Have Your “Go Bag” Ready When “Go Time” Comes

The only thing you should have to think about is grabbing it.

Evacuations happen, so be ready for them.

We do everything we can to hold wildfire at bay, but there are times when you just have to get out of its way and let firefighters have room to do their job. When that eventuality arrives, there’s no time to GET ready to go. You have to BE ready to go. That means each member of your family should be able to grab their go-bag and head for the vehicle you’re using to evacuate.

“Go bag” means “packed bag.”

Your go-bag essentials should be extras of everything you need during the course of a day, not the ones you’re already using in the house. Soap, shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste, medicine, whatever, you should have a separate supply pre-packed into your go bag. Even if you know exactly where to find everything you might want to take with you, you won’t have time during an evacuation to pack; in fact, in all the commotion of evacuation, it could be very easy to forget something important.

Put your go bag where you can grab it and go.

Some guides tell you to store go bags under your bed. We recommend keeping all of your family’s go bags in a central location, handy to the exit you plan to use in the event of an evacuation. This way, nobody runs the risk of racing out to your evacuation meeting point without their bag. The last thing you want to do is walk further into the house to locate a bag when the goal is to get out of the house as quickly as possible. If you have pets, the go bags you prepare for them can be stored in your vehicle.

Learn more about go bags for adults, children and pets here.