This is my first new topic, so I would ask the administrators to review and modify as needed.

This topic is the result of Martin Focazio's post on Correct Risk Assessment and the recent fires in Southern California. I love playing with my survival toys (gear), but I am not likely to take the risks in a hike to need the skills and tools. I will continue to hike prepared, but there are more likely risks I needed to address. Most of you are better prepared than I am, but I would ask each to seriously consider the most likely emergency to occur while at home, and prepare. You probably spend more time at “home” than anywhere else, so the probability of an emergency while at home could be high.

A fire was a likely emergency that would occur while I was at home, so I needed a kit for leaving the house in case of fire. The fire could occur within the house while I was sleeping, or it could occur due to an outside fire. Such a kit would vary depending upon the person, so my kit suggestions are general to help each person to think through their own kit. The kit is located next to my bed in a day pack, to allow easy access in case of fire in the house while I am sleeping. It is important for the kit to be low, so I can roll out of bed and get to the kit in case of fire.

Items:
1. Clothes for one to two days, including shoes, which are appropriate for the season. Toilet kit, etc. Think a weekend in a hotel, since you are likely to end up in a hotel, with family, or in a shelter.
2. Documents important for restarting life. Phone numbers of family, friends, work, etc. I have scanned insurance policies, financial records, birth certificates, passports, driver’s licenses, etc. I put the files into an encrypted file on a flash drive. I sent a spare to a trusted family member, and I keep a spare in the safety deposit box. (Hope my bank doesn’t go under, and I can’t get to the box for awhile!) The file is encrypted for our protection. Photos have been backed up to DVD disc, with spares in the safety deposit box and with the trusted family member. Blast had a great post on documentation.
3. I keep my wallet, keys, etc, in a Spec Ops Pack Rat, which goes into the outside pocket of the pack each night. It helps me find everything when I get up at 3am each day, and I don’t disturb the wife as much, since there is no need for light. (Expensive, but I have used it daily for over five years, so cost per use is low.)
4. I keep a small battery powered radio in the bag. I use one with the same batteries as my flashlight. You will learn more from the local radio news people than those who run the shelters, based upon a past experience.
5. I keep a 3W LED flashlight on an outside pouch. I keep a pair of leather gloves and a Stanley FUBAR next to the bag in case I need to make my own exit path. We have a family rally point, and everyone has critical phone numbers in their cell phones. (I have teenagers.)
6. A few toys (signal mirror, whistle, paperback book, six-in-one screwdriver, utility knife, 6 inch adjustable wrench, six inch needle nose pliers, electrical ties, duct tape, 50 ft paracord, two 45 gallon trash liners, etc.), spare glasses, and a small first aid kit with hand sanitizer.

It has not been much fun scanning all the files, etc., but my family and I are better prepared. I need to add a roll of quarters, since most vending machines will need quarters. After a few more dry runs “living” out of my bag for a weekend, I am likely to make some more changes. My son now has his own bag, but the wife and daughter see no need for such foolishness. Hopefully they are correct, but I sleep better with these preparations.

I hope this post gets each to look at likely risks and be prepared, as compared to playing preparedness, which is what I often have done. I would appreciate any suggestions for improvements.

Spud

[url=http://www.theplacewithnoname.com/blogs/klessons/p/map.html][/url]

Take a run thru this site. i found it here on this site, and it brought to light a few items i had neglected to cover.

Also his workbook is a great place to start if that is where one finds one's self.

As an aside, remember to prep for the unexpected. Here in DFW Texas, we just had two magnitude 3.0 EARTHQUAKES???? (Didn't even notice it)

Prep for tornados really covers the earthquakes for here, but it was REALLY on my back burner list for Texas.

What's next Zombies? (Ha Ha)

One evening, while still a deputy in Oklahoma, I was attending a school function for several children of families I knew thru work/military.

A grandmother noticed that I was wearing my sidearm in addition to my badge and asked if I expected trouble. I told her no Mrs. so and so, if trouble was expected I would have brought a long gun.

One must remember, here in DFW we have even had shootings in church. Inevitably it is the one part of murphy's law you forgot that jumps up and bites your back side.

Make that eight loaded magazines, two bandoliers full of shotgun shells, and a few household chemicals, mixed in the proper proportions.

You sound better prepared to escape a fire than most already - scanning photos and copying your vital docs to a safe deposit box puts you way ahead right there.

I would separate your scenario in two: escape from a fire in your house, and escape from an external fire (wild fire approaching your house). I don't have the possibility of the second here in urban PNW, but everyone has the first scenario. I'll let someone more experienced comment on the wild fire scenario.

First scenario: get OUT, and stay OUT. That means a plan for getting every loved on out of the house, even if the fire blocks the usual exits. On this one I think its good to have the kids do some of the planning and internalize the plan that way, Scholastic recently had a Fire Safety week for which they posted plenty of materials - http://scholastic.com/firesafety/. Make sure your kids have a plan to escape independent of you, and a gathering place afterwards. A hallway may be blocked with flames, you may only be able to get out and go to their window and try to assist them. Better if they didn't try to escape down the flaming hallway, or you come to their rescue, but to crawl out a window.

Practice the plan. The switch to daylights savings time is as good a time as any, replace your smoke alarm batteries and run a 3 minute fire drill. #1 son gets a kick out of getting to crawl out his window and beating us to the rallying point. He was halfway to the next door neighbor's to inform them our house was on fire, which would have been a bit of a surprise for Bellevue FD.

