Dear Editor:
Wanted to share my evacuation experiences and lessons learned while they’re still fresh in my mind. Although it wasn’t a 5 minute evacuation, it was pretty stress-free. Fortunately, I started serious preparations early this year, or it would have been a whole lot more work.
My house is (was?) within about five miles of the starting point of the fire. Not far at all, but fires don’t burn that well downhill, so it was ok. But the wind picked up big last night and sent the fire into the houses within about three miles of me.
I got my pile of “definitely going with me” stuff by the garage door on Saturday night. The bullets and bullion, mostly. Since this isn’t TEOTWAWKI, I wasn’t much worried about food, other than losing hundreds of dollars worth of stored food to the fire.
I continued getting things ready, packing some clothes, organizing things to be ready to go, but not really organized.
Lesson #1 – partly organized isn’t ready for full-scale, fast evac. To do that, I’d have needed duplicate things already packed and ready to go. For example, duplicate toiletries so you have the set you use and the set that’s ready to go. Going back and forth is a hassle, and the extra is worth it.
I was away from home last evening as the fire raged on. On my way home, they had evacuated the Air Force Academy and more neighborhoods from the northeast part of town. It was a traffic fiasco. They shut down I-25, leaving me to find the back roads way home. Ordinarily not a problem since I’ve lived here forever. But the crazy driving, the police blockades and gawkers stopped by the side of the road made it much more difficult than anticipated. Fortunately, I just kept flowing with what worked and turning where I had to.
Lesson #2: During a large scale evacuation, expect traffic to be a mess no matter which direction you’re. There were people stuck in traffic for hours, not moving – and they were darn close to the fire! Good news is that the incident management team gave lots of notice to leave, and they evacuated in sections, so it wasn’t really time critical. In a true TEOTWAWKI situation, though, you’re not going to drive anywhere. Maybe ever.
Once I got home, I tossed all of my “ready to go” stuff in the back of my truck, and then started going back for “Tier 2” stuff. That was the stuff I had already planned in the back of my head that I would take with me. That included critical business stuff, like the computer and networking equipment, and some additional tools and belongings I wanted.
Lesson #3: Since some things can’t easily (or affordably) be duplicated, make sure they can be evacuated quickly. For me, that means have all of the equipment in a small pile, easily extracted and put into a carrying container. It took me about 30 minutes to get all of the equipment out from under the table, cable rat’s nest separated, and into a bag (that I had to get from downstairs!). If/when I go back home, I’ll have a much more transportable system set up, with carrying case in place.
At that point, I had most of the things I wanted into my truck, and then started going for “Tier 3” things. This included books, more medical gear, and some other random personal things. Then I took a breath to find out if I needed to get out. Since I had disconnected all of my television gear, I couldn’t use that info outlet! I probably wouldn’t change that, though. I used my nose instead. I went outside to look, listen and smell. Most of my neighbors had already packed up and left. I could see a big orange glow that didn’t look far away at all, maybe a couple miles. The smoke was worse than before, but not choking. And there really wasn’t much sound at all. Nothing untoward anyway.
Now I had to figure out one of my biggest challenges – surprisingly so: How to move both packed cars with cats and dog and the most valuable things in my life in them! This was made more complicated because I didn’t have room for the dog in the truck, and I the back window in my truck wouldn’t roll up – so I couldn’t secure the really valuable stuff!
I talked with my “retreat” to find out what they knew. Unfortunately, nothing they knew really helped me make that decision. Since no one had knocked on my door to tell me I was officially, “mandatorily” evacuated, I elected to drive the sedan to the retreat, then come back for the truck. Went and packed up the cats and drove off.
Imagine my surprise then, when I got a ways down the road and realized I was driving the truck instead of the sedan! Oops! Yeah, and I didn’t know if I would be able to fit it in the garage of the retreat! Instead of turning around, I just went forward, because I didn’t know if I’d be able to get back home once I left the neighborhood. And I had the most valuable stuff with me.
Lesson #4: Having one person and two cars and no backup doesn’t work all that well in evac mode. Especially when you can’t secure one of the cars! Have backup meet you there to help out, if possible. I considered doing that, but with the luxury of time, I didn’t. In a more time-critical operation, you’re either packing everything into a space that doesn’t work, or leaving stuff behind and hoping for the best – like I did. And don’t expect that an unrehearsed plan will go perfectly. I sure was surprised when I “woke up” in the truck!
Lesson #5: The process of evacuation is a process of “letting go”. Specifically saying, “I can live without that.” Knowing in a very black and white way, that you may literally NEVER SEE IT AGAIN. For me, it was surprisingly easy to do, for the most part. Maybe that comes from having moved a lot of times in my life, and having a fairly loose grasp on the things in my life. I have it or I don’t, ok. Maybe because I’ve never defined my life as the things I own? Or not being very sentimental? Or maybe because the memories are more valuable to me than the T-shirt I got for being there and doing that? Dunno.
In any case, as I drove to the retreat, I heard the mandatory evacuation notice for my area on the radio. I still had to hope the police would let me back in to get the other car.
Lesson #6: The media is both good and bad in this situation. The bad: mostly, they repeat the same information over and over – obtained from the press briefings at 8 am and 4 pm. Not very helpful. And then they spew oatmeal in between that. Amazing the nonsense that comes out of their mouths – lots of filler words that sound intelligent but mean nothing. The good: They tell you when/where the evacuation zones are. Mostly accurate, but at times inaccurate. But IMHO, if you were waiting to be told you should be ready to evacuate, you’re an idiot. This is a wildfire! No one knows what it might do, so be prepared.
Fortunately, my truck did fit in the retreat garage. Then saddled up for the return trip. It was fine, the cops were just starting to get setup to block the neighborhood. Since I had some more time, and the ominous glow had retreated some, I went in for some luxuries. Like the photo albums, some food for the retreat, and a few other things – like cat and dog food, bowls and litter boxes. About another 20 minutes, and it was time to say goodbye to the house. I’d being doing that all night, so I just shut the door and left. I even forgot to do the “dojo bow” as I’ve done before.
Once back at the retreat – now some four hours after arriving at home to evac, I unloaded some stuff and sat back to reflect, ponder and relax.
Lesson #6: The last lesson came when I started getting ready for bed and this morning. I hadn’t brought everything I really wanted! For example, I forgot to get my razor from the shower into my toiletries bag. And a pair of shorts for sleeping in. Oh, and I snagged a fingernail in moving stuff and didn’t bring my fingernail clippers. I know, all small stuff, but it’s a bummer to not have it when putting aside extras would have been so easy.
And now I get wait and wonder if I’ll ever move back into my house. And even the television news can’t tell me that…
Be Safe, Be Prepared, – E.P.
JWR Replies: There is nothing like the prospect of a wildfire to get people re-thinking their priorities. And of course many fire preparations cross over into other areas.Here is a great quote, courtesy of SurvivalBlog reader Stephen M.: “The sudden closure of service stations along with other businesses, leaving fleeing motorists unable to fill up their cars, added to a sense of urgency as roads filled with traffic Tuesday…”. And there are also fires raging in Utah. Stay safe and plan ahead, folks!