This afternoon we did a small burn pile where we took care of 2 pine trees that died over the winter.  Being in a high fire risk area we didn't want them lieing around, even for a few days.  Watching them burn with such explosive force, brought back memories of the Southern California Fires of 2003.

We lived in Valley Center, CA (Northern San Diego County) at that time in a 125 year old adobe farm house.  It was in a country/rural location and was surrounded by some dead orchards and a dry creek bed with overgrown brush.  One night in September, I awoke at 3 AM to the smell of smoke.  I quickly searched the house to check each room and make sure we weren't on fire.  The smell was so strong as I made my way through the house and then out the back.  As I stepped outside I was greeted with 2, 50' high walls of flame that were advancing on us from two sides.  They were probably only a couple of miles away at that point, with 35-45 mile an hour winds whipping them up into a fury.

I stood there for a moment and thought, "I wonder if I should get Steve up… and then jolted out of my shock, began to shake and ran to get him!"  We furiously began to gather our priceless belongings as well as the important parts of our business such as my hard drive, original art, backup disks etc.  I learned a few lessons that I would like to pass on to you.  Perhaps these tips might prevent your losing your priceless family photographs and heirlooms, or more importantly your lives, should a disaster happen to you one day.

When fire happens, especially in the middle of the night, you go into shock.  You don't think right and sometimes you don't have time to think at all.  We spent 3-4 hours not knowing if we were going to have to evacuate or not and wandered from room to room thinking, "Is there anything here that I can't live without or replace?"  The shocking thing was how often we said, "No."  In our culture we really do own too much stuff! 

In the end, we were fortunate.  Through the inexplicable whims of fire, the flames came right up to the dead grove and then changed direction.  It came within 1200' of our property, but chose a different course, sparing us, but continuing on to destroy the homes of others.

Two weeks later, I walked through our house and thought "Oh my, I would have lost that!  We didn't even think to grab it!"  Our community lost more homes per capita than any other area in So. Cal. with 265 homes and 2 lives lost.  We watched firsthand the devastation of losing irreplaceable heirlooms, not to mention the life of one of my daughter's dear friends.  Here are my suggestions to give you a much greater chance of retaining your valuables (and your lives) in an emergency. 

1. Take time now to think through a list of everything you would want take with you and write it down on paper.  Put that paper into the very first item you would think to grab in an emergency (your wedding album, a baby's book etc.).  Use a red marker to highlight the top of the paper, mark it "Fire Emergency Checklist" and leave it sticking out of the top of the book enough that you would see it when you grab it to go.  You can even copy the list and put it in several places.  If you have multiple copies you pass them out so other family members can help round things up.  Examples of list items: photo albums, scrapbooks, baby books, videos, family bibles, DVD's or hard drives with computer information, important items such as your fire insurance policy, tax returns, marriage certificates, birth certificates, wills, an address book so you can contact relatives,  etc.  Some of these papers could also be stored in a highly rated fire resistant safe.
2. Often times in a fire emergency you will have 5-10 minutes at most to grab things and go.  Store everything that is an irreplaceable valuable, together in one place so that you don't have to search your entire house to find them.  If there are items that need to be stored in different rooms, group them together on the list to make the round up as quick as possible.  You'll have a better chance of saving them in a really urgent situation that way.
3. A safe deposit box at your bank can be a good idea for storing some of these important papers off site in case of disaster. 
4. Don't worry about clothes or toiletries (that's the first thing believe it or not that many people pack).  The Salvation Army will provide you anything you'll need of that variety, and the first thing people donate in an emergency is clothing.
5. Don't wait too long to leave.  In wildfires, many people die because they wait too long and think that they can drive out of danger.  Fire eats oxygen and your car requires oxygen to run.  Without it, the car will die leaving you in harm's way.  Our daughter's friend died this way and her sister was badly burned but recovered.
6. Fire moves faster than you can believe and it often creates it's own winds.  Many people foolishly think they'll protect their homes only to realize too late that fire is a roaring monster.  It is not controllable by the best trained and equipped firefighters, let alone a home owner armed with a garden hose!  Don't wait to be told to evacuate either, there's no guarantee that the fire department will be able to give you adequate warning.  If you even think you should go, GO!
7. Don't go around fire lines.  A dear friend and employee of ours did, and she and her son drove into a fire trap.  They literally had to throw her car in reverse, put the petal to the floor and pray for mercy.  They barely escaped with their lives… In the end, she didn't care about the home she was trying to get to, once she realized her foolishness could have cost her son his life and her other children their mother.

I'll share a few more things we learned about fire safety in the next couple of days.  I pray that you never need any of this information, but if you ever do you'll be glad you took the time to prepare.  Feel free to forward this information on to your loved ones and friends.

Audrey Jeanne Roberts