During an active emergency, it’s important to know multiple ways out of your home and community.
How to Get Away During an Active Wildfire
Getting out of the way when wildfire is heading toward you seems like a simple concept, but it’s not necessarily as easy as it sounds. For instance: 1) fire is unpredictable and can arrive or change direction without much warning; just getting out of your house may be a challenge, 2) even with plenty of warning and an evacuation order, you and your family won’t be the only ones trying to get out of your community; you need options for getting around traffic and other obstacles.
Plan at least two options for getting out of your house.
You know your home best, so please just take this method as a suggestion. Front and back doors may be the most obvious choices; but it’s also important to consider ground-level windows, hatches, or other exits that can be easily opened or broken for convenient access to a direct path away from the house. Depending on your home, you may need to work out exit plans for additional levels. Some experts even recommend identifying two ways of exiting each room in your home.
Plan at least two options for getting off your street.
Let’s call this one “driving or walking.” If driving is your option, make sure you know exactly what to do when you get to either end of your street in order to drive in a safe direction. If thick smoke or other obstacles make driving impossible, you’ll need to get off your street on foot. Do some planning with your neighbors to find out whose property has the best exit points for getting off your street and en route to safety.
Plan at least two options for getting out of your community.
You may think you know your town like the back of your hand, but you’d be surprised at how adrenaline, fear, and uncertainty can wipe the memory of your inner GPS. And honestly, how well does anyone REALLY know the back of their hand? Get out a map (a real one, because you may not be able to count on a phone signal during a natural disaster). Find two easily accessible routes for getting you away from your neighborhood and toward a previously decided safe destination (if you don’t have one of those, pick one and mark it on your map).
How do you know when to leave?
Besides obvious clues like active fire in the neighborhood, you should monitor for evacuation orders when there is a fire risk situation in your community. Follow @ButteSheriff on Twitter for evacuation notices. Evacuation notices will be called by zone. You can find out which zone you live in with our know your zone tool.
Find your zone right now and make note of it!
