The Oakland Fire Department's Office of Emergency Services works to help the Oakland community prepare for disasters. Keep reading to learn more about our programs.
Emergency Alert & Notification System
The City of Oakland is dedicated to preserving the well-being of our entire community in the event of an emergency, but everyone must be prepared. Part of preparation is signing up for alerts. If we can't reach you, we can't alert you!
- AC Alert will provide you critical information quickly in a variety of situations, such as earthquakes, fires, severe weather, unexpected road closures, missing persons and evacuations of buildings or neighborhoods. You can select to receive notifications for your home city, work location, and other sites of your choice on your home, mobile or business phones, email address, text messages and more.
Emergency Sirens
At noon on the first Wednesday of every month, we test the emergency siren warning system.
The test is a 30-second slow wail tone.
If you hear a siren at different time, there is an an emergency in your area!
You should turn your radio to one of the following local emergency broadcast news stations: KCBS (740 AM), KGO (810 AM) or KNBR (680 AM) to learn more about the emergency.
Sirens sound during earthquakes, chemical spills, large fires, terrorist acts or other emergency events.
The City of Oakland uses three different siren sounds. Each sound tells you how to stay safe during the emergency.
If you hear a 3-minute steady tone, you should shelter in place.
If you hear a 3-minute slow wail tone, a there might be a Tsunami.
If you hear a 3-minute fast wail tone, there is a fire.
You can read more about the Oakland Siren Alerting and Warning System Flyer and check out the Oakland Siren Site Locations Map
For hearing support call TTY (510) 238-3254.
For language assistance call (510) 444-CITY (2489)