Am I Prepared for Wildfire?
July 9th, 2015
To-go bag essentials
I was talking with my friend, Jed Horan, from the North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District and he suggested I write a blog on the importance of having an evacuation plan, knowing a route out of my neighborhood and what to do if that evacuation route was blocked.
What a great idea, I thought…
However, once I sat down to write this article, I realized a couple of things:
- My husband and I are not prepared for a real life evacuation at all, and
- Preparing for an evacuation is not a simple “one-size-fits-all” topic.
In order to set a good example, I want to start prepping now before it is too late. My first stop was to the Living With Fire website where I discovered some general wildfire evacuation preparation guidelines that can help beginners, like me, get started. Writing this blog really got me thinking about important subjects that I had not thought of before such as:
- Creating a Family Emergency Plan
- Who would my husband and I contact? And how?
- Where would we meet?
- What would we take?
- Where is our escape route and safe place?
- Do we know how to turn off the water, gas and electricity?
- Essentials for a “to-go” bag (click here for tips)
- Disaster Supply Kits (tips on making this kit here)
- Preparing for Pets
- What if our dog, Bella, was at doggy daycare? Do they have an emergency response plan?
- Don’t forget about pet food!
I don’t know about you, but I am glad my Living With Fire teammates brought this to my attention. Wildfires are inevitable – so preparing for them in advance can help ease your stress a bit. I’ve got a lot of planning ahead of me, but feel free to follow me and join in on my journey as I tackle each one of these steps. I’ll keep you updated on my progress here and you can help hold me accountable! Meanwhile, I’m still working on my defensible space from last month … click here to see that post.
What about you? Are you prepared for a wildfire evacuation? Do you have any tips to help me prepare?
Comment below!