
Ask HN: My house might burn down in the next 24 hours. Suggestions? - kbenson
E.g. Paperwork not to forget, items to document, things to expect when dealing with insurance, etc. I&#x27;m looking to avoid stupid mistakes from things I just didn&#x27;t think of.<p>I&#x27;ll forward the discussion along to the thousands of others in a Facebook group facing the same situation.
======
Mz
Make sure to take ID, debit card, cash, credit cards, smart phone, tablet,
laptop, etc. Wear comfortable clothes, like sweats. Try to have a change of
clothes. View this as stuff you may live in for a while.

Grab your homeowner's policy and any small personal items, like wedding rings.

It is cool if you can grab personal hygiene items, but those are relatively
easily replaced. Try to take prescription medications. People sometimes wind
up seriously ill a week or more after an evacuation event because they don't
have their usual drugs and can't readily get more. In some cases, people die a
few months later and relatives speculate that it is partly because they
couldn't get a steady supply of their usual meds in the weeks afterwards.

Edit: After the fire, when you go back, take photos and call an insurance
adjuster immediately. Do this before you try to fix anything or do any clean
up. Cleaning up amounts to destroying evidence.

You can hire a public adjuster to file for you. Your broker, lawyer or a
public adjuster are essentially the only people that can talk to the insurance
company on your behalf.

(Edit: changed _private_ adjuster to the correct term _public_ adjuster)

~~~
gjmarsh
Be careful of private (aka public) adjusters. They take a cut of your
settlement. They can help you get more from insurance sometimes.... but if
your house burns down with everything in it, you are likely maxing out. They
can't get you more than you are insured for... but they will still take a cut.

There will for sure be people be swooping in like vultures after something
like this to try to profit... Not all are bad, but I would just say, be
careful.

~~~
skrebbel
> _maxing out_

Taking this off topic, but what point is a fire insurance if it can be "maxed
out"?

~~~
kobeya
As an insurance company, how can you possibly value and determine adequate
premiums for a potentially unlimited policy?

------
jjcm
As someone who's had all their stuff be burned, the one thing I would say is
this - too many things that we saved were replaceable. The things that we
missed were the ones that weren't. Even though you have an expensive fancy
camera that you want to save, if that comes at the cost of leaving behind the
quilt your grandmother made, leave the camera. Especially if you have fire
insurance. Money can replace pricey things. It can't replace sentimental ones.

~~~
KozmoNau7
The two most important things to save are data and personal irreplaceable
items.

Data is easily saved by uploading to cloud storage, preferably more than one
service. You should already be doing this, Google Drive is 15GB free, Dropbox
is 2GB free. Usually that's enough for the most important documents. Google
Photos has unlimited storage as long as your pictures are 16MP or less.

I'll admit that I don't have an overview of my irreplaceable items. Maybe I
should do a mental list when I get home today.

~~~
bspn
This is great advice, which surprisingly few people follow.

A few years back I scanned all of our personal records, tax returns, visas,
dog vaccinations etc and created a dedicated Box account with a Google Drive
backup. It was a massive undertaking at the time, but now whenever we receive
something new it's a pretty painless task to scan it and upload it to cloud
storage.

An added bonus is that after years of stockpiling paper we now have virtually
no paper records anymore other than the things that absolutely have to be:
passports, SSNs, birth certificates etc.

~~~
akuji1993
The moment there's a longer blackout, you guys are out in the open. Nice.

------
mtmail
"An employee from an insurance company describes in detail how to get the most
out of your claim."
[https://np.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/43iyip/our_...](https://np.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/43iyip/our_family_of_5_lost_everything_in_a_fire/cziljy3/)

Basically take photos of everything, if just to remember what will be lost so
you can list it for the insurance later.

~~~
wyldfire
I have no idea how this works but aren't most policies exempt from force
majeure like forest fires?

~~~
lutorm
Most policies exempt "acts of God", but I think forest fires are firmly in the
covered realm. A meteor hitting your house might be in the uncovered area.
(They also exempt acts of war, so a north korean missile hitting your house
would also likely not be covered.)

~~~
credit_guy
I just purchased some life insurance with exactly the North Korean scenario in
mind and I specifically asked the agent about the acts of war exclusion. He
told me the company doesn’t have this exclusion, and most insurance companies
don’t have it nowadays, and if they have it, it only applies to military
personnel. Of course, everyone who buys insurance should check with their
agent, not take my word for it.

