Well, California seems to have it worse than usual -- fires and power outages.
What can we learn from this?

Not to make your bug out vehicle an electric one?

CalFire map is a good place to keep up to date on fires, where they are and status.

The Easy Fire is the one which threatened the Reagan Library earlier.

Actually, an e-vehicle can be pretty useful, especially if it is a hybrid.

One learns to be aware and pay attention to news media, but also to immediate surroundings, not a bad idea in any situation.

We are watching a fire which erupted to the east of us about 6 AM this morning. Now reported at 1300 acres,it is under vigorous and effective attack.

You get comfortable with the notion that evacuation could occur at almost any time and you prepare accordingly. Our vehicles are stocked with minimal bug out items routinely.

Long terms, there are bigger issues - under grounding power lines, a good idea or not? Enhanced fire resistant construction and retrofitting? restrictions on development in the wildland-urban interface??

Years ago, during my first wildfire training, I was told that California chaparral was the most hazardous type of fire fighting. That is still true. Those on the fire lines now are doing a very dangerous job extremely well.

As long as you keep your battery topped off before the power goes off, why should it matter?

A gasoline or diesel vehicle won't get far on an empty fuel tank either. And when grid power goes off, most gas stations can't pump fuel to fill your tank.

Well, the Nissan Leaf my wife drives for work has trouble going 80 miles on a full charge.

Not something I would count on if you get home from work and don't have the hours needed to recharge and have to bug out.

With the fire danger up for today thru Friday, I topped off my tank. It’s a 20 gallon tank and it took about 6.5g to fill it, but now I’ve got 400+ highway miles if it’s needed.

A hybrid is the way to go. More complex than all electric, but much better range and practicality on the highway going distance — good in heavy traffic too. Toyota Camry hybrids and Prius seem to be all over the place here. I’ve seen a few Tesla’s and Nissan Leaf’s, and while Tesla has pretty good range, is the charging infrastructure in place to make a cross country trip realistic. How do those power outages effect that infrastructure?

Not into electric cars myself, but from what I understand from people who are, the Leaf has by far the worst range of any of the current models. Most of the other 2019 models claim over 200 miles on a charge. Some predict next years models will go ~300 miles on a charge.

Of course if one is running AC or heater, or hauling a big load, that will reduce the effective range.

As Russ notes, with current technology a hybrid is probably a better way to go, rather than a purely electric model.

another potential plus for hybrids is their utility when you remain at home - a real potential when the Big One EQ has disrupted infrastructure and life in general. I believe they are ways tomodify the wiring so that the vehicle can service at least some of your home with electricity - probably not dealer approved.

These recurring events remind me that bugging out and power outages are not just theoretical...