How To Prepare For a Quick and Safe Wildfire Evacuation
Preparing for a wildfire evacuation can be overwhelming, but it's essential to be ready in case of an emergency. When a wildfire threatens your community, it's important to know what steps to take and where to go. To help ensure a quick and safe evacuation, consider the following tips:
1. Inventory Your Home Contents
Take a thorough inventory of your home's contents to ensure you don't leave behind anything important during an evacuation. This includes important documents such as birth certificates, social security cards, and insurance policies, as well as household items like pet food, medications, toiletries, and clothing. Keep this inventory in a secure place where all family members know where to find it in case of an emergency.
2. Pack Your Go Bag
Make sure your go bag is always ready to go at a moment's notice by keeping it packed with essential items like clothing, toiletries, flashlights, and radios. Keep a battery-powered radio with you so that you can stay informed about the situation. You should also pack enough food for 3-5 days just in case it takes longer than expected to return home after the fire has been contained.
3. What To Wear In The Event Of Evacuation
When leaving your home during an evacuation, it's important to only wear cotton or wool clothing as synthetic fabrics can melt easily during high temperatures, causing burns or other serious injuries.
4. Prepare Family Members, Pets and Livestock
Create a plan for evacuation routes and make sure that every family member knows which one to take in case of an emergency. Designate a safe meeting place and contact person. Plan on taking pets and livestock with you, but if you have to leave them behind, never set them loose.
5. Prepare Vehicle
If you can lift your garage door manually, place your vehicle in the garage with the car pointed out and facing the street. Make sure you have the keys in the ignition and disconnect the electric garage door opener to prevent it from closing on your car. Close all windows, close the garage door but keep it unlocked and place all essential items in your car. Stay informed by having access to radio, television and internet so that you can receive updates on the situation. It's important to have the most up-to-date information available. If you are told to evacuate, do so immediately. Don't wait for an official order, as this can be too late in some cases.
6. Inside The Home
Close all interior doors to slow the spread of fire and smoke. Close all ventilation systems to reduce air flow, and if possible, close the fireplace damper. Keep a light on in each room so fire fighters can see the house when they arrive. Remove curtains and other combustible materials from around the windows to prevent them from catching fire. Move overstuffed furniture such as couches and lounge chairs to the center of the room to create a fire-free zone.
7. Outside The Home
Prop a non-combustible ladder against the house to provide firefighters access to the roof. Make sure that all garden hoses are connected to water sources and set the nozzle to "spray." Close all exterior vents, doors and windows. Leave exterior doors and gates unlocked, turn on the outside lights and fill trash cans and buckets with water. Leave them where firefighters will find them.
Checklist via Living With Fire
Nobody looks forward to evacuating but sometimes it is a necessary step to protect you and your family. You can avoid the stress of evacuating by creating a family disaster plan and practicing it at least once each year. The more you practice, the easier it will be to follow when an emergency strikes. If you have any questions about how to prepare for a fire or if you'd like a free Wetline Wildfire Defense property evaluation, please contact us.