It started small - just a teens' party fire left to smoulder, flared up again and a blown ember ignited some nearby brush. The fire crept along until it got to a couple of small trees. As those flamed up, someone saw the smoke and called 9-1-1. While a crew mobilized to investigate, the fire spread. Monitoring the police scanner, a radio station breaks into the programming with a special news bulletin. No one is very alarmed - fire crews are responding, aren't they? But the afternoon winds are picking up, and the smoke plume keeps getting bigger. The beating of helicopters and drone of the fire planes shake the air over the house. All the television stations are broadcasting continuous updated reports now - structures are threatened. Suddenly, there's a knock on your door. A sheriff's deputy stands there. Prepare to evacuate - you've got 20 minutes. What do you do now?
Survival psychology puts forth the Theory of 10-80-10 to explain behavior in an emergency situation. People basically divide into three categories. Ten percent will handle a crisis in a calm and rational state of mind. Another 10% will lose control completely - panic, unable to pull themselves together. The vast majority, though, will be stunned and bewildered - their reasoning impaired and thinking difficult. So don't count on thinking straight when time is of the essence. Make up an emergency evacuation envelope now, with copies of important documents; a list of things to do on the front. Oftentimes, in a wildfire, you might not be permitted to return to your home, so a duplicate set kept at work or in your car might not be a bad idea.
No property is worth human lives. Get out immediately if told to do so by fire officials. It will most likely be dark, smoky, windy, and hot. There may be airborne burning embers, no power, no telephone, and poor to no water pressure. But if you have a bit of time to prepare, here are some things you can do:Attire and Equipment
Wear only cotton or wool clothing - long pants and long sleeves - and sturdy shoes with enclosed toes (no polyester, no rubber flip-flops). Carry gloves and a cotton kerchief to cover your face, water to drink and wet down kerchief, and goggles if possible, plus the fire extinguisher from your kitchen or garage. Have a flashlight and portable radio with you, tuned to a local emergency station, and listen for instructions. Your usual route to and from your house might be blocked - familiarize yourself with different streets in your neighborhood, and keep a local map in your car.
Family Members and PetsIf possible, get everyone not essential to preparing your home out first. Call a friend or send one family member out with essentials, children, and pets. Designate a meeting place and contact person - talk with your children about this ahead of time. Relay your plans to your contact person; maybe change the message on your answering machine. Many times in an emergency situation, it can be easier to make a long distance call than to call locally; incoming calls may be jammed. You might need to call someone out of the area to relay information if you're separated (during the 1989 San Francisco earthquake, my brother and sister in the Bay Area couldn't reach each other, but both called me in Nevada as their information relay contact). Confine pets until ready to evacuate - smaller animals in cages or carriers, dogs with collars and leashes, larger animals with halters and lead ropes. Call for help to evacuate livestock - do not ever just turn them loose.
VehiclesTurn your car(s) to face your direction of escape, windows rolled up, keys in the ignition. If in the garage, close the garage door but leave it unlocked. Disconnect your automatic garage door opener so that the door can be opened manually. Put essential items in the car.
Essential Items
Important documents: bank, IRS, trust, investment, insurance policy, medical records, birth certificates, plus your children's current school photo (in case you get separated) - you might want to put everything in that emergency envelope now, just in case. Cash, credit and ATM cards. Identification - driver's license and passport. Medications and prescription glasses. Inventory of home contents - consider videotaping if you have time, or take photos inside and out. Computer backup (drop one of those little keychain flashdrives in your emergency envelope, update regularly) and/or laptop. Know how to access your email and financial accounts if you're away from your regular computer. Cell phone, and charger. Address book or Rolodex. Family photo albums and videos, and heirlooms (make a list of what is important to you now - don't trust your reasoning or memory in an emergency. Women I've talked to about the 2007 South Lake Tahoe fire were amazed at some of the silly things they "saved"). Personal toiletries, washcloth and towel. A change of clothing (underwear!). Comfort items for your children - favorite toys, books, or games. Blankets or sleeping bags and pillows, if possible.
Inside the HouseLeave a light on in each room. Close all interior doors. Remove lightweight curtains and other combustible materials from around windows. Turn off pilot lights. Close any heavy shutters, Venetian blinds, or fire-resistant draperies. Move over-stuffed furniture, such as couches and easy chairs, to the center of the room.
Outside the House
Turn on outside lights. Put combustible patio furniture and propane tanks from gas grills inside the house or garage. Turn off propane at the tank, or natural gas at the meter. Close all doors and windows, exterior vents if possible; leave exterior doors unlocked. Prop a metal ladder against the house to provide firefighters easy access to your roof. Attach hoses to outside faucets, and attach nozzles set to "spray". Fill trash cans and buckets with water and leave them where firefighters can find them. If you have a pool or pond with a portable pump, clearly mark its availability so it can be seen from the street.
My heart goes out to all the victims of recent wildfires in Australia, and those that have lost friends and family. Please, there is nothing you own worth your life! Evacuate immediately if asked by fire fighters and law enforcement officials.
9 comments:
Superb post! Timely advice and I, for one, am going to hop right on that. Thank you!
Please, what is the purpose of leaving the lights on? My first thoughts were that firefighters might think someone is still home and waste time and safety indoors. Just wondering.
Kimberly,
In a fire situation, lighting up your house, inside and out, makes it easier for firefighters to see that it's there, and to make their way around it. They'll try to save structures when possible, but in the dark and smoky conditions during a fire it can be hard to see. Some areas ask that you tie a white cloth to the door once everyone has left, but that's not universal.
~Sadge
The problem down here isn't that people weren't evacuating when told, it's that the fire was simply too unpredictable and fast moving for many of them to have time to get out and that it was too intense for the people who had chosen to stay and defend to deal with.
Our local fire services advise if you are going that you get out EARLY. Before there is a direct threat to your property, before there is smoke in your street, before there are fire trucks in your street so that you can concentrate on taking care of your family instead of worrying about how much time you have left to go and if you have everything or not.
Great post with excellent advice.
Most houses burn down from flying embers or after the fire has gone through. I feel with the victorian fires that there was too much stacked up against the people the fire was too intense, the winds were too strong, it was the hottest day something like 45 degrees and the vegetation was so dry it would have been like a freight train running through.
Great post Sadge, this is excellent advice that I'm going to share with some folks in our community. Your photos and clear explanations will help immensely.
Thank you.
Good advice, Sadge. One thing we do here when there's a fire around - we live next to a pine forest - is to put the front and back outside door mats inside. Flying embers cause a lot of new fires and if one lands on your door mat, right next to a wooden door, it wall quickly start a blaze.
It's also important to note that in Australia you wont be asked to evacuate in person. No one will knock on the door, what fire fighters we have will be fighting fires. Our population is much smaller than in the US and it makes a difference to how we organise these things. There are updates on the radio, which is why you should have one with batteries, but they may be too late.
Basically, if you are wondering "should I evacuate now?" then you should go. There's no such thing as leaving too early or evacuating too often.
Kimberly asked my question.
Great post!!! Full of good ideas.
Being in the "optional" evacuation area during the 1990 Oakland firestorm, we packed the car, but our choices of what to pack could have been better! We went with backpacks and tents along with sleeping bags and clothing... in retrospect we most likely wouldn't have ended up "living" in our tent, and that space could have been better used. Thank goodness we never had to actually leave.
Post a Comment