigid water containers are more durable and leak resistant than soft collapsible ones. If you’re evacuating, just put it in the trunk of your car and pack a water bottle in your go bag to siphon some off. When full, the 7-gallon jug weighs close to 60 pounds. If you think that may be too heavy to lift, try filling it halfway.
If you want water you can store in a go bag—or tuck into a spare nook in your car—you might be interested in Datrex Emergency Drinking Water Pouches. Each pouch contains 4.23 ounces of drinking water (a 64-count box totals 2.12 gallons of water). The pouches are tough and flexible, and have a five-year shelf life.
Experts recommend that you have a supply of at least one gallon per person per day in emergency situations, so if you can’t carry that amount or fit it in your car, you might want to explore other options. We offer additional advice on water storage in our guide to prepping a pantry.
Respirator
Top pick
If your air quality is poor due to wildfires both near and far, you might need a respirator mask when you’re outdoors. Like other N95 masks, the 3M 8511 N95 Cool Flow Valve Particulate Respirator is certified to filter out 95% of harmful particulate matter. Thanks to increased production, it’s widely available online and in stores. In our testing, it stood out as the most comfortable respirator mask for long-term wear because its design gave us space to breathe, and it has edges that didn’t push against our cheeks. Wirecutter senior engineering manager Polina Grinbaum often gets headaches when wearing masks but found the 3M 8511 helped with that problem during a particularly bad wildfire season in San Francisco. “This one was comfortable and it made a huge difference,” she said.
This mask sealed well against the wide variety of face shapes and sizes among our testers, who ranged from 5-foot-3 to 6-foot-1, with light to heavy builds. Whereas other disposable respirators have loosely stapled rubber bands for straps, the 3M 8511 has sturdier woven straps that are less likely to snap or to catch in your hair. (They are latex-free, according to 3M.) The exhalation valve works as a dehumidifier, keeping your face cooler and lessening the chance of glasses fogging up.
If you’d rather use a nondisposable mask, we recommend the 3M 6501QL/49488 Rugged Comfort Quick Latch Half Facepiece Reusable Respirator. It’s compatible with N95 and P100 filters, which you must buy separately as either cartridges or flat inserts. The advantage of this mask is that it allows you to uncover your nose and mouth without having to take the whole thing off.
Because they have vents where your unfiltered breath escapes, neither the 3M 8511 nor the 3M 6501QL/49488 is effective in protecting others from COVID-19. For information on masks and coronavirus protection, see our guide to the best reusable face masks for kids with incorporated filters and an article describing our research into N95, KN95, and surgical-style masks.
Portable power pack
Top pick
In the case of an approaching wildfire, it’s common for utility companies to intentionally shut off power to protect firefighters from arcing currents and other electrical hazards, senior wildland firefighter Jenn Helvey told us. Some utility companies even initiate precautionary power shutoffs in the event of dry conditions and high winds. If fire conditions exist, you could unexpectedly find yourself without power and in need of backup methods to charge your phone.
The Belkin BoostCharge Plus 10K is a reliable option for immediate power needs. Its 10,000 mAh capacity allows it to fully charge most smartphones up to three times, and it has built-in USB-C and Lightning cables, so you don’t have to worry if you’re caught without extras on hand. Plus, it’s small and lightweight, so it’s an easy addition to carry with you on days when you’re worried about outages.
If you’re really strapped for power, the emergency radio we recommend has a USB port that can charge a phone through either solar power or a hand crank (but you’ll need to have a cable on hand).
Emergency radio
Top pick
Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards broadcasts both local weather updates and emergency information for all types of life-threatening hazards, including wildfires. However, you can’t hear the messages unless you have a radio that can tune in to the right frequencies, collectively known as the “weather bands.”
After considering dozens of weather radios, we like the Midland ER310. It offers better reception, a brighter flashlight, and more-effective charging options than other radios we tested, including the ability to charge from dead through solar power or hand-cranking. More importantly, it can receive NOAA weather-band alerts, providing notifications that are both loud and readily visible so you won’t miss any warnings. The ER310’s convenient size makes it comfortable to carry and easier to grab on the go in case you need to evacuate. It was also one of the few radios we tested that lived up to its crank-generating claims: We found that just one minute of cranking produced 10 minutes of radio time or a few minutes of flashlight use. Plus, its durable body can stand up to a drop onto a hard surface, and it can charge your smartphone in a pinch.
Safety goggles
Best for…
If you’ve ever stood too close to a campfire, you know how quickly smoke can cause your eyes to sting, water, and itch. In a wildfire scenario, the smoke can become inescapable, even miles away from the source. If you’re planning to be outside, pair some safety goggles with your respirator to create a seal around your eyes.
We tested these DeWalt Concealer Safety Goggles for our guide to the best safety glasses, and while we found them to be overkill for most hobbyists and DIYers who’d wear them while woodworking, their full rubber seal and sturdy build are exactly what you should look for to keep out smoke and dust. They’re affordable enough to take a shot on, even if you don’t expect to use them often. In a pinch, you may also be able to repurpose your swim goggles, ski goggles, or even your kid’s science-class-issued safety goggles. Just don’t expose these options to high heat. If you expect to be directly exposed to flames, look into heat-tested goggles specifically designed for fire fighting.
