18-02-2025
Moraga residents file lawsuit against town over wildfire evacuation concerns
(KRON) — The devastating fires in Los Angeles have Bay Area residents on edge about what might happen here. Now, some Moraga residents have filed a lawsuit against the town — saying it must study wildfire evacuation routes to better prepare for the future.
Few can forget the backup of cars trying to evacuate last month's Palisades Fire or the bulldozers moving abandoned cars out of the way of firetrucks and evacuees. Some Moraga residents fear — with two two-lane roads to get in and out of town — Moraga's 16,000+ residents face a similar evacuation nightmare should a fire break out.
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Cheryl Sabnis is with Safe Moraga. The organization has just filed a lawsuit against the Town of Moraga, alleging it has violated the California Environmental Quality Act by approving a 66-unit development project, without first studying how it will impact residents evacuating during a wildfire.
'To evacuate Moraga, you are leaving from one central point and either trying to go through Orinda on Moraga Way, which you can see behind me or you're trying to go through Lafayette on Moraga Road, which is a similarly narrow two-lane road,' Sabnis said. 'We fully expect there will be development in the town of Moraga, but it must not be done with the head in the sand.
'We have to actually understand what we're putting, where we're putting it, and what the impact is on evacuation. And frankly, I think we need more routes out of town, and if we're going to do that, it's time to figure that out now, not after we have a massive fire that injures or potentially kills residents who are trying to get out.'
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Safe Moraga wants the town council to conduct a study on wildfire evacuation safety to give residents a fighting chance of escaping if need be.
'The difficulty here is, when you have so much population concentrated in such a in such a tiny place serviced by only narrow roadways, the minute you yell 'fire,' it's going to be a panic,' Sabnis said.
Officials with the Town of Moraga say they have not yet been served with the lawsuit and cannot provide any comment at this time. Safe Moraga says this lawsuit could go away but only if the city studies this issue and then comes up with a plan for a wildfire evacuation.
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