~~~
alex_young
You bought life insurance to hedge against a nuclear attack? I suspect we will
have other things than accounting to worry about after an exchange like that.

~~~
VLM
The prevailing assumption about nuclear attack is every weapon every
manufactured will be simultaneously fired at op who is at ground zero. For all
values of op across the entire country. And no other scenario can exist. Which
of course is silly. The only wartime nuclear activity we've had on this planet
wasn't a nuclear exchange, for example.

Most likely outcome is something like a single "dirty bomb" attack on a city
1500 miles downwind of where I work, unfortunately where a datacenter is
located, resulting in me putting in a 36 hour work day trying to bring
everything up at a disaster recovery datacenter 1000 miles away from both me
and the attack, then on the commute home after 36 hours without sleep, I fall
asleep driving and die in the resulting car accident, and my family won't get
a penny because "clearly his death was a result of a N.K. act of war". Even
worse not only might my family not get a penny WRT death but if anyone can sue
anyone for anything, and my liability insurance is cancelled because of "act
of war" then my family could end up quite destitute after a multi-car
accident.

I wonder how many people had heart attacks watching the 9/11 news coverage a
couple decades ago.

Or for any value of american response, a large fraction of the population
would be very unhappy with the american response to a nuclear terrorism
attack, regardless of the specific response, so my car parked downtown gets
set on fire in the riots. That would suck if my car was temporarily uninsured
because it was an act of war.

There's a lot of people paid a lot of money to deny insurance claims. See
also, medical insurance.

------
ChuckMcM
Pack a bag with a couple of changes of clothes, sleeping stuff, underwear
toiletries, and just leave it in your car. If you have a pair of "outside"
shoes (like hiking boots or something you would go camping in) put those in
the car too. This is also for earthquake prep, you can run out of the house
into your car and you're not going to spend the next week in the same clothes.

Then prioritize by things that are hard to replace that will give you access
to other things. So passport, cash, flash drives, chargers etc. Those should
be in your car ready to go.

Also think about how quickly you can get them out of your car (so if you have
to transfer at a road block to a rescue vehicle).

Family Radios if you have them, extra batteries, can keep you in touch with
your family and responders.

If you happen to have ammunition try to put it somewhere that it won't hurt
anyone if it is 'cooked off' by heat. A friend of mine in the sierras keeps
his shotgun shells in the root cellar for that reason.

EDIT: The ammo cooking off isn't going to kill anyone but it will startle
them. And it can make it harder on fire fighters. So please if you have some,
try to insure it won't explode.

Depending on how much time you have and what sort of tools, you can bury
things that you don't want to burn. I have heard, but haven't tested, that if
you bury something at least 12" below regular soil it will survive the time it
takes a fire to move past. If you do it at the start (so the ground is bare on
top) then you can avoid having any burning material over the cache.

~~~
stephenr
> ammunition

Wat? Does US law not require ammunition be stored in a _gun safe_!?

~~~
nsxwolf
If your guns are for home protection how on earth would you be well served by
needing to open a second safe to get your ammo?

~~~
bergie
If you feel the need to have guns for home protection, it might be a better
idea to move somewhere safer

~~~
nsxwolf
Should I move to a fireproof home instead of own a fire extinguisher?

~~~
stephenr
When was the last time someone went on a killing spree with a fire
extinguisher?

~~~
nsxwolf
I don't know. But there's been countless killing sprees with knives, and I
have those in my kitchen drawer. Not even a locked drawer.

~~~
bergie
Knives, however, have legitimate uses. Guns don't.

------
techjuice
Gather all of your legal documents (deed to house, loan paperwork, birth
certificates, pictures, social security cards, insurance docs, car titles, and
any other documents and valuables), blankets, computers, 5 to 7 days worth of
clothes, some food, water, drinks, snacks and other digital devices. Insure
they are all secured in the vehicle you are going to use to vacate the area.

Also insure you have video and pictures of the now to include the inside and
outside of your home, vehicles and land along with what the neighbors homes
looked before you vacate the area.

Once you are sure you have everything, fill up on gas if possible and vacate
the area and check the safety status of the area many miles away from the
fire. To be safe go to a different county or city far away from the flames.

~~~
monk_e_boy
Take photos of everything and sync them with the cloud. Documents, hard copy
photos, drivers licence, certificates. Everything.