First aid
Top pick
The First Aid Only 298 Piece All-Purpose First Aid Kit (FAO-442) offers a wide selection of gear for minor cuts, scrapes, and burns (bandages, gauze, wipes, ointments, and painkillers), as well as some items (a trauma pad, gauze, and dressing pads) for more serious injuries that you might face during a wildfire evacuation or any other disaster scenario. The case opens like a book, so it’s relatively easy to find what you’re looking for in moments of high stress. We’ve also found a small bit of extra room in the zipper case to stash some hand sanitizer or even a respirator mask. Measuring about 9 by 7 inches, the kit is small enough to easily pack in your go bag.
Headlamp
Top pick
“There’s really no way to know how quickly you might have to leave your home in an evacuation,” said Jenn Helvey, a senior wildland firefighter in Nevada. “Or when. We’ve gone door to door in the middle of the night waking people up and telling them to get out.”
If this happens to you, the power is likely to already be out. You’ll need a light source and free hands to grab what you need, so we recommend keeping a headlamp within reach. We like the Black Diamond Spot 400. A version of the Spot has been at the top of our best headlamps list since 2012. The Spot’s top buttons are intuitive to use; you’ll need to experiment with clicking through various configurations, but we think the learning curve is fairly short. This model offers both a red-light option, which is good for when you’re switching it on and off at night, and a strobe option, which can be used for emergency signaling.
Extra batteries
Top pick
Our headlamp pick uses AAA batteries, so pack spares. The AmazonBasics AAA Performance Alkaline Batteries are super cheap and have a 10-year shelf life, two things that make them ideal for storing in a go bag.
Most of the time, we recommend rechargeable batteries because they’re cost-effective and more environmentally friendly than disposables. But as a writer on Wirecutter’s powering team explains, there are some situations where disposables definitely make more sense—and emergency scenarios are among them. Rechargeable batteries aren’t much help if you don’t have power to recharge them, so keeping some disposables on hand is the best way to ensure you’ll be able to use your emergency tools when you need them.
Portable generator
Top pick
In the aftermath of a wildfire, you might be cut off from electricity for a prolonged period of time. This could be an ongoing preventive shutoff if conditions are still fire-conducive, or it might be the result of critical infrastructure damage. Whatever the reason, you’ll likely want some assistance keeping your house cool or your necessary appliances running if you are safely able to stay at home. Wirecutter writer Doug Mahoney recently updated our portable generator guide, and the Westinghouse iGen5000DFc stood out among the 100 models he considered.
It’s well priced for the amount of power it provides, which Doug says is enough to run your lights and some appliances. It’s an inverter generator, which means it creates cleaner electricity, and its closed-frame design reduces its noisiness. Two features that are particularly helpful post-disaster are its ability to run off regular gas or liquid propane, which offers a flexibility that can be sorely needed during disasters, and a remote-start option, which can help limit your trips outdoors in the smoky aftermath of a fire.
Runner-up
The Westinghouse generator is not available in California, so if you’re in search of a similar model and you live in the Golden State, Doug recommends the new Generac 8947. Like the Westinghouse model, this is a closed-frame, dual-fuel inverter generator, but it doesn’t give you the convenience of a remote-start feature.
If you’re not sure what sort of generator or portable power station might be best for your space, our guide to choosing backup power can help.
Preparedness under threat of evacuation
All the items in this guide are meant for wildfire preparedness well ahead of an evacuation, but if you live in an area that’s under an impending threat of evacuation, or if you just feel you are in danger, here are some last-minute steps and advice from the Red Cross.
- Park your car outside of your garage, facing the street, and in the direction of your evacuation route.
- Pack a go bag and keep it near your door or in your car.
- Corral pets to one room of your house so you don’t lose time searching for them if a call to evacuate comes in.
- Don’t use anything that burns, such as candles, fireplaces, and gas stoves.
If you are confident that you have the time and the smoke-protective gear to spend some time outside, gather up any flammable items you have in your yard or driveway and bring them inside. You might also consider hooking up a hose to your taps and leaving buckets of water around your property for firefighters. With any extra time, record a walk-through of each of your rooms to document valuables. If you do end up with damage or losing your home, this will help make your insurance claims significantly easier, as Wirecutter writers learned after the 2025 Eaton Fire.
Typically, when an evacuation order is given, you can expect a run on gas stations. While having extra gasoline on hand can help, it poses a safety risk in a wildfire-prone area. Carrie Bilbao, public affairs specialist for the National Interagency Fire Center, suggested instead to try keeping your car’s tank at least half-full whenever it’s parked at home during a wildfire threat (though that’s not a bad practice in general, too).
How to prepare your home for a wildfire
The most significant thing you can do to protect your home is create what experts call “defensible space.” That means clearing away all dead, dense debris within a 30-foot radius of your home. Keeping the area free of fallen needles, branches, and combustible materials makes it harder for fire to move, and it also helps prevent lit embers—which can float over a mile from a burn—from taking hold.
Many communities and towns commonly affected by wildfire offer chipping or debris-removal services. But these programs often have limited funding, which means dumpsters and disposal services that can haul away all that yard waste for you for free might be available for only a short time, so check your municipal website early. You’ll want to be done with any major removal by June, when the summer heat can turn your vegetation into dry fire fuel. Here’s what to do:
- Get debris away from your home. Remove leaves, needles, cones, twigs, and anything dead within a 30-foot radius of your home, as well as anything actually on or under your house. That means clearing off the roof, cleaning out the gutters, and removing vegetation from underneath decks. A deck with needles underneath is basically a premade fire, complete with tinder (the needles), airflow (the space between the bottom of the deck and the ground), and a waiting supply of fuel (the deck boards). Bark beetles thrive under dead, dry leaves, so by getting rid of piled-up ground cover, you’re also helping prevent them from making homes or migrating into nearby trees and killing them. More dead trees means more fuel to burn. Wirecutter has vetted a number of gardening tools over the years, including rakes and loppers, and you might also find a chainsaw, pruners and a pruning saw, garden gloves, and a string trimmer (for clearing vegetation around the house) helpful for this sort of work.
