Trouble reading this email? Read it on the web →
This Week's Fire Weather
After last week's dry offshore winds, the weather is turning. The National Weather Service expects a high near 61 in Orinda today, a chance of showers Tuesday, and a better chance of light rain Wednesday, which forecasters put at 40 to 75 percent across the Bay Area. No Red Flag Warning was issued for the East Bay this week. The one that did go up covered the North Bay interior mountains, from Thursday night to Friday late morning. Forecasters expect only light rain amounts, so keep checking NWS alerts if dry offshore winds return.
Sources: NWS forecast for Orinda · NWS Bay Area forecast discussion (Oct. 18, 2026)
This Week's Power Shutoff Reached Contra Costa
Last week we wrote about a shutoff in Alameda County. This week's was bigger and closer. On Monday, October 12, PG&E began warning customers that dry offshore winds might force it to turn off power, and on Wednesday evening it started. By Friday morning it had shut off power to 85,905 customers in 29 counties, including 1,605 in Contra Costa County and 4,705 in Alameda County. Patch reported that the potential shutoff area included a portion of Orinda and areas near Moraga, with the Berkeley Hills and Tilden Park among the areas expected to be hit hardest, and that PG&E opened a Community Resource Center at Moraga Valley Presbyterian Church on Wednesday evening. Lafayette's Weekly Roundup said Lafayette was not included.
PG&E says it recorded wind gusts of up to 67 mph during the event, and crews inspecting the lines before restoring power found broken equipment and branches and trees in contact with lines. By Saturday evening, PG&E said, essentially all customers had their power back. PG&E also pointed out that homes on underground lines can still lose power, because the electricity serving a neighborhood may travel through overhead lines somewhere else.
Whether your power went out or you spent the week watching the alerts, three things are worth knowing for next time:
- During an event, look up your address on PG&E's shutoff updates page to see whether it is in the shutoff area and the estimated restoration time.
- For help before, during or after an outage, call 211, text "PSPS" to 211, or visit 211.org. PG&E points customers there for local support.
- Run a generator outdoors only, at least 20 feet from windows, doors and vents, and never indoors or in a garage, where carbon monoxide builds up. Keep the fridge and freezer closed: PG&E says an unopened refrigerator typically keeps food cold for up to four hours, and a full freezer can keep food frozen for up to two days (less if it is only partly full).
→ PSPS Preparation: ready your home for a shutoff · Generator Connection Safety
Sources: PG&E Currents, PSPS updates (Oct. 13 to 17, 2026) · Lamorinda Patch (Oct. 14, 2026) · CBS Sacramento (Oct. 15, 2026) · City of Lafayette Weekly Roundup (Oct. 16, 2026)
Regulatory Update: A State Home Hardening Certification Is on the Way
AB 1934, signed September 29 and included this week in a Council of State Governments West roundup of the session's wildfire laws, starts California on its own home hardening certification. By January 1, 2028, the State Fire Marshal's Wildfire Mitigation Advisory Committee must draw up a plan for a voluntary program covering hardening measures, including defensible space, that homeowners can take on during renovations or other improvement projects to bring existing homes in line with the state's building standards. The law calls for several certification tiers, at least one of them ember resistant, with the lowest tier no less stringent than the base standard of a national organization such as the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS). The State Fire Marshal must launch the program by January 1, 2029. Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D-Orinda) is among the coauthors.
Nothing changes for homeowners today, and the program will be voluntary. The work it will recognize is work you can start now. IBHS already offers its Wildfire Prepared Home designation, and the hardening it looks for begins with the roof, the vents and the first five feet around the house, which is where our Big Three guide starts too.
FAIR Plan rates: now in effect. The California FAIR Plan's average 29.1% rate increase took effect Thursday, October 15, so most households on the plan will see it at their first renewal after that date. We covered the details in issue 9.
Zone 0: no change. As of Sunday, October 18, the state Office of Administrative Law's list of emergency regulations under review still showed no Zone 0 filing, so the new state Zone 0 rules are still not in effect. Local rules still apply: MOFD's fire ordinance already sets Zone 0 requirements for Moraga and Orinda, and MOFD's Fire Prevention Office (Moraga and Orinda) or ConFire (Lafayette) can tell you what applies to your property today.