Get OUT and stay OUT, no regrets. There's nothing to run back into the fire for. Precious memories and assets may be burning in the fire, you have to let them go. You've already done your best, by preserving family photos and other stuff and putting them in your safe deposit box. Urban fire response is fairly quick, odds are good they'll save some of your things.

Don't sweat the BOB if your house is on fire. Don't sweat the change of clothes either, if you have family or friends to stay with they can make a trip to Target or Macys for you the next day. If you're more isolated the Red Cross generally has resources to help you. Alive in your underwear or robe is more important than 40% burned holding a BOB. Grab your shoes if you can, but remember the fire department will be on scene quickly, your adrenaline will be pumping, you have neighbors with warmth and blankets you'll do fine even if its cold outside. Get you and your loved ones OUT. Underneath my bed are a pair of shoes, socks, pants, shirt, fleece jacket, flashlight, hardhat gloves, crowbar and gear for turning off gas and water - earthquake stuff, to get out of my bedroom and out of the house. At most I'll grab my shoes, flashlight and the crowbar if the smoke alarms go off.

Expect the unexpected. You've reached the safe rally point outside your house, its pitch dark, smoke is coming out of your home - your youngest daughter isn't there. You hear sirens approaching your house, help is on the way - what can you do? Heroics are constant, you may feel compelled to run back in, but the question is situational - how you respond will depend on the actual circumstances. I don't want to answer this part of the scenario for anyone, just think it through a bit and know what your options are. Breaking her window might accelerate the fire in her bedroom, to this point its been heavy smoke, with an open window it now has a supply of oxygen to fuel it. Her best chance of survival may come from fire fighters entering with their oxygen masks and searching her out. Lord, I hope I never have such a decision to make.

+1+1+1+1+1

Excellent advice.

Re-emphasizing having an assembly point for for family members after the fire, for quick head counting. Draw a map of your house, locations of exits, fire extinguishers and assembly points, and SHOW it to your house guests, baby-sitters, etc. (flashback to one memorable house fire, with about a dozen little girls at a sleepover party!)

Plan, and train your your family on the plan. Rehearse. Some night when you can't sleep, get up, quietly cook up a big pot of cocoa, and set off the smoke detector. Sit back and watch what happens. You might be surprised (and worried). Give everybody a nice cup of cocoa, talk it over.

Also, post your full address, cross streets and phone number by the phone. It could help a visitor, child or injured/impaired/distraught person making the call to 911, or even just to the pizza delivery guy. I was surprised to learn the number of callers who gave old or inaccurate addresses to 911 operators when under stress.

You might want to add a LOUD whistle to your grab bag. Smoke detectors don't always work, nor do they cover every emergency. A large percentage of home smoke detectors are out of service, almost always due to dead or intentionally removed batteries.

There are now smoke detectors that activate all the others wirelessly if one goes off. These are great for large or multi-story houses, and for garage and outbuilding installations. Don't forget CO detectors, fire extinguishers, and utility cut-off wrenches, as appropriate.

Lots of people sleep with their bedroom doors open, so they can hear the kids, equalize heating and cooling, etc. I do, but that's so my dogs can "patrol" throughout the house. However, be aware that closed doors offer considerable protection from fire-related hazards, for technical reasons I won't get into here.

Consider teaching your kids to close their bedroom doors at night, and close other interior doors. If it's easy for them to go out their window safely, teach them to do so as their default response to fire alarms.

Feel closed doors and knobs with the back of your hand before opening if fire is suspected. Close doors and windows behind you after exiting, if you are certain you are the last one out.

Mark the windows of bedrooms occupied by young children, the elderly, disabled or those needing special assistance to evacuate. Ask your local FD how to do this, or if they have a registry system, but consider the safety implications of marking windows visible from the street.

The speed and success of searches for trapped or unconscious victims of structure fires is vastly improved by thermal imaging devices, but some volunteer or underfunded departments don't have them yet. Consider this as a useful fund-raising project for your civic group.

After zombie attacks, a fire in the home is probably the most likely survival challenge most people will face. So it merits prominence in your thinking, training, planning and preparations.

Jeff

A few thoughts prompted by our sunday family fire drill:

- found one smoke detector with a disconnected battery. It was high up above the kitchen, too high to disconnect without a ladder, so I must blame operator error (me) when first connecting it a year ago. Check em, check em all.

- the local media was talking about talking smoke alarms, citing evidence that kids react more swiftly to voices rather than loud 79 db beeping. Too late for this year, but I'll look into this some more and think about switching out my standard smoke alarms for the kind where you record your voice shouting at your kids, at least for the smoke alarms in their rooms. Any more info on this topic, or any recommendations for a good model that records voice (preferabl voice, and then loud db beeping). Wired, with battery backup, and synched so they all go off if one goes off.

- the next door neighbors wanted to know what we were all standing out on the side walk for. It prompted a talk about fire drills, and a pointer to the Scholastic website for their young Zach to review and plan their family's own drill. They are new in the neighborhood, Korean, and not used to planning for household emergencies - 2 million invading North Korean yes, not so much a house fire. I think Yan takes me for a typical American, so if he keeps up the interest he may take on some slightly strange preparedness characteristics.

- the next door neighbors aren't actually our rallying point, that's across the street. It seems like whenever I get outside and rake leaves (rarely), the neighbor comes out and rakes leaves. Sure enough, we had a fire drill, #1 son almost knocked on their door to report a fire, and a half hour later they were having their own fire drill with their twin daughters. Imitation is the best flattery.

Burt Gummer - my hero!

Thanks for all the ideas that are helping me clarify my plans. Thanks also for the great web site regarding starting over after Katrina.

Spud