- Limb trees. Remove trees that are growing within 10 feet of your house, and cut off any tree limbs within 10 feet of one another. This creates horizontal space between vegetation, slowing the spread of flames. In addition, if you have undergrowth or shrubs, limbing a tree creates vertical space between the ground cover and the tree itself, so flames have a harder time moving from top to bottom, or vice versa. Cal Fire recommends creating a space of 6 feet from the ground to the tree’s first branch. The Los Angeles Fire Department echoes this 6-foot rule for trees that are taller than 18 feet.
- Relocate wood piles. Any leftover branches and stumps from previous tree removal, or any wood piles near the house, need to be disposed of or relocated. San Diego County requires a 50-foot gap between wood piles and your house.
- Maintain the grounds. Keep all landscaping watered to prevent your yard from drying out. And if you’re preparing an overhaul of your terrain or embarking on any outdoor-space renovations, consider creating a fire-smart landscape, which involves using plants and materials strategically to help block wildfire from the home. Patios and decks should be built out of stone or masonry. Plant moisture-rich flora (such as aloe) and hardwood trees (like maple or poplar), since they won’t ignite as easily as, say, fir trees. And using rocks and gravel as ground cover can create firebreaks—open spaces that are more difficult for fire to move across.
- Look for vulnerable openings. In January 2025, Gregory Han detailed for Wirecutter how he approached fire safety for his newly purchased Los Angeles home. The day that article published, his neighborhood was impacted by the Eaton Fire. His house survived the blaze, and while Gregory can’t be sure what saved it, he had taken a number of expert-recommended steps to make his house less ignition-prone. That included installing new vents and ember-resistant gutter guards.
- Keep smoke from getting inside. It may seem obvious, but close your windows. Most of the time, outside air contains fewer particulates than indoor air, so open windows are a good idea. But in wildfire conditions, that isn’t the case. Closing your windows will help keep smoke from entering your home in the first place. Minimize entrances and exits through exterior doors, and use any double-door configuration you have (like an attached garage, separate basement entrance, or vestibule) to isolate smoke upon entry and prevent a full waft of it from infiltrating the living space. If your windows lack a good seal or tend to be drafty, fill the gaps with weather sealing tape. In our guide to weatherizing your home, we recommend Frost King’s 0.25-inch Silicone Weatherseal for its ability to fill gaps as small as as small as 0.125 of an inch and up to 0.25 of an inch. Plus, it’s adhesive and trimmable, making it easy to install; apply it to both the upper and lower sash of each window. It can also be used around door jambs, but if you have a larger gap underneath an external door, a door sweep is your best bet.We like Frost King’s Extra Wide Heavy Duty Door Sweep, but it installs with screws, making it a permanent solution. A good landlord probably wouldn’t mind you making an improvement to their property, but for a non-permanent, renter-friendly option, the brand also makes a slide-on variation, though we haven’t tested its efficacy. Even less permanent is a simple draft stopper, or even a strategically-placed rolled-up towel.
More ways to prepare for wildfires
Use multiple weather and alert services. Several resources can help you stay informed about red flag warnings and pending evacuations in your area. Alerts have been known to fail in some disaster scenarios, so we recommend having multiple ways to receive warnings. We’ve tested multiple NOAA weather radio options, which can serve as a source of warnings as well as additional information if you are evacuating and lose electricity or cell service. If you have one, you can look up your local station on the National Weather Service’s site.
You can also turn on Wireless Emergency Alerts in your smartphone settings, which include nationwide notices for large-scale emergencies. Your local emergency management office or first responders might offer their own alerting options, too—your municipality’s website should offer more information on how to opt in, which might require downloading a specific app. FEMA and the American Red Cross have their own apps, as well, and many officials and residents alike in fire-prone areas utilize the free Watch Duty app. The app, which is largely volunteer-run, synthesizes official alerts and other fire information across a growing number of US states.
Make sure you’re familiar with the language that officials in your area use to issue evacuation alerts—often, they’ll issue a “watch” or “warning” first to indicate that there is a potential threat to your area, while an “order” means it’s time to go. If you don’t feel safe but haven’t received an alert, don’t wait for a message to tell you to leave. Trust your gut, pay attention to your surroundings, and try to stay updated through official sources to figure out your next steps.
Prep a go bag. One of the defining features of a wildfire evacuation is the speed with which you need to leave when the order comes, so we cannot stress this enough: Have a go bag ready. If you feel overwhelmed about what to pack, think of what you’d bring on a weekend overnighter (a change of clothes, toiletries and medications, comfortable shoes, and pajamas, along with spare cash and a battery charger for your phone).
Be sure to pack separate bags for each member of your family, including pets. Hopefully you’ll be heading somewhere close, like to a relative’s or friend’s house, a hotel, or a shelter. But if you’re interested in prepping your bag for a larger emergency scenario, read “The Best Gear for Your Bug-Out Bag.” You can also try our kit builder to start thinking through how to personalize our emergency-preparedness recommendations for your living situation.
Know your evacuation route. Many areas under threat of wildfire are smaller, rural towns that rely heavily on tourism. On a busy summer weekend, it’s possible there will be more people and cars in town than the highway infrastructure was intended to support. But whether you live in a small mountain town or in a city suburb close to wildland, it’s worth knowing both your primary evacuation route and a secondary option, in case there’s a lot of traffic or the street signs are obscured by emergency vehicles or smoke.