~~~
pvaldes
Or just give a DVD with the photos and videos to your sister or parents, or
send it to a friend in another city. Encrypted if you prefer. Uploading photos
of all your valuable items and your identity documents to internet could lead
to a different category of big troubles.

------
bsvalley
Simple advice - if you have a hose around your house just spray your roof and
all around your property for an hour. I heard someone in your situation (right
now) who did exactly that. His house is the only one that survived the fire in
his neighborhood.

~~~
nettdata
Try to set up a sprinkler on the roof and just leave it... it'll go a long way
to knock down any embers that may land on it.

~~~
dredmorbius
This is specifically advised against in guidelines as it may reduce
neighbourhood water pressure (and in some cases: supplies).

[http://www.readyforwildfire.org/Pre-Evacuation-
Preparation/](http://www.readyforwildfire.org/Pre-Evacuation-Preparation/)

~~~
icantdrive55
Yea, but many people don't have, or couldn't afford property insurance. Turn
it on, and get out.

~~~
Y7ZCQtNo39
If you can't afford property insurance, maybe you really can't afford the
home.

~~~
Mchl
Most people on Earth can't afford a home.

~~~
Y7ZCQtNo39
It certainly puts things into perspective.

------
gerdesj
Time to think about your fire plan. My home one is six pages long - not
joking! I had to write one when my wiff wanted to run a small bus. from here.
It's actually longer than my business one ...

Anyway, this is not a joke and should be taken a bit seriously. A 2l "dry
water" fire extinguisher costs about £20 a pop. They work on all fires that
are likely to be encountered in the home (not rated for flamable metal). They
are quite new but are certified in the EU and maybe beyond. The great thing
about these is that they are safe for electrical fires as well as paper etc.
So you can replace foam and CO2 with one extinguisher. I was encouraged to
look into these by a member of the British Fire Brigade. Put one on each
floor.

As well as that, get an escape ladder for upstairs - ~£30-40 and a blanket for
the kitchen - ~£5

Fire needs three things to crack on: Something to burn, oxygen, source of
ignition. It's not rocket science. No one needs to know about your little
fixation about removing the towel that your sig. other leaves next to the gas
hob etc.

Keep safe kids!

EDIT: Just seen a few posts whilst I was pontificating here from people who
really have to deal with fire as a way of life.

You have a lot of good advice here - heed it!

~~~
gerdesj
EDIT2: Shit - just realized that the OP is probably from CA or somewhere else
prone to current forest fire.

~~~
jopsen
Well, I certainly got a good laugh out of the perspective of some poor Joe
fighting a forest fire in his backyard using a fire extinguisher :)

------
pmoriarty
Remember - you are not the only one evacuating. You'll have to compete for the
roads, gas stations, hotels, and stores with everyone else evacuating.

Plan to leave way earlier than you have to so you don't stuck or have to wait
behind everyone else.

~~~
smnrchrds
Seconded. Some people wait way too long.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieTQvIdG-
Vo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieTQvIdG-Vo)

------
brudgers
The number one stupid mistake a person can make is not leaving when they have
the opportunity. Just leave.

It's a fire. It can kill you. Nothing the internet says will make it safe.
There is no trick. There are no hacks. None of your stuff is worth dying for.

Good luck.

~~~
skinnymuch
Are you saying he shouldn't do all the preparation and simple insurance
precautions first? Your message doesn't make that clear.

OP says they have time. It would make sense to do proper packing and the
simple photos and videos of the house.

I doubt anyone is saying to do this stuff if you're in serious imminent
danger. And overall following what local authorities are saying is a good
thing to do too. Perhaps there's a reason OP shouldn't leave right now. We
don't know what's happening there.

~~~
brudgers
If a fire fighter says, "Your house may burn down in the next 24 hours," they
are not opining that you should stay. They are advising you to leave. They
just don't have the time and/or personality disposition to argue with someone
operating under the effects of Dunning-Kruger syndrome when it comes to mortal
risk.

The median time of "the next 24 hours" is twelve hours away. The first
quartile is six or fewer hours away. The worst case is not a homeowner's
insurance headache. It's dying. All of those are premises of the statement
"Your house might burn down in the next 24 hours."

If a doctor told the OP, "If you don't do X, there is a good chance you will
die in the next 24 hours," what priority should the OP place on X versus
photographing their household's personal property?

~~~
skinnymuch
You're making a bunch of assumptions from a vague OP post.

