RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif. - Buying a home on a serene cul-de-sac in Rancho Palos Verdes was a dream come true for Roman Rodriguez.

His home came with a large lush backyard with plenty of room for his two children to play and his chickens and pet tortoise to roam. 

“Growing up around gangs, it’s something that I really didn’t want my kids growing up in,” Rodriguez said.

The location of his home enables his kids to attend school in a coveted school district in the South Bay. But, in the case of a wildfire, pocket neighborhoods like Rodriguez’s have limited access to major roads and escape routes should they need to evacuate.

In an AP report, Rancho Palos Verdes was rated as one the highest fire hazard areas in the state based on population to evacuation routes. Rodriguez’s neighborhood only has one exit route that would allow his family to evacuate to a major road.

He also didn’t have a plan if he needed to evacuate other than getting his family and pets out of the area.

“That’s never been brought up. I know we’ve been lucky. I think 10 years ago was the last one and I happened to be working in the area when that happened so . . . but they contained it pretty fast,” Rodriguez said.

He was right.

It's been about 10 years since the last major wildfire burned nearly 230 acres on the opposite side of Rancho Palos Verdes near Vallon Road and Hawthorne Boulevard. It was close to Kathy Graves' home.

She’s a Palos Verdes Peninsula Community Emergency Response Team member -- someone who prepares and volunteers when disaster strikes. But she and her team aren’t prepared to help residents evacuate either.

“The evacuations, that’s something that we haven’t really given a whole lot of thought too to be honest with you and apparently we should,” Graves said.

That tone is alarming for firefighters that cover the city.

They know all too well how quickly a wildfire could spread. That’s why  L.A. County Fire Department’s Battalion 14 Battalion Chief Michael McCormick wants residents in and around the city to be prepared by planning at least two evacuation routes that lead to multiple exits to prevent traffic jams.

McCormick’s experiences in battling past flames proved to him that a devastating fire could happen anywhere and at any time.

“It’s not just a wildland fire so to speak a couple hundred acres that makes it dangerous, it can be a small grass fire, a small spot that can do the same thing,” McCormick said.

Each fire engine that leaves Batalion 14, which is stationed in Rolling Hills Estates, leaves fully prepared to battle a wildfire, McCormick said. But firefighters need the help of residents to help keep homes and roads open by planning ahead, creating defensible spacing and taking what they need as fast as possible.

Through this conversation, Rodriguez realized the limited options he had when it came to leaving his pocket community. 

“We are definitely going to look into better strategies or exit plans and have a plan if there is a fire,” he said. 

He knew he was prepared to protect his family and his home. But now, he’s working on a strategy to get his loved ones out of harm’s way, if a wildfire threatens the area.