Have an offline map. During past wildfires, cell towers have burned down and flat-out failed before evacuation orders were even issued. That means it could be impossible to pull up Google Maps to find a route out — unless you take the preventive step of downloading a map of your area before any outages. If not, you’ll need either an offline GPS device or a paper map.
For analog navigation of urban areas and highways, we like Rand McNally’s EasyFinder maps, which are available for all US states and Canadian provinces, as well as for major cities across North America. Each map displays thorough information about streets, rural roads, highways, and interstates, as well as the locations of hospitals, police stations, schools, public buildings, and religious institutions, all of which can be vital rally points during a disaster.
Take a look at OpenStreetMap as part of your planning. You can view and print the site’s maps with a “humanitarian layer” that highlights emergency buildings and evacuation routes—an incredibly useful tool when you need to get away from danger or find help.
Talk to your kids. There’s no way to know whether you and your kids will be together when an evacuation begins, so book a family meeting to talk about what to do if you are apart. (The Red Cross has a great guide for talking about fire safety with children.) If the little ones carry cell phones, have everyone keep family phone numbers and the address of a meeting location written on paper and tucked away in a wallet or backpack.
Plan for your pets. Most shelters won’t take animals, so if that’s your only destination option during an evacuation, make sure to have an alternate plan in place for your pets. The ASPCA has comprehensive information on how to handle your pets in a disaster, and just a few minutes of preparation can make the difference between taking or leaving your beloved animal behind. Previous guide author Eve O’Neill kept a tiny go bag with some extra food, hay, and litter for her pet rabbit.
Think about your medications. Most advice you’ll encounter, including recommendations from the Red Cross, will tell you to have at least a week’s worth of any necessary medications packed in your emergency bag. Sometimes that’s easy to do ahead of time, say, if you rely on a device like an asthma inhaler or EpiPen. But it might be difficult or expensive to procure an extra supply of other medications ahead of an emergency, especially if you take a controlled substance. The best advice we can give is to simply make sure you’ve discussed your specific medical needs with your doctor ahead of time, and to pack physical copies of your prescriptions.
For a deeper, more granular breakdown of all the different ways one can both prepare for and recover from a wildfire, the Truckee Fire Protection District’s Laura Brown recommends Readyforwildfire.org, a comprehensive site packed with videos and downloadable content.
How to clean wildfire smoke from your home
With more significant fires becoming the new normal nationwide, even people not directly threatened by wildfire are concerned with what to do about smoke. The short-term health effects of wildfire smoke range from eye irritation to exacerbation of heart failure. Studies about the long-term risks of breathing in wildfire smoke are limited, but it’s well-known that smoke is bad for your lungs.
As we point out in our air-purifier collaboration with The New York Times, keeping your home’s air clean in fire season requires a multipronged approach. Picking up a dedicated air purifier or getting new filters for your central air conditioner are the most effective things you can do to help protect those in your home. (This includes pets—the American Veterinary Medical Association recommends keeping an eye out for specific animal health issues related to wildfire smoke.) But you can also take immediate action using stuff you probably already own, such as a mop and a washing machine. Here’s what we recommend.
Even fine smoke particles eventually drop out of the air and settle on surfaces. We recommend damp-mopping your floors to pick them up, as opposed to vacuuming, which can simply blow them back up into the air. Our picks for the best dust mop and the best wet mop do a great job, plus they’re inexpensive, durable, ergonomic, and washable. But any mop you own will work.
Smoke particles also settle on your clothes, skin, and bed. If you’ve spent time outdoors, change into clean clothes when you get home. Wash your sheets more often than normal, too. Take a quick shower before you go to bed. And after the smoke clears and the fires subside, clean everything, change all your air-purifier filters, and breathe easier.
How you can help fire survivors
Living through a wildfire is terrifying, but even just watching footage of the destruction from afar can cause overwhelming feelings of powerlessness. When it comes to donations during active fires, physical goods like food and blankets can actually divert resources from relief efforts because they require time and effort to sort and clean. Financial donations (even $10, or more if you can afford it) are the best way to help with immediate needs. To donate, find a nonprofit that is operating in the impacted area, such as the Red Cross. Or, if you’d prefer to send help directly to individuals, GoFundMe curates vetted pages for large-scale disasters.
This article was edited by Joshua Lyon and Harry Sawyers.
The research
- Air purifier
- Water container
- Respirator
- Portable power pack
- Emergency radio
- Safety goggles
- First aid
- Headlamp
- Extra batteries
- Portable generator
- Preparedness under threat of evacuation
- How to prepare your home for a wildfire
- More ways to prepare for wildfires
- How to clean wildfire smoke from your home
- How you can help fire survivors
Air purifier
Top pick
Smoke plumes from major fires can grow so large that they’re visible from space. Eventually, all that smoke blows somewhere, and if it ends up in your home, an air purifier can make a big difference. Health-wise, it’s a much better idea to stay inside than to walk around outside wearing a respirator.
Of the more than 50 air purifiers we’ve tested, we’ve found that the Coway AP-1512HH Mighty is well priced, reliable, and a superb performer. In our 2018 test, the Coway Mighty reduced a heavy load of incense smoke by 70% in 50 minutes in a room more than four times the volume it’s designed for, according to its specs. The Blueair Blue Pure 211i Max, our pick for larger rooms, can rapidly clear the air in bigger spaces and open-floor-plan homes.