------
motowilliams
Western Montana Reporting: Since we burned over a million acres this summer I
can add that you should save all your receipts while you are out of your home.
Things such as food and lodging are most likely going to be reimbursed by your
home owners policy and isn't something most folks think of when this
particular situation arises.

~~~
fencepost
Remember, for most people on HN you have a perfect device for recording your
receipts, and it probably auto-uploads them to at least one cloud provider as
well.

Take pictures of receipts before you even walk out of the store, or on the
passenger seat of your car. That may or may not be acceptable for returns, but
for recordkeeping it's the way to go.

------
opendomain
Turn on the lawn sprinklers and faucets to flood the house. Cut down any close
trees. If you can, hose the roof. Keep windows closed and put flammables in
the basement

From Reddit: omeowner turned his sprinklers on before leaving to escape a
Kansas wildfire. He came home to the only house saved.

[https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/5ymk35/homeowner_turn...](https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/5ymk35/homeowner_turned_his_sprinklers_on_before_leaving/)

~~~
jbermudes
The comments in the reddit post from professionals stated that the sprinklers
were not very useful for that purpose and advise against it:

[https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/5ymk35/homeowner_turn...](https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/5ymk35/homeowner_turned_his_sprinklers_on_before_leaving/deri42s/)

~~~
in_cahoots
Not to mention that, if everyone does this, the water pressure will be
decreased where the fire trucks need it. If the fire turns out not to threaten
your property you’ll feel like the worlds’ biggest jerk.

------
neverartful
Have a quick look at
[http://www.survivalistboards.com](http://www.survivalistboards.com),
particularly the Manmade and Natural Disasters section and the Disaster
Preparedness General Discussion section. There's a lot of collective wisdom on
the site.

I would pay careful attention to the air quality. I would keep some eye drops
handy and a wash cloth, handkerchief, or bandana that you could wet and cover
your nose and mouth.

Check in with neighbors, friends, and family periodically as situation
progresses. Let others know your plans.

Have your car filled with gas and ready to go. Be prepared for a minimum of 2
evacuation routes.

I would keep abreast of local news and probably set alarm clock to re-check
every few hours during the night.

------
Kluny
Bring a warm jacket, OP. It's the last thing you think about in the summer
heat, but if you somehow end up standing around on a lonely road in the middle
of the night, it gets surprisingly cold, even in California! And take some
pictures of your house the way it looks now. You'll really treasure them
someday in the future, telling your kids, this is the house we lived in before
the fire.

Stay safe, hope the wind is favorable.

------
twobyfour
So sorry to hear this. As for documents, focus on those you'll need to prove
your identity and financial position. Things that come to mind are:

Drivers licenses

Passports

Birth certificates

Social security cards (not technically ID but good to have)

Insurance documents (home, auto, health, life, anything else)

Property deeds or rental agreements for real estate, vehicles, any other major
physical investments (own a boat? a tractor?)

Latest statements from bank accounts, credit cards, etc (digital copies will
suffice - this is more about making sure you have account numbers, etc.)

Checkbooks

Paperwork from any corporate entities you may own or agreements such as stock
option plans (digital may suffice here as well)

A digital copy (photos on phone if necessary) of your last year's tax
documents

Photos of your last few pay stubs (if they're not already digital)

Any financial vehicles whose ownership depends on physical documents, such as
bearer bonds

If you have documents relating to care of relatives (guardianship, power of
attorney, DNR), bring those

If you have a will, make sure you have a copy (digital or otherwise).

Any other licensing documentation you might expect to want to refer to without
having to ask the issuing body for a replacement (firearms licenses, medical
licenses, marriage licenses, etc.)

Any documents relating to medical history or prescriptions

Contact info for everyone you know (this may already be digital, but some
people do still keep Rolodexes or little black books)

Keys to any and all the things (shed, office, storage unit, safety deposit
box, whatever)

You'll likely want to bring with you any laptops and external hard drives you
own. If you're somewhat electronics savvy and have a desktop computer,
consider extracting its drive too and taking that with you.

And of course, it's the things with sentimental value that are hardest to
replace. You can always buy a new stereo system or replace a pair of jeans you
left behind (even if you have to wear the jeans you did take until they fall
apart and play music over a $20 pair of computer speakers while you save up to
replace that tuner). You can never replace your photographs, your favorite
stuffed animal from childhood, your grandmother's jewelry.

Good luck!