→ The Big Three: roof, vents and defensible space · IBHS Wildfire Prepared Home: how certification works · Lamorinda Insurance Navigation Guide
Sources: AB 1934, chaptered text (Ch. 763, Statutes of 2026) · CSG West (Oct. 16, 2026) · CBS San Francisco (Oct. 2026) · KQED · OAL, Emergency Regulations Under Review (checked Oct. 18, 2026)
Community Bulletin
A new MOFD director, and two seats on the ballot. At a special meeting on October 8, the Moraga-Orinda Fire District board appointed Greg Andrews, a 14-year Moraga resident, to the District 2 seat left open by John Jex's retirement, Lamorinda Weekly reports. Two other MOFD seats are contested on the November 3 ballot. In District 3, Steve Cohn and John Donnelly are running for the open seat. In District 4, incumbent Mike Roemer faces Linda Stevens. The county's elections site has ballot and drop box information.
Dennis Rein retires from MOFD. Dennis Rein, who joined MOFD in 2013 as emergency preparedness coordinator and later became its Prescribed Fire Program Manager, is stepping down. He has been a familiar face of MOFD to the public, and he told Lamorinda Weekly he hopes to stay involved in wildfire mitigation and prescribed fire as an advocate.
Safe at Scale is a week from Thursday. The Orinda Theatre screens the PBS documentary Weathered: After the LA Firestorm on Thursday, October 29, from 7 to 9:30 p.m., followed by a panel that includes Assemblymember Bauer-Kahan, Senator Tim Grayson, Steve Hawks of IBHS and MOFD Chief Jeff Isaacs. Tickets are on the theater's event page.
Sources: Lamorinda Weekly (Oct. 14, 2026) · Lamorinda Weekly (Oct. 14, 2026) · Orinda Theatre
Around the Bay: Lessons from Neighbors
Embers don't stop at the property line. Graham Kent, who created the AlertWildfire camera network that fire agencies use to spot new fires, told CBS Sacramento this week that fall's mix of strong wind, low humidity and flying embers can turn a small fire into a major disaster. His message to homeowners: trees and hedges close to a house can carry fire to it, and embers from one burning home can ignite the next, so landscaping choices affect the neighbors too. Our defensible space guide walks through the zones around a home and links MOFD's local requirements.
Source: CBS Sacramento (Oct. 16, 2026)
One Thing to Do This Week
Restock while the shutoff is fresh. If this week sent you looking for flashlights, take ten minutes to finish the job: replace dead batteries, recharge power banks, and note anything you went looking for and couldn't find. Then tape a short card inside a kitchen cabinet with where the flashlights live, the 211 number, and a reminder that the garage door's manual release is only for when the door is fully closed. If your opener has a backup battery, check that it still holds a charge. The next shutoff may come at night, when nobody wants to search.
→ PSPS Preparation: the after-the-event checklist · 72-Hour Go Bag Build
Where to Start if You're New Here
The best first step is to check your fire zone, which takes about a minute. Our Home Fire Readiness Score, a self-assessment of where your home stands, is not open yet; the same page lets you join the list and we will let you know when it is. In the meantime, start here:
- The Big Three: roof, vents, and defensible space, the highest-priority moves for a Lamorinda home
- Home Hardening Checklist: the full walk-around list of upgrades that make a home ember-resistant
- 72-Hour Go Bag Build: the kit that covers you for a power shutoff and an evacuation alike
If a neighbor forwarded this to you and you'd like future issues, sign up here.
Lamorinda Ready is a community education resource. This newsletter is for general educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, insurance, financial, construction, electrical, or emergency response advice. Weather information is as reported by the National Weather Service through Sunday morning, October 18, 2026, and power shutoff information is as reported by PG&E and the cited outlets through Saturday evening, October 17; both will have changed since, so check official sources for current conditions. Bill summaries are based on the chaptered text and the cited outlets; consult the bill text or the State Fire Marshal for how the program develops. The Zone 0 status reflects OAL's public records as checked on October 18, 2026, and can change at any time. Election and event details are as reported by the cited sources; confirm with the county elections office and the organizers. Always consult qualified professionals and official agencies (MOFD, ConFire, your city, PG&E) before making decisions about your home or property. Content available through links in this newsletter is subject to the same limitations.
Header photo: aerial view of Moraga, California, May 2025, by Pi.1415926535, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Lamorinda Ready
Practical resilience for Lafayette, Moraga, and Orinda.
1480 Moraga Rd Ste C #188, Moraga, CA 94556