If you have central air conditioning in your home, you can address air quality beyond a single room by updating the HEPA filters in your HVAC system. We like Filtrete’s MPR 1900 Air Filter, which is dense enough to capture fine particulates, including smoke. If you’re dealing with significant wildfire conditions, though, we think most people will find that having a dedicated air purifier is worthwhile to further improve indoor air quality. Our blog post on how to clear your home of wildfire smoke goes into more detail about the research behind our picks, and we’ve taken advice from the Environmental Protection Agency on more ways to clean wildfire smoke from your home.
Water container
Top pick
Water is a fundamental consideration for every disaster. But in the case of a fire evacuation, having water is mostly about simple due diligence. You may be driving only a few hours from one location to another, to a place that (hopefully) has working utilities. But disasters are strange, and outcomes are unpredictable. If all you have to do is lift a water jug into your car to add an extra layer of readiness, it can’t hurt. It’s also a no-brainer when you’re traveling with pets.
We think the 7-gallon Reliance Aqua-Tainer is the best overall choice for disaster-preparedness purposes, including wildfires. In our research and testing, we’ve found that rigid water containers are more durable and leak resistant than soft collapsible ones. If you’re evacuating, just put it in the trunk of your car and pack a water bottle in your go bag to siphon some off. When full, the 7-gallon jug weighs close to 60 pounds. If you think that may be too heavy to lift, try filling it halfway.
If you want water you can store in a go bag—or tuck into a spare nook in your car—you might be interested in Datrex Emergency Drinking Water Pouches. Each pouch contains 4.23 ounces of drinking water (a 64-count box totals 2.12 gallons of water). The pouches are tough and flexible, and have a five-year shelf life.
Experts recommend that you have a supply of at least one gallon per person per day in emergency situations, so if you can’t carry that amount or fit it in your car, you might want to explore other options. We offer additional advice on water storage in our guide to prepping a pantry.
Respirator
Top pick
If your air quality is poor due to wildfires both near and far, you might need a respirator mask when you’re outdoors. Like other N95 masks, the 3M 8511 N95 Cool Flow Valve Particulate Respirator is certified to filter out 95% of harmful particulate matter. Thanks to increased production, it’s widely available online and in stores. In our testing, it stood out as the most comfortable respirator mask for long-term wear because its design gave us space to breathe, and it has edges that didn’t push against our cheeks. Wirecutter senior engineering manager Polina Grinbaum often gets headaches when wearing masks but found the 3M 8511 helped with that problem during a particularly bad wildfire season in San Francisco. “This one was comfortable and it made a huge difference,” she said.
This mask sealed well against the wide variety of face shapes and sizes among our testers, who ranged from 5-foot-3 to 6-foot-1, with light to heavy builds. Whereas other disposable respirators have loosely stapled rubber bands for straps, the 3M 8511 has sturdier woven straps that are less likely to snap or to catch in your hair. (They are latex-free, according to 3M.) The exhalation valve works as a dehumidifier, keeping your face cooler and lessening the chance of glasses fogging up.
If you’d rather use a nondisposable mask, we recommend the 3M 6501QL/49488 Rugged Comfort Quick Latch Half Facepiece Reusable Respirator. It’s compatible with N95 and P100 filters, which you must buy separately as either cartridges or flat inserts. The advantage of this mask is that it allows you to uncover your nose and mouth without having to take the whole thing off.
Because they have vents where your unfiltered breath escapes, neither the 3M 8511 nor the 3M 6501QL/49488 is effective in protecting others from COVID-19. For information on masks and coronavirus protection, see our guide to the best reusable face masks for kids with incorporated filters and an article describing our research into N95, KN95, and surgical-style masks.
Portable power pack
Top pick
In the case of an approaching wildfire, it’s common for utility companies to intentionally shut off power to protect firefighters from arcing currents and other electrical hazards, senior wildland firefighter Jenn Helvey told us. Some utility companies even initiate precautionary power shutoffs in the event of dry conditions and high winds. If fire conditions exist, you could unexpectedly find yourself without power and in need of backup methods to charge your phone.
The Belkin BoostCharge Plus 10K is a reliable option for immediate power needs. Its 10,000 mAh capacity allows it to fully charge most smartphones up to three times, and it has built-in USB-C and Lightning cables, so you don’t have to worry if you’re caught without extras on hand. Plus, it’s small and lightweight, so it’s an easy addition to carry with you on days when you’re worried about outages.
If you’re really strapped for power, the emergency radio we recommend has a USB port that can charge a phone through either solar power or a hand crank (but you’ll need to have a cable on hand).
Emergency radio
Top pick
Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards broadcasts both local weather updates and emergency information for all types of life-threatening hazards, including wildfires. However, you can’t hear the messages unless you have a radio that can tune in to the right frequencies, collectively known as the “weather bands.”
After considering dozens of weather radios, we like the Midland ER310. It offers better reception, a brighter flashlight, and more-effective charging options than other radios we tested, including the ability to charge from dead through solar power or hand-cranking. More importantly, it can receive NOAA weather-band alerts, providing notifications that are both loud and readily visible so you won’t miss any warnings. The ER310’s convenient size makes it comfortable to carry and easier to grab on the go in case you need to evacuate. It was also one of the few radios we tested that lived up to its crank-generating claims: We found that just one minute of cranking produced 10 minutes of radio time or a few minutes of flashlight use. Plus, its durable body can stand up to a drop onto a hard surface, and it can charge your smartphone in a pinch.