~~~
KGIII
This might actually be my favorite post in the thread. It's a nice list and it
doesn't require leaving the page to visit links. Having it in one spot is a
handy thing, especially while in the midst of a stressful situation.

Panic will probably harm more people than fire or smoke. Anything to reduce
stress is a good thing.

It is unrealistic, but it would be nice, to have everyone take some lessons in
coping with emergencies. There are almost certainly local classes in emergency
preparedness, and some varied levels associated with it.

So, in addition to the fine list above, I'd suggest that folks consider such
courses in the near future - as well as taking refresher courses. My area has
drills and training for citizen/volunteer search and rescue, more so than
dealing with other disasters. They even offer free first aid training and
classes for pay with some certifications as the result.

If anyone is interested, I'd check with your local fire department, EMTs, or
police.

------
gjmarsh
As others have said, I would walk through the house with a video camera and
get every inch of it on tape. Both as evidence as well as a reminder to
yourself of everything you owned.

I would also take a look at your policy and look for things that are not
covered under traditional home owners. Things that come to mind are jewelry,
art, and sometimes computers. Jewelry especially being high value and easy to
evacuate with you.

Best of luck. Will be thinking of you all.

------
Distant_horizon
USPS will automatically put a 'hold' on your mail when the home is unsafe for
delivery and you'll have to pick it up from the local PO. It may be best to
forward it to another residence.

[https://www.usps.com/manage/forward.htm](https://www.usps.com/manage/forward.htm)

~~~
peacelilly
During Hurricane Matthew, Fedex delivered a package to my door while the
island I live on was under a mandatory evacuation order. The package got
destroyed. My advice is to contact the sender and have them put a hold on it.

~~~
s0rce
At least according to UPS they will not deliver to places under evacuation
notice.

[https://www.ups.com/us/en/service-
alerts.page?id=alert1](https://www.ups.com/us/en/service-
alerts.page?id=alert1)

~~~
chimeracoder
> At least according to UPS they will not deliver to places under evacuation
> notice.

That's UPS, not USPS. I wouldn't really trust either one of them, but if
there's one I'd trust to do the obviously wrong thing, it's USPS.

------
themodelplumber
Hi, I'm in Mendocino County and we are concerned about the same thing. Here is
the framework I put together yesterday, hope it can be helpful. There are some
useful PDFs linked at the bottom of the document.

[https://pastebin.com/6eQNRkQZ](https://pastebin.com/6eQNRkQZ)

~~~
kbenson
That's a good list. Thanks.

------
synicalx
Aussie here, lived in extreme fire danger areas most of my life so this is a
situation I've been in several times.

0\. Yourself. If you die, all of the stuff below is largely irrelevant to you.
Don't stick around, don't try to defend your property unless you've gone to
great lengths to make it defensible.

1\. Pets. If anyone leaves a pet behind to be burned alive, they also deserve
to be burned alive.

2\. Documents; titles, wills, deeds, insurance, medical stuff, tax stuff,
identification, anything important. If you have a filing cabinet, consider
just wheeling the whole thing out (if possible) and putting it in the back of
your car, if there's a fire bearing down on you don't waste time sorting
through stuff.

3\. 24 - 48 hours worth of supplies. Water is essential, also consider food
bars, batteries, and of course any medication. In fact, I'd consider having a
go bag of this stuff on hand and ready to go every summer if you live in a
fire danger area.

4\. A radio. You need to know what's going on, and a radio is one of the best
ways to do this during a fire.

5\. Medication, again. Don't forget your meds, or your families, or your pets.

Once you have that sort of stuff in order, second priorities;

1\. Get some photos of the inside and outside of your house. Insurance
companies are scum and will try and get out of holding up their end of your
policy however they can.

2\. Collect up irreplaceable stuff like photos, hard drives etc.

3\. Time permitting, move any fuel (as in stuff that burns) away from your
house.

4\. Time still permitting, block up your gutters and fill them with water.
Also seal any windows as best you can and move anything flammable away from
them.

5\. As you're leaving, turn on all your sprinklers if you have them.

