Folks, this is exactly the kind of disaster we all prepare for. If you're not in the affected area, then you're probably wondering what to do to help.

Let's start with the easy:

1. Don't call anyone there. The phone trunks lines are burning, the cell system is imploded, whatever capacity is in the affected area is needed for rescue and evacuee coordination.

2. If you MUST contact someone, use a text message to their cell phone. It takes less bandwidth, and has a "retry" method built in.

3. Send money (not clothes, not materials) to the Red Cross.
- Call 1-800-RED CROSS or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish)
- Make at secure, online donation at www.redcross.org.
- Contact your local Red Cross chapter
- Mail a Donation to:
American Red Cross
PO Box 4002018
Des Moines, IA 50340-2018

4. Re-Think your GO plans after you read this:
"We began a simple gathering of important articles "just in case" but had no real evacuation plan, as we never thought it would make it to Poway"
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/23/gallen.fire/index.html?iref=mpstoryview
Let's not bust his chops for the fact that he packed an XBOX and DVD's and didn't pack any WATER....but read it to the end, it's a good look at what you're up against out there.

OK, now let's consider the 1,000 homes destroyed - if there's 4 people in each home, that's 4,000 new homeless people, and there are 300,000 displaced people, and we don't know how long before the fire runs out of fuel (hopefully soon), so at this point, it's a pretty big deal to figure out what to DO with 300,000 evacuees.

They are already calling for FOOD AND WATER because they are running out...so as I've said many times - water, water, water and more water. So important to maintain the water supplies - all the rest you can scrounge or do without.

Execllent advice. Also -- don't drive over to look at them. No tourist rubbernecking.

teacher

Death may be the great leveler, but fire does a pretty good job, too. No matter how much money you make, or how many possessions you have.

Having friends or family to go to is wonderful, even if their house is small. Just take your tent. Then you don't have to add to the problems at an emergency center. And try to take your own supplies so you're less of a drain on your friends.

I used to live down there, and those Devil's Wind fires were awful.

Sue

My guess with the xboxes and dvd's is kid entertainment.
I've put bugging out at a high priority compared to some because I'm in an older neighborhood in the city. As more and more of the houses around me become government supported I have more and more people around with the attitude that everything is someone elses responsibility. So I'll be one of the first to leave before they show up expecting handouts.
Some of the things I have done.
1. Fireproof safe: every receipt for anything we keep goes in there after being scanned. Folders are organized by rooms or person. Its heavy so there is potential to have to leave it if we have to leave fast. So I've recently taken some report covers and made small binders for each person which hold papers like their birth certificates, social security cards and cd's with bank statements and such. If we have to leave quickly we just take those.
2. Bank Access: People leaving NOLA found out they couldn't access their banks which were under water. I opened a second set of checking/savings/credit accounts at another bank and direct deposit my pay split between the two. I have all my recurring bills set up at both as well so I can make payments out of one or the other if I can't access one of them. I closed out all of our store cards to make fewer accounts to maintain.
3. Making important items portable: When considering a computer purchase for example I buy laptops, as long as you don't buy the cheap consumer grade crap they last many years, mine is 5 years old now and still works fine. if we have to leave its small enough to go with me, will fit in the pocket on the back of the seat or in my backack bob.

SAN DIEGO - Like Hurricane Katrina evacuees two years earlier in New Orleans, thousands of people rousted by natural disaster have fled to a NFL stadium, waiting out the calamity outside San Diego and worrying about their homes.

The similarities ended there, as an almost festive atmosphere reigned at Qualcomm Stadium.

Bands belted out rock 'n' roll, lavish buffets served gourmet entrees, and massage therapists helped relieve the stress for those forced to flee their homes because of wildfires.

...Sure beats the Superdome I guess.

If you think you may have to evacuate, I recommend you go to:
http://www.oism.com/nwss/ and print out Chapter 4: Evacuation

This contains get down & dirty instructions on QUICKLY getting organized, loaded up, & on the road in 2 hours.

wildman,

i think that something is wrong with the link you provided. could you check and repost (i would be very interested in what it has to say). thanks.

I never seem to post links right. Put: Nuclear War Survival Skills into a search engine, go there, and look at Chapter 4.

http://www.oism.org/nwss/

I tested this and it works!!!! Sorry for my confusion, it's getting to be a habit

Corrected: http://www.oism.org/nwss/s73p915.htm

Sue