Safety goggles
Best for…
If you’ve ever stood too close to a campfire, you know how quickly smoke can cause your eyes to sting, water, and itch. In a wildfire scenario, the smoke can become inescapable, even miles away from the source. If you’re planning to be outside, pair some safety goggles with your respirator to create a seal around your eyes.
We tested these DeWalt Concealer Safety Goggles for our guide to the best safety glasses, and while we found them to be overkill for most hobbyists and DIYers who’d wear them while woodworking, their full rubber seal and sturdy build are exactly what you should look for to keep out smoke and dust. They’re affordable enough to take a shot on, even if you don’t expect to use them often. In a pinch, you may also be able to repurpose your swim goggles, ski goggles, or even your kid’s science-class-issued safety goggles. Just don’t expose these options to high heat. If you expect to be directly exposed to flames, look into heat-tested goggles specifically designed for fire fighting.
First aid
Top pick
The First Aid Only 298 Piece All-Purpose First Aid Kit (FAO-442) offers a wide selection of gear for minor cuts, scrapes, and burns (bandages, gauze, wipes, ointments, and painkillers), as well as some items (a trauma pad, gauze, and dressing pads) for more serious injuries that you might face during a wildfire evacuation or any other disaster scenario. The case opens like a book, so it’s relatively easy to find what you’re looking for in moments of high stress. We’ve also found a small bit of extra room in the zipper case to stash some hand sanitizer or even a respirator mask. Measuring about 9 by 7 inches, the kit is small enough to easily pack in your go bag.
Headlamp
Top pick
“There’s really no way to know how quickly you might have to leave your home in an evacuation,” said Jenn Helvey, a senior wildland firefighter in Nevada. “Or when. We’ve gone door to door in the middle of the night waking people up and telling them to get out.”
If this happens to you, the power is likely to already be out. You’ll need a light source and free hands to grab what you need, so we recommend keeping a headlamp within reach. We like the Black Diamond Spot 400. A version of the Spot has been at the top of our best headlamps list since 2012. The Spot’s top buttons are intuitive to use; you’ll need to experiment with clicking through various configurations, but we think the learning curve is fairly short. This model offers both a red-light option, which is good for when you’re switching it on and off at night, and a strobe option, which can be used for emergency signaling.
Extra batteries
Top pick
Our headlamp pick uses AAA batteries, so pack spares. The AmazonBasics AAA Performance Alkaline Batteries are super cheap and have a 10-year shelf life, two things that make them ideal for storing in a go bag.
Most of the time, we recommend rechargeable batteries because they’re cost-effective and more environmentally friendly than disposables. But as a writer on Wirecutter’s powering team explains, there are some situations where disposables definitely make more sense—and emergency scenarios are among them. Rechargeable batteries aren’t much help if you don’t have power to recharge them, so keeping some disposables on hand is the best way to ensure you’ll be able to use your emergency tools when you need them.
Portable generator
Top pick
In the aftermath of a wildfire, you might be cut off from electricity for a prolonged period of time. This could be an ongoing preventive shutoff if conditions are still fire-conducive, or it might be the result of critical infrastructure damage. Whatever the reason, you’ll likely want some assistance keeping your house cool or your necessary appliances running if you are safely able to stay at home. Wirecutter writer Doug Mahoney recently updated our portable generator guide, and the Westinghouse iGen5000DFc stood out among the 100 models he considered.
It’s well priced for the amount of power it provides, which Doug says is enough to run your lights and some appliances. It’s an inverter generator, which means it creates cleaner electricity, and its closed-frame design reduces its noisiness. Two features that are particularly helpful post-disaster are its ability to run off regular gas or liquid propane, which offers a flexibility that can be sorely needed during disasters, and a remote-start option, which can help limit your trips outdoors in the smoky aftermath of a fire.
Runner-up
The Westinghouse generator is not available in California, so if you’re in search of a similar model and you live in the Golden State, Doug recommends the new Generac 8947. Like the Westinghouse model, this is a closed-frame, dual-fuel inverter generator, but it doesn’t give you the convenience of a remote-start feature.
If you’re not sure what sort of generator or portable power station might be best for your space, our guide to choosing backup power can help.
Preparedness under threat of evacuation
All the items in this guide are meant for wildfire preparedness well ahead of an evacuation, but if you live in an area that’s under an impending threat of evacuation, or if you just feel you are in danger, here are some last-minute steps and advice from the Red Cross.
- Park your car outside of your garage, facing the street, and in the direction of your evacuation route.
- Pack a go bag and keep it near your door or in your car.
- Corral pets to one room of your house so you don’t lose time searching for them if a call to evacuate comes in.
- Don’t use anything that burns, such as candles, fireplaces, and gas stoves.
If you are confident that you have the time and the smoke-protective gear to spend some time outside, gather up any flammable items you have in your yard or driveway and bring them inside. You might also consider hooking up a hose to your taps and leaving buckets of water around your property for firefighters. With any extra time, record a walk-through of each of your rooms to document valuables. If you do end up with damage or losing your home, this will help make your insurance claims significantly easier, as Wirecutter writers learned after the 2025 Eaton Fire.
Typically, when an evacuation order is given, you can expect a run on gas stations. While having extra gasoline on hand can help, it poses a safety risk in a wildfire-prone area. Carrie Bilbao, public affairs specialist for the National Interagency Fire Center, suggested instead to try keeping your car’s tank at least half-full whenever it’s parked at home during a wildfire threat (though that’s not a bad practice in general, too).