Ideally, you want to be out of there long before the fire is anywhere near
you. We get told to make the decision to stay or go about 24 hours before our
properties are threatened by the fire but it's not always easy to know when or
if that's going to happen. But if you can see the fire in the distance I'd
suggest going RIGHT NOW, and if you can see flames and they're reasonably
close then it may be too late to leave safely.

~~~
jldugger
> 3\. 24 - 48 hours worth of supplies. Water is essential, also consider food
> bars, batteries, and of course any medication.

The region that's on fire is like an hour's drive away from Berkeley. Unless
you anticipate camping on the freeway, I don't see how 48 hours of water is
really an essential. The supply chain isn't in much danger except in the very
local area you would be evacuating.

~~~
synicalx
This is more blanket advice rather than anything specific to OP's situation.

In Australia we've had bush fires hit remote communities who've then been
short on all sorts of supplies for days at a time. Not to mention in having an
extra days worth of 'stuff' you'll have enough to go around.

------
chx
This might only apply for a select few members, but: pillow and plushies (if
you are leaving in a car which, given the USA, I will presume you do). If you
are accustomed to a given pillow you can get pretty miserable when your neck /
back decides to rebel after sleeping on an unfamiliar one. And, again, this is
personal but to some, plushies are nearly as important as pets to others. I am
42, male, and travel with a teddy bear whom I got in 1988.

------
acangiano
My house burned down one year ago (technically one year, tomorrow). The
firefighters wouldn't allow me to go in and save things, but I snuck in when
they were busy on my neighbor's house and was able to save my dog. Our cat,
sadly, didn't make it. Neither did 99% of our belongings.

This how I would prioritize, based on my horrific experience:

1\. People (obviously). Your safety is the most important part.

2\. Pets

3\. Irreplaceable sentimental items.

4\. IDs, marriage certificates, birth certificates, passports, etc. I lost all
but my driver's license in the fire and I'm still in the process of getting
some of these documents replaced. This is particularly sucky if you are an
immigrant like I am, where to get a new passport, you need a citizenship
certificate, and to get a citizenship certificate you need a birth
certificate, and to get a birth certificate you need a document from your
country of origin, etc. It's a mess. Grab those documents.

5\. Irreplaceable items that are important, but don't necessarily have
sentimental value. Some of your digital data might fit this category. Having a
backup in the cloud is a great idea.

6\. Valuable items that are expensive to replace. Cameras, laptops, etc.

7\. Anything else you still have room and time to get.

The insurance company will likely make you go through hell to get your money.
So take photos and videos of all your belongings BEFORE they burn down. If you
have offline receipts, take them with you or scan them before you lose them.
Online receipts are easier to find, of course.

Best of luck to you. I hope your house is spared.

------
thunderrabbit
Turn off your natural gas line at the meter.

~~~
Kadin
I would turn off the water lines as well. On the chance the house doesn't burn
but is damaged, preventing water damage and flooding may make some property
significantly more salvageable.

(Unless the house has sprinklers, of course, or other fire suppression,
obviously.)

~~~
KGIII
Fire suppression systems that I'm familiar with, which is absolutely not all,
don't rely on an external water supply. They use stored water, often mixed
with some oily substance that prevents corrosion, and are gravity or bladder
fed.

Not that this helps, I just figure it is interesting and one less thing to
worry about at a stressful time.

They usually don't require power or external water because those can be
disrupted. I only know this because I've been involved in having a few systems
installed and am not an expert.

~~~
kbenson
The house is only a few years old, so has the state mandated sprinkler system.
Interestingly, it does get fed off the water main, which I know because it
prevented me from getting a house wide water softening system. It's a 2" main
because it needs to feed all the sprinklers, and it has a notice posted that
it's illegal to impede the flow because of that (and a softening system that
could handle that is much more expensive).

~~~
KGIII
I'm sure they have a reason for it. There's no storage tank to supply it?

The systems I'm familiar with were all commercial, so that may be why I'm
unfamiliar with them being fed from the main. I had to deal with getting a
couple of commercial buildings done. I am not completely certain, but I think
both of those systems were completely independent of the municipal water
supply. I'm 99% certain, at least.

~~~
kbenson
> There's no storage tank to supply it?

Not that I'm aware of, which means I'm pretty sure not. It might be that at
the house level, a single house isn't expected to draw so much water, while in
a larger structure it's probably possible to overwhelm any feasible main that
could be expected if a bunch of sprinklers go off. Even if the main can handle
it, maybe there isn't a large enough connections to specific portions of the
building from the main which causes water starvation. I imagine there's lots
of insidious details when scaling to a large building which aren't immediately
obvious.

