McNadoMD
If you recently moved to somewhere where a wildfire can get to your home, some advice:
Have a fireproof box with your passport, mortgage docs, birth certificates, etc. so you can grab them in a hurry, but hopefully won’t lose them if you must leave them behind.
Have a go bag with a change of clothes, basic toiletries, and if possible, a few days of any key medicines you need.
Decide now that you are OK leaving everything to burn, because you don’t want to confront that as the house goes up.
McNadoMD
If you have to leave your home for a fire, don’t waste time trying to set up sprinklers or hoses if your home is on a pump. As soon as the power goes out, so does your water. Even without a pump, if everyone leaves hoses open, water pressure drops so much that even hydrants won’t produce adequate flow.
If a fire is moving fast, just leave. People have died driving out of fire zones in multiple recent fires in the us. Cars are not fire proof, and when wind drives smoke and embers, you can’t see
McNadoMD
If you aren’t aware, when you evacuate for a fire in the US, sometimes you are out of your home for days. The power will usually go out during that time. You may not know if you have a home for days. If you left livestock behind, you won’t know where they are. You won’t know if you have fences or water or barns.
Plan now for those possibilities. If you don’t have a trailer, what’s your evac plan for animals? Can you cut fences or open gates? Plan now. It is hard when ash is raining on you.
Delta Sierra
@mcnado All good info! Having been in this situation I'd also suggest:
Bottled water. Don't fool around with 12 or 20oz bottles, get a couple gallon jugs. Moving around in the middle of the night with smoke rolling in is thirsty work.
Face masks. Anything is preferable to nothing. Smoke arrives before fire; even if you get clear there's a risk of issues related to smoke inhalation (especially if you have breathing issues already).
Cash. Stick a hundred bucks in your go bag. Enough to grab some food/fuel if needed. There will be power outages; 50 miles away you may find businesses with no power (and no card reader).
Keep your vehicle in good repair. Tires aired up, washer fluid, good wipers, tank over half-full.
If you're really remote, get some dehydrated food. Throw a couple packs in the car. They last for decades and all you need is some of that water to have a quick (albeit very high sodium) snack.
Remember nothing you own is worth asphyxiating over (the most likely cause of death in this scenario).
Paul_IPv6
indeed. at some point, roads get hot, car tires melt. traffic jams also happen quickly.
get out fast. if you're in a fire prone area, have a "go box" with irreplaceable papers and stuff to get you through a few days ready at all times. when you get the alert, grab medicines, go box, pets, family, pet food and *RUN*. if it's a false alarm later, no biggie. but not getting out while you can get out can be fatal.
Sara
@ericm @BlueDot @mcnado having done post-fire recovery in urban areas, no, your fridge will not survive
your fridge will explode
this creates a particularly heinous recovery situation when you have left your mom's ashes on top of and two chicken carcasses inside the fridge
so: bury your ancestors (as appropriate)
buy a fuckin fire safe
put it next to an exterior wall
that, we should be able to find for you
ericm
@BlueDot @mcnado Look for videos of people combing through the remains of their wildfire-burned house. There's not much left except concrete, ashes and thicker steel or iron pieces. Often aluminum is melted.
Fridges are a thin skin of sheet steel around a bunch of plastic. If the entire house burns, plus the heat of neighboring houses burning, it's going to burn.
Even a consumer level fire proof box is not really fire proof, just resistant. Stash it in a corner of the house so there's less stuff around it to burn.
BlueDot
I keep my will in the freezer. It can be expected to survive a house fire, at least long enough for the fire department to respond. I'm curious to know what happens in a wildfire, where one can't expect firefighters will necessarily show up. Does frozen food burn to ash with the house? (Idle curiosity. I am not in a fire zone.)
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