How to prepare your home for a wildfire
The most significant thing you can do to protect your home is create what experts call “defensible space.” That means clearing away all dead, dense debris within a 30-foot radius of your home. Keeping the area free of fallen needles, branches, and combustible materials makes it harder for fire to move, and it also helps prevent lit embers—which can float over a mile from a burn—from taking hold.
Many communities and towns commonly affected by wildfire offer chipping or debris-removal services. But these programs often have limited funding, which means dumpsters and disposal services that can haul away all that yard waste for you for free might be available for only a short time, so check your municipal website early. You’ll want to be done with any major removal by June, when the summer heat can turn your vegetation into dry fire fuel. Here’s what to do:
- Get debris away from your home. Remove leaves, needles, cones, twigs, and anything dead within a 30-foot radius of your home, as well as anything actually on or under your house. That means clearing off the roof, cleaning out the gutters, and removing vegetation from underneath decks. A deck with needles underneath is basically a premade fire, complete with tinder (the needles), airflow (the space between the bottom of the deck and the ground), and a waiting supply of fuel (the deck boards). Bark beetles thrive under dead, dry leaves, so by getting rid of piled-up ground cover, you’re also helping prevent them from making homes or migrating into nearby trees and killing them. More dead trees means more fuel to burn. Wirecutter has vetted a number of gardening tools over the years, including rakes and loppers, and you might also find a chainsaw, pruners and a pruning saw, garden gloves, and a string trimmer (for clearing vegetation around the house) helpful for this sort of work.
- Limb trees. Remove trees that are growing within 10 feet of your house, and cut off any tree limbs within 10 feet of one another. This creates horizontal space between vegetation, slowing the spread of flames. In addition, if you have undergrowth or shrubs, limbing a tree creates vertical space between the ground cover and the tree itself, so flames have a harder time moving from top to bottom, or vice versa. Cal Fire recommends creating a space of 6 feet from the ground to the tree’s first branch. The Los Angeles Fire Department echoes this 6-foot rule for trees that are taller than 18 feet.
- Relocate wood piles. Any leftover branches and stumps from previous tree removal, or any wood piles near the house, need to be disposed of or relocated. San Diego County requires a 50-foot gap between wood piles and your house.
- Maintain the grounds. Keep all landscaping watered to prevent your yard from drying out. And if you’re preparing an overhaul of your terrain or embarking on any outdoor-space renovations, consider creating a fire-smart landscape, which involves using plants and materials strategically to help block wildfire from the home. Patios and decks should be built out of stone or masonry. Plant moisture-rich flora (such as aloe) and hardwood trees (like maple or poplar), since they won’t ignite as easily as, say, fir trees. And using rocks and gravel as ground cover can create firebreaks—open spaces that are more difficult for fire to move across.
- Look for vulnerable openings. In January 2025, Gregory Han detailed for Wirecutter how he approached fire safety for his newly purchased Los Angeles home. The day that article published, his neighborhood was impacted by the Eaton Fire. His house survived the blaze, and while Gregory can’t be sure what saved it, he had taken a number of expert-recommended steps to make his house less ignition-prone. That included installing new vents and ember-resistant gutter guards.
- Keep smoke from getting inside. It may seem obvious, but close your windows. Most of the time, outside air contains fewer particulates than indoor air, so open windows are a good idea. But in wildfire conditions, that isn’t the case. Closing your windows will help keep smoke from entering your home in the first place. Minimize entrances and exits through exterior doors, and use any double-door configuration you have (like an attached garage, separate basement entrance, or vestibule) to isolate smoke upon entry and prevent a full waft of it from infiltrating the living space. If your windows lack a good seal or tend to be drafty, fill the gaps with weather sealing tape. In our guide to weatherizing your home, we recommend Frost King’s 0.25-inch Silicone Weatherseal for its ability to fill gaps as small as as small as 0.125 of an inch and up to 0.25 of an inch. Plus, it’s adhesive and trimmable, making it easy to install; apply it to both the upper and lower sash of each window. It can also be used around door jambs, but if you have a larger gap underneath an external door, a door sweep is your best bet.We like Frost King’s Extra Wide Heavy Duty Door Sweep, but it installs with screws, making it a permanent solution. A good landlord probably wouldn’t mind you making an improvement to their property, but for a non-permanent, renter-friendly option, the brand also makes a slide-on variation, though we haven’t tested its efficacy. Even less permanent is a simple draft stopper, or even a strategically-placed rolled-up towel.
More ways to prepare for wildfires
Use multiple weather and alert services. Several resources can help you stay informed about red flag warnings and pending evacuations in your area. Alerts have been known to fail in some disaster scenarios, so we recommend having multiple ways to receive warnings. We’ve tested multiple NOAA weather radio options, which can serve as a source of warnings as well as additional information if you are evacuating and lose electricity or cell service. If you have one, you can look up your local station on the National Weather Service’s site.
You can also turn on Wireless Emergency Alerts in your smartphone settings, which include nationwide notices for large-scale emergencies. Your local emergency management office or first responders might offer their own alerting options, too—your municipality’s website should offer more information on how to opt in, which might require downloading a specific app. FEMA and the American Red Cross have their own apps, as well, and many officials and residents alike in fire-prone areas utilize the free Watch Duty app. The app, which is largely volunteer-run, synthesizes official alerts and other fire information across a growing number of US states.
Make sure you’re familiar with the language that officials in your area use to issue evacuation alerts—often, they’ll issue a “watch” or “warning” first to indicate that there is a potential threat to your area, while an “order” means it’s time to go. If you don’t feel safe but haven’t received an alert, don’t wait for a message to tell you to leave. Trust your gut, pay attention to your surroundings, and try to stay updated through official sources to figure out your next steps.