~~~
KGIII
In both cases I experienced, it was a big giant tank up on the roof of the
building. It was separate from the fire suppression system in the server room.

I can see why there would be different systems and code requirements for
residential construction. Come to think of it, whilst you could put the tank
in an attic space - or use a bladder system, it would occupy a lot of space
and I'm not sure residential construction would support the weight of the
system.

------
csomar
I noticed in the US that: They build houses with lots of wood and fill them
with woody stuff. They build houses nearby lots of trees with no spacing
between them.

This seems like a disaster waiting to happen, and well it happened multiple
times?

Why can't the regulation do the following:

\- A mandatory buffer zone between the forest and housing.

\- Mandatory no wood/cement-only houses in zones of higher risk.

\- Mandatory no linked trees with your neighbors, so that the fire doesn't
find a favorable environment to spread.

~~~
chimeracoder
> Mandatory no wood/cement-only houses in zones of higher risk.

This isn't the only reason, but concrete buildings have a massive carbon
footprint, much more so than wooden ones. For densely-populated areas, it's
fine, but for single-family homes, it's incredibly environmentally wasteful.

~~~
PhantomGremlin
Don't forget earthquakes. They're common in California where the wildfires are
now.

I'd bet that (crazy made up number) 100x more people die in earthquakes in
concrete structures than they do in the typical stick-frame single family
homes that are common in the USA. Stick-frame houses simply don't "collapse".

But maybe a lot of the collapses I see on TV are because of either non-
existent building codes or because nobody followed the code. Poor quality
rebar and poor quality concrete?

But about carbon footprint for concrete, maybe it's not as bad as you say. If
a concrete or brick structure lasts 100 or 200 years, might it not be better
than a stick-frame structure torn down in 50 years?

------
nl
I'm from Australia. We've had some pretty bad fires here.

I don't have any particular advice on what to take, but I do have some general
advice:

Don't fuck around.

Even when you know it's going to be bad, it's going to be worse. A fire will
move faster than you think is possible and get hotter than you can imagine.

The silver puddle on the ground here is melted alloy wheels:
[http://www.abc.net.au/news/image/286660-3x2-700x467.jpg](http://www.abc.net.au/news/image/286660-3x2-700x467.jpg)

This bit is worth watching.
[https://youtu.be/dpvM6FoUwMI?t=5734](https://youtu.be/dpvM6FoUwMI?t=5734)

------
rabboRubble
Do you have an egress plan? Multiple routes planned out?

If you and the family separate for some reason (i.e. Work or grocery shopping)
do other people have an egress plan without you? A defined meet up spot?

Know where the nearest large body of water is? If you are cut off from escape,
it is possible to survive some fires from inside a body of water.

------
wpietri
I imagine you've seen it already,but ready.gov has a checklist:
[https://www.ready.gov/evacuating-yourself-and-your-
family](https://www.ready.gov/evacuating-yourself-and-your-family)

------
lathiat
Bdale Garbee: Disaster Recovery Lessons I Hoped I'd Never Have to Learn
[linux.conf.au 2014]

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJcnllq3VYY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJcnllq3VYY)

The main item I remember was that his wife (who was not home at the time) had
different priorities to what he did, so maybe ask the rest of your family.

\----

The Black Forest Fire started on 11 June 2013 in Colorado, US, and quickly set
a record for the most homes destroyed by a single forest fire in state
history... 511 homes were completely destroyed, including Bdale's.

Thanks to careful disaster recovery planning driven both by Bdale's history in
the IT industry, and by the proximity of the Waldo Canyon fire less than a
year prior, it was only a few days before the return of gag.com and related
sites to the Internet began. But not everything went according to plan...

