OT: Fire is coming. What do you grab?

[gregndodgers]

I’ve been evacuated twice. The 2018 Woolsey fire and the current Eaton fire.. I may be wrong, but in most cases, you should have sufficient time to grab important stuff. However, when the fire begins quickly and you are very close to it, there may not be sufficient time.

I keep all my important stuff in one location, so in 2018, I was able to grab everything. My car was full of stuff! I grabbed legal documents, old family photos, and my vintage cards! Plus lots of clothes for the whole family.

It was surreal. I thought evacuations where people had to grab family photo albums only happened in the movies. Well, we know it does happen.

I also went through the 2004 hurricane Ivan.

[Exhibitman]

I actually had to make this decision the other day when we got an erroneous evac alert.

Pets, meds, phone, laptop, chargers, the box of vital records, guns and ammo. Oh, and the wife. Whatever other stuff not of immediate use is insured anyway, including my cards. Only an asshole gets killed over cards.

[raulus]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

I actually had to make this decision the other day when we got an erroneous evac alert.

Pets, meds, phone, laptop, chargers, the box of vital records, guns and ammo. Oh, and the wife. Whatever other stuff not of immediate use is insured anyway, including my cards. Only an asshole gets killed over cards.

Hopefully that means the fire didn’t blaze through your neighborhood.

Curious about the guns and ammo. Did you bring those for protection, or to avoid the fire setting them off and potentially striking first responders nearby?

[LEHR]

Curious as to what the guns & ammo, blankets, food, gold, and hygiene supplies are for that has been mentioned above. If we're talking an apocalyptic event then sure, I agree with all the above; but if I'm only evacuating for a fire I'm personally just going to make a trip to Walmart for snacks and toiletries and then hold up at the Hyatt or Hilton until it's over.

[clydepepper]

As someone very involved in animal welfare, it's great to see how many value their pets so highly.

I could not enjoy life without my babies:

BUDDYHOLLY4.jpg

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by LEHR

Curious as to what the guns & ammo, blankets, food, gold, and hygiene supplies are for that has been mentioned above. If we're talking an apocalyptic event then sure, I agree with all the above; but if I'm only evacuating for a fire I'm personally just going to make a trip to Walmart for snacks and toiletries and then hold up at the Hyatt or Hilton until it's over.

Well, if I am going on a vacation, I would take my hygiene supplies. Why buy more needlessly? You also assume there will be stuff on the shelves. Might not be, especially if deliveries have been disrupted for a few days. That's why you are supposed to take things like pet food.

The hotel idea is nice but with tens of thousands of people evacuated, what makes you think you can get a reservation? My wife and I discussed it and we decided to head for Anaheim if we were evacuated because it is off-season and the hospitality infrastructure around Disneyland is immense.

As for the guns, I'd rather not have my guns laying around for someone to steal if there is looting (which there is). Better to lug em than to put em on the street.

[LEHR]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

Well, if I am going on a vacation, I would take my hygiene supplies. Why buy more needlessly? You also assume there will be stuff on the shelves. Might not be, especially if deliveries have been disrupted for a few days. That's why you are supposed to take things like pet food.

The hotel idea is nice but with tens of thousands of people evacuated, what makes you think you can get a reservation? My wife and I discussed it and we decided to head for Anaheim if we were evacuated because it is off-season and the hospitality infrastructure around Disneyland is immense.

As for the guns, I'd rather not have my guns laying around for someone to steal if there is looting (which there is). Better to lug em than to put em on the street.

Fair enough. I understand your thought process. My thought was that I'm just getting out and if I need something to eat or a toothbrush I'll go buy it. To me that's not needless spending as the cost of hygiene items are trivial and the entire state can't be out. And as you said, if I needed to drive to Anaheim, or Las Vegas for that matter to get a hotel that's what I would do. Again, I was just curious as to why people listed so many different items, not saying anyone is wrong.

[OhioLawyerF5]

Originally Posted by raulus

Hopefully that means the fire didn’t blaze through your neighborhood.



Curious about the guns and ammo. Did you bring those for protection, or to avoid the fire setting them off and potentially striking first responders nearby?

Unless the ammo is loaded into the gun, it is relatively harmless if it is set off by heat. The projectile needs the chamber and barrel to direct the explosive gases. Otherwise, with nothing to contain the blast, the small amount of gun powder in ammunition simply dissipates nearly harmlessly.

I guess if you have a huge arsenal that goes off at once, it could be a nice explosion. But most of the time, it's not a major concern.

[Vintagedeputy]

Originally Posted by OhioLawyerF5

Unless the ammo is loaded into the gun, it is relatively harmless if it is set off by heat. The projectile needs the chamber and barrel to direct the explosive gases. Otherwise, with nothing to contain the blast, the small amount of gun powder in ammunition simply dissipates nearly harmlessly.

I guess if you have a huge arsenal that goes off at once, it could be a nice explosion. But most of the time, it's not a major concern.

As a firearms instructor, I concur.