Prep a go bag. One of the defining features of a wildfire evacuation is the speed with which you need to leave when the order comes, so we cannot stress this enough: Have a go bag ready. If you feel overwhelmed about what to pack, think of what you’d bring on a weekend overnighter (a change of clothes, toiletries and medications, comfortable shoes, and pajamas, along with spare cash and a battery charger for your phone).
Be sure to pack separate bags for each member of your family, including pets. Hopefully you’ll be heading somewhere close, like to a relative’s or friend’s house, a hotel, or a shelter. But if you’re interested in prepping your bag for a larger emergency scenario, read “The Best Gear for Your Bug-Out Bag.” You can also try our kit builder to start thinking through how to personalize our emergency-preparedness recommendations for your living situation.
Know your evacuation route. Many areas under threat of wildfire are smaller, rural towns that rely heavily on tourism. On a busy summer weekend, it’s possible there will be more people and cars in town than the highway infrastructure was intended to support. But whether you live in a small mountain town or in a city suburb close to wildland, it’s worth knowing both your primary evacuation route and a secondary option, in case there’s a lot of traffic or the street signs are obscured by emergency vehicles or smoke.
Have an offline map. During past wildfires, cell towers have burned down and flat-out failed before evacuation orders were even issued. That means it could be impossible to pull up Google Maps to find a route out — unless you take the preventive step of downloading a map of your area before any outages. If not, you’ll need either an offline GPS device or a paper map.
For analog navigation of urban areas and highways, we like Rand McNally’s EasyFinder maps, which are available for all US states and Canadian provinces, as well as for major cities across North America. Each map displays thorough information about streets, rural roads, highways, and interstates, as well as the locations of hospitals, police stations, schools, public buildings, and religious institutions, all of which can be vital rally points during a disaster.
Take a look at OpenStreetMap as part of your planning. You can view and print the site’s maps with a “humanitarian layer” that highlights emergency buildings and evacuation routes—an incredibly useful tool when you need to get away from danger or find help.
Talk to your kids. There’s no way to know whether you and your kids will be together when an evacuation begins, so book a family meeting to talk about what to do if you are apart. (The Red Cross has a great guide for talking about fire safety with children.) If the little ones carry cell phones, have everyone keep family phone numbers and the address of a meeting location written on paper and tucked away in a wallet or backpack.
Plan for your pets. Most shelters won’t take animals, so if that’s your only destination option during an evacuation, make sure to have an alternate plan in place for your pets. The ASPCA has comprehensive information on how to handle your pets in a disaster, and just a few minutes of preparation can make the difference between taking or leaving your beloved animal behind. Previous guide author Eve O’Neill kept a tiny go bag with some extra food, hay, and litter for her pet rabbit.
Think about your medications. Most advice you’ll encounter, including recommendations from the Red Cross, will tell you to have at least a week’s worth of any necessary medications packed in your emergency bag. Sometimes that’s easy to do ahead of time, say, if you rely on a device like an asthma inhaler or EpiPen. But it might be difficult or expensive to procure an extra supply of other medications ahead of an emergency, especially if you take a controlled substance. The best advice we can give is to simply make sure you’ve discussed your specific medical needs with your doctor ahead of time, and to pack physical copies of your prescriptions.
For a deeper, more granular breakdown of all the different ways one can both prepare for and recover from a wildfire, the Truckee Fire Protection District’s Laura Brown recommends Readyforwildfire.org, a comprehensive site packed with videos and downloadable content.
How to clean wildfire smoke from your home
With more significant fires becoming the new normal nationwide, even people not directly threatened by wildfire are concerned with what to do about smoke. The short-term health effects of wildfire smoke range from eye irritation to exacerbation of heart failure. Studies about the long-term risks of breathing in wildfire smoke are limited, but it’s well-known that smoke is bad for your lungs.
As we point out in our air-purifier collaboration with The New York Times, keeping your home’s air clean in fire season requires a multipronged approach. Picking up a dedicated air purifier or getting new filters for your central air conditioner are the most effective things you can do to help protect those in your home. (This includes pets—the American Veterinary Medical Association recommends keeping an eye out for specific animal health issues related to wildfire smoke.) But you can also take immediate action using stuff you probably already own, such as a mop and a washing machine. Here’s what we recommend.
Even fine smoke particles eventually drop out of the air and settle on surfaces. We recommend damp-mopping your floors to pick them up, as opposed to vacuuming, which can simply blow them back up into the air. Our picks for the best dust mop and the best wet mop do a great job, plus they’re inexpensive, durable, ergonomic, and washable. But any mop you own will work.
Smoke particles also settle on your clothes, skin, and bed. If you’ve spent time outdoors, change into clean clothes when you get home. Wash your sheets more often than normal, too. Take a quick shower before you go to bed. And after the smoke clears and the fires subside, clean everything, change all your air-purifier filters, and breathe easier.
How you can help fire survivors
Living through a wildfire is terrifying, but even just watching footage of the destruction from afar can cause overwhelming feelings of powerlessness. When it comes to donations during active fires, physical goods like food and blankets can actually divert resources from relief efforts because they require time and effort to sort and clean. Financial donations (even $10, or more if you can afford it) are the best way to help with immediate needs. To donate, find a nonprofit that is operating in the impacted area, such as the Red Cross. Or, if you’d prefer to send help directly to individuals, GoFundMe curates vetted pages for large-scale disasters.
This article was edited by Joshua Lyon and Harry Sawyers.