This talk will review the plans made and state of gag.com resources at the
time of the fire, what went right and wrong during mandatory evacuation, and
how we put things back together after the abrupt and dramatic change in
lifestyle mandated by the move to an apartment.

~~~
macintux
I had the pleasure of chilling with Bdale about 16 years ago when I worked at
Progeny. Besides being generally personable he has an amazing wealth of
stories to tell (and has obviously picked up a few more since then).

------
Tempest1981
Maybe more Mad Max than Santa Rosa:

If you have 2 non-EV cars, a way to siphon gas into the "good" car, before you
leave, to top off the tank: [https://www.harborfreight.com/multi-use-transfer-
pump-63144....](https://www.harborfreight.com/multi-use-transfer-
pump-63144.html)

------
ungamed
I can't stress this enough, but you need to have a plan with your family.

When the fire is near enough to cause power outages, your cell phones may not
work.

This site is -very- useful.

[https://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/plan-and-prepare](https://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/plan-
and-prepare)

You may have something similar in your area.

------
ilamont
Sorry to hear about your predicament. It's terrible to hear some of the
stories coming out of Santa Rosa and other parts of Northern California.

Lost our home to fire some years ago. Amazingly, some of my paper documents
survived because they were stored in an under-bed drawer that filled with
water when the fire department hosed it down.

I was thinking that maybe you could take heavier, hard-to-move small items
(silverware or a china set), or bulkier items like books, old records, second-
tier paperwork, or home decorations, and wrap them in garbage bags or place
them in a container, place them in the bathtub (or large sink, or even a top-
loaded washing machine) and then submerge them in water.

No guarantee that they'll survive, but they will have a better chance.

------
dredmorbius
This is among the better guides I've seen.

In addition to documentation and preparation generally:

* _Communicate and plan ahead with your family and /or household._ I would strongly recommend that if there is someone who can not (or will not) cooperate under crisis conditions, _evacuate them in advance_. Fighting with others in a life-critical situation is about the worst possible complication. (Dementia, personality disorders, age/disability, etc.)

* Have a bug-out bag ready. In your vehicle if at all possible. Take what you _need_ , and _cannot easily replace_. Leave everything else.

* Plan _multiple_ escape routes, and have multiple plans ready. A critical element of fire disasters is that normally-safe routes suddenly aren't (and are clogged with panicked people unfamiliar with the area).

* Set priorities _now_. Realise that if you need to take on passengers or change vehicles, you may not be able to keep everything you've put in your own car. I'd err on the sider of under-packing.

* Moving flammable items away from windows may help your house. Curtains, any lightweight or synthetic fabrics, especially.

* Do _not_ leave taps running, but if you have hoses _do_ leave them connected to spigots. Pre-damping surrounding areas may help, _but turn off water before you leave to preserve water pressure._ (There's more such advice in this link.)

* Have multiple copies of data, _and hardcopies of maps, plans, contact, and related information._

* Pre-arrange an emergency / reconnection contact, preferably _well outside_ the emergency area. Realise that phone and other comms services may be down.

* If you have pets, get them squared away, and perhaps keep them in cages ready to go until the danger passes.

There are numerous other steps that can be taken, though much of that should
have been done a while ago. Those who _aren 't_ waiting for flames to march
down (or up) the ridgeline might start thinking of those.

The Bdale Garbee list is a solid one as well, listed elsewhere.

[http://www.readyforwildfire.org/Pre-Evacuation-
Preparation/](http://www.readyforwildfire.org/Pre-Evacuation-Preparation/)

------
dboreham
This happened to me years ago. The fire stopped a couple of miles short of our
place luckily but we were in the evacuation readiness mode for a few days,
flaming chunks of tree falling from the sky in the yard etc.

Basically I just worked my way down in value/density order: light, small,
valuable things first into the cars. But first I drove to the ranch supply
place and bought 15 garden hoses and sprinkler heads and set them up to wet
down the area around the house and the roof. Again luckily the well didn't run
dry. Then I photographed the entire house interior.

Good luck and stay safe.

------
seanubis
If you buy a lot of stuff on Amazon, your downloadable order history can save
you a lot of time when you need to inventory your possessions for your
insurance company.

(proflific Amazon/online shopper, lost home and all possessions in a fire last
year)

------
gambiting
Read this, the best advice about insurance that I've read in any place:

[https://np.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/43iyip/our_...](https://np.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/43iyip/our_family_of_5_lost_everything_in_a_fire/cziljy3/)

To quote a bit:

Remember to list everthing-- even the most mundane fucking bullshit you can
think of. For example, if I was writing up the shower in my bathroom: Designer
Shower Curtain - $35 Matching Shower Curtain Liner for Designer Shower Curtain
- $15 Shower Curtain Rings x20 - $15 Stainless Steel Soap Dispenser for Shower
- $35 Natural Sponge Loofah - from Whole Foods - $15 Natural Sponge Loofah for
Back - from Whole Foods - $19 Holder for Loofahs - $20 Bars of soap - from
Lush - $12 each (qty: 4) Bath bomb - from Lush - $12 High end shