With Appreciation
To all who have called, texted and emailed,
asking about our fire situation in Southern Oregon,
and expressing concern,
THANK YOU.
Your wishes extend to many in Oregon
(and the whole west coast)
who were not as lucky and have suffered greatly. drb

 

As I slump into my chair to write this post in Southern Oregon, there is devastation all around (as well as smoke). To date, we are lucky ones – still a home, and even electricity. No phone or computer, but cell phones working. [Later, at posting time, internet is obviously functioning.] For each of us fortunate enough to be on the ‘right’ side of the wind-gods, there are many who were not. Many of those friends.

If I have the connection to post this blog in a few days, I want to take the opportunity not just to say “be prepared,” but to try and help you do so by sharing my own Evacuation Checklist. Despite your living arrangements – owning a house, or not, living in co-housing, senior housing, assisted facility – much of this will apply.

Every community has fire-preparation help; there is a lot of material out there. I don’t want to recreate that; I am simply sharing the essentials to start gathering, or to double check against your current ‘Go-list.’

Evac Kit, and ‘Go-Bag’ Storage  

On the list below, pay particular notice to the ‘go-bag.’ This should always be set, even if you have to duplicate things normally found in your home. This week demonstrated to us that despite our planning, we had items missing from our bag. The ‘go-bag’ is something everyone can do NOW. Not tomorrow.

You love your pets. Don’t forget to plan for them. We don’t have pets, so their needs aren’t on our list. But if you share a home with pets, they (and their gear) need a special place on your list.

Where to store evacuation kit? Neither I nor my husband work outside the home, so that is our location for storage. Still we need a place where we can get to our bags and items easily. Leaving them near the door as a permanent site is not reasonable for us. There are options not too far from the our exits and serve well as a loading area (we choose a closet). A few extra emergency needs ought to stay in the car all the time (obviously this is tricky for food).

Key Points if Faced with Emergency Evacuation 

Before explaining my own list, I just want to mention a few ‘can’t ignore’ topics.

1. Please be on your local community notification system. Ours is Nixle, but the county citizen alert system – available in most places – is also handy. With the Nixle system, we can be contacted by home phone, work phone, email, text or all four. Try not to rely on your housing facility if that is your situation – be responsible to know for yourself to keep you ahead of the curve (and get ready sooner). If phones or internet are out-of-service, as was my situation, text alerts are vital. I also suggest a battery radio that gets both AM and FM for news backup. If your cable TV is not working, consider disconnecting and using air/broadcast for banner scrolls from local television stations. Be warned that information access and media coverage is not as current, helpful or forthcoming as you might expect.
   While you are at it, and if you haven’t already, discover where to find local air quality information. [See AQI – Check for Better Quality of Life – 4 Easy-Peasy steps.]
   …..
2. You all know Levels 1-2-3 (Be Ready – Be Set – GO). Still, sometimes (especially with high winds as was the case in our area) the fires move so quickly, you may not get the ‘#2’ warning. If you are put on the level 1 warning to get ready – REALLY get ready. [Don’t just ‘think it through’ in your mind.] Aim for no more than 20-30 minutes (or less) until driving away. This planning may seem like a waste of time if the fire (or other disaster) passes you by, but the preparation will either result in big help later or at least offer peace of mind.
   …..
3. Prepare Flash Drives NOW! Even if you must get a teenage granddaughter to help, put as much on flash drives as possible – especially photos. Perhaps scan important documents to keep duplicates of those in that digital form as well. [My 32 GB drive held much more than I expected.]
   …..
4. Fire Box. It’s worth the cost of a fire box if it can save even one important document (or as I use it, for photo negatives). I can’t say I know how well these boxes work, but I’m hopeful. Better than nothing? We bought one that also guards against water (as in flood or fire hoses). Don’t forget keys for these boxes in your GO-bag.
   …..
5. Money. Have actual cash on-hand (aside from credit cards); it might just come in handy.  [There is no guarantee that ATM machines will be working.]

Our Personal Evacuation Check-List

Every list needs to be personalized; we’re all different. What I may want to protect may not come close to being on your priority list. No judgement. For instance, of all the things I have lost over the years, the one that haunts me is a box of sheet music, sold by mistake when I wasn’t around. Others may have a piece of art so valuable to them that it needs to be first in the car. Thus, make your list truly YOURS.

Be honest with yourself. Set different levels of significance, including what you might take only if there is time and space compared to the things MOST important to you. You will notice that my list may have odd sounding items; when you are done, yours may as well. In addition, some of our items are bolded to stand out in status. We set up our list to work from one room to the next (instead of back-tracking) to collect items together.  Even fewer areas would be preferable.

Lastly, I hate to say this, but if you prepare materials ahead of time (as we should), they need to reviewed and updated yearly for any changes.  (For instance, my item of ‘1 year of taxes’ needs to be the most recent year, thus changed annually.)  I have worked on our checklist for several years, see Are you Ready?  Never too Old for a Dozen New Tips.

I sincerely pray you never need this list, but hope you will use it as an incentive to begin, update or review your own plan. We will never be fully prepared for something like this when it happens (especially not emotionally). Still, we can try our best to think ahead and bring a bit of calmness and serenity to our thoughts.

At Aging with Pizzazz, I have frequently stated the 1^st key to quality aging is “avoid the landmines,” only half a joke. It recognizes that the best-laid plans don’t always work out. The landmines include all disasters (fire, flood, hurricanes, landslides, tornados, etc). I hope we are all able to avoid them when possible and have luck with us when we can’t.

Best to all,
drb

Sample Evacuation Plan 2020

Immediate Emergency 1*
□ Shut off Gas / Electric / Water (special utility tools located near garbage cans)
□ Prop wooden gates open (to slow fire path to house)

Sheltering in place?
□ protect/save water in water heater
□ Freeze ice blocks if electric is ON
□ Fill bathtubs
□ Water jugs – 3 and 5 gallons (should already be filled)

 

Important
□   Wallets (licenses, credit cards, insurance cards, etc.)
□   Cellphones ( WITH chargers). Solar chargers if purchased
□   CASH (small bills) in GO bag but get more if time

 

Office

• Computers & mice
• Password list
• Flash drives (ALL – Finances, Pictures, others)
• Small stack of checks
• 1 year taxes (hard copy)
• Paper & Pens
• Photo Albums (maybe camera)
• Engagement history calendars
  (put in empty plastic bins-located in DR closet)

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Closets

• Bag with Blankets & REI chairs
• Green car bag with maps etc.
• Passports

Small box (use other list to ck what goes in this box)

• Important Papers (on drives or otherwise) — Contents of Firebox (if time to remove)
  Need: finance papers, house papers, Insurance policies: house, cars, birth certificates, Wills, Passports)
  Local, state (and adjoining state) maps / large one in car

…..

Bedroom

• Jewelry
• Music (heavy bag for music)
• Flute
• Day packs personal – last minute items
• Winter coats (& EXTRA shoes)
• Wedding Box
• Battery powered radio & mp3
• EXTRA batteries
• Binoculars (to look for help or look out)
• Sleeping bags & pads (sheets/pillow)

 

Other: Kitchen or Garage

• WATER JUGS-FILLED 5 gal but take 3 gal
• Water Filter
• Cook kit (small stove etc)
• Food (pre-packed kit)
  2 wk supply: canned fish, dried fruits etc, boil-pouch items.
• Vitamins/ medications
• Engraved Ice ax
• Emergency TOOL Bag
• Car tent or TENT – & camp gear if time
• Tarp (?) do last….. for tent floor etc.
• CAMP BOX: (or) eating utensils/cups plates. Can-opener. Camp stove in box

 

Go Bag items already in place:
1^st aid kit (orange) ….. braces (back, knee, etc) ….. Flashlight / headlamps ….. Smoke/ Dust/ Filter masks ..… Whistle to signal for help ..….. extra batteries ……. Reading & script glasses ….. Cards & Games (entertainment) ……. Matches ……. Duct tape …… Plastic Sheeting …… Garbage bags & ties/ personal sanitation needs (including TP) …… Moist towelettes …… PREPARED clothes sac …… cosmetics / toiletries & eye contacts ….. fire box keys …… work gloves …… extra bottle of NSAIDs.

 

Secondary items 2^◦ (wish to keep if possible with time & space & situation):
Musical instruments ……….    Music stand (crafted) ……….  Plastic bins memorabilia ……….  Toy chest (memorabilia of both families)  ……….  Kennedy tool box

_____________________________________________________________________

P.S. On the day after composing this post, sirens blared up the road next to us, which leads to lovely wooded areas, and that ultimately hook up with the PCT (Pacific-Coast Trail). Our hearts pounded. We donned masks to protect from the smoke (at the time a hazardous AQI of 515) and loaded up our car. It was not another fire event and quickly proved danger-free. Still, even at a level 1, with no clear risk, sometimes a little extra caution and effort is simply a route to composure.

Photo credit: evacuation sign Image by Paul Brennan from Pixabay

 

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