The secret to successful wildfire evacuation is getting out before everyone else. Wait too long, and evacuation routes can turn into traffic jams. Prompt evacuation requires savvy planning—everything from an emergency food supply to a wildfire-appropriate first-aid kit must be packed before the emergency hits. Wildfire preparation also includes taking steps to maximize your home’s odds of still being there when you return. Bottom Line Personal asked emergency-preparedness expert Creek Stewart, author of Disaster Survival 101, for his suggestions for wildfire preparation…
Preparing to Go
What will you pack into your vehicle if you need to flee a wildfire? If you live in a high-wildfire-risk region, the time to make these decisions is now. If you wait until flames reach the edge of your neighborhood, you’ll cost yourself time and likely overlook essential items. Helpful: Some of the things that should come with you when you evacuate can be stored in a bug-out bag that you can prepare in advance and stow in a closet. Items that can’t stay permanently in this bag should be included on your bug-out-bag list kept nearby this bag. This list should note where each item is located in the home.
When packing your wildfire bug-out bag and preparing the accompanying list, focus on the eight “P”s…
Personal needs
These are the basic survival requirements—food, water and shelter. An emergency food supply should include lightweight, no-cooking-required packaged items that have long shelf lives, such as energy bars. An evacuation water supply should include metal canteens containing at least one liter of water per family member, plus a portable filter that facilitates safe consumption of water from other sources—the Sawyer Mini Water Filtration System is an effective and inexpensive option, available on Amazon.com starting at about $27. An evacuation shelter kit should include a lightweight camping tent, sleeping bags and camping mats—there might not be rooms available in area hotels or beds in shelters during mass evacuations.
Prescriptions
Grabbing your pill bottles on the way out the door isn’t sufficient—what if the evacuation happens just as you’re due for a refill? Tell your doctor you’d like to have an extra 30-day supply of the medications you take regularly, so you’re prepared for wildfire evacuations and other emergencies. Most doctors are willing to adjust prescriptions to allow for this.
Papers
Bringing important documents with you when you evacuate can save you the hassles of replacing them later. What to bring: Driver’s licenses, passports, marriage certificates, birth certificates, Social Security cards, medical records, insurance policy details, account-access information, deeds and leases, contact lists for service providers such as utilities and tax-related documents. If that’s too much paperwork to pack, scan some of the documents and store the digital files off premises or save them to an easily transported USB flash drive.
Precious items
Which possessions make the cut here is a matter of personal priority. Examples: Family photo albums, jewelry or antiques. What’s important is that this is thought through in advance so nothing irreplaceable is overlooked during panicked evacuation packing.
People
If everyone in the family is at home when an evacuation occurs, getting them into the car should be straightforward—but what if some family members are at work or school? What if a non-driving older relative lives across town? Best: Have a plan in place for situations like these—and the plan should account for the fact that cell-phone networks might be overwhelmed during disasters, making coordination challenging. Example: A family evacuation plan might feature a pre-selected meet-up location well outside town in case family members must evacuate separately…and it might include details about who will pick up grandpa on the way.
Pets
In addition to the pets themselves, you’ll need to pack all the stuff those pets will need during the evacuation—medications, leashes, travel crates, waste bags, food and bowls. Also: Pack pets’ vaccination records and/or store copies of these records on your phone. Pets that lack proof of vaccination often are not allowed in public evacuation shelters.
Phone and other communications
In addition to your cell phone, pack your phone charger and a portable power bank. Consider also buying and bringing two-way GMRS radios so you can keep in contact with nearby loved ones even if cellular networks become overwhelmed. These are available on Amazon.com starting around $50. Helpful: Load at least one wildfire tracking app onto your phone. The two best are FireSpot and Watch Duty.
Payment options
In addition to credit cards, bring checks and a few hundred dollars in cash. It might not be possible to pay with a credit card if the electricity goes out. Don’t keep all your cash, cards and checks in your wallet in case that wallet is lost or stolen. A money belt is a good option.
The Evacuation Vehicle
If you live in a wildfire-prone area…
Keep your vehicle well-maintained and fuel it regularly to make sure the tank is full especially when wildfire risk is high. Gas station lines might become prohibitively long during mass evacuations. The vehicle you use to evacuate should have a spare tire—preferably a full-sized spare—plus a jack and a lug wrench.
Caution: Couples often are tempted to evacuate in separate cars to avoid leaving either of their vehicles in the fire’s path, but the wiser move is to evacuate together in whichever available vehicle is best suited to the task, based on reliability, roominess and/or the distance it can travel on the fuel currently in its tank. Taking separate cars creates the risk that the family could become separated. It also adds unnecessarily to the traffic on packed evacuation routes.
Have maps of multiple potential evacuation routes stored in your vehicle and/or on your phone. These could include old-fashioned folding maps or maps you’ve printed out from your computer. You also could download digital maps in advance onto your phone. But: Don’t assume you’ll be able to use your phone to access online maps during an emergency evacuation—cellular systems could be overwhelmed…and trusting the map-program route guidance could accidentally steer you toward wildfires or onto already traffic-choked roads. Before there’s an emergency, explore backroads that offer alternative escape routes.
Store first-aid supplies in your vehicle. Your wildfire evacuation first-aid kit should include N95 facemasks, to avoid breathing in ash…and emergency burn dressing—WaterJel Burn Dressing is a good choice (Amazon.com, starting at about $24). A standard off-the-shelf first-aid kit is not sufficient for a real disaster.
Preparing Your Home
Homeowners in wildfire-prone areas can take steps to improve their homes’ survival odds…
Remove or reduce flammable landscaping near the home
Relocate or remove any shrubs and trees that are close to the home. Prune branches of any large trees that remain on the property so that the lowest branches are at least 15 feet above ground level. Create sizeable breaks between tree canopies. Add nonflammable fire breaks around the home, such as gravel pathways or pebble or stone “hardscaping.”
Clear dead leaves and branches off the property
This should be done to a distance of at least 200 feet away from the home. Keeping land free from this plant debris is an important ongoing chore in wildfire areas, not something to do only once a year.
Clean gutters regularly
Leaves or pine needles in gutters can become fuel for a wildfire.
Relocate wood deck furniture, firewood piles and other flammable items stored under your deck
Clear away any leaves that have blown under the deck, too.
Have a fire-resistant roof installed
Homes with metal, slate or tile roofs are more likely to survive wildfires than those with traditional asphalt shingles. Also: Have ember-resistant soffit vents installed.
Buy long garden hoses
These hoses should be of sufficient length that you can spray water onto every part of the exterior of your home.
Additional steps potentially worth taking in the final minutes before evacuation…
- Close all windows and doors, including garage doors.
- Move wood deck furniture off the deck and away from the home. Anything moveable and flammable should be moved away from the home’s exterior.
- Turn off the HVAC system and ceiling fans. If left running, these could draw smoke or embers into the home or circulate them through the home.
- Use duct tape to block vent openings connecting the home’s interior to the outdoors. Cover any vents into crawl spaces below the home, too.
- Lean metal ladders against your home. These could be useful to firefighters. Also: Unspool your garden hoses, and attach them to outdoor spigots and spray nozzles.
- Hose down your roof and outside walls. The moisture will provide some temporary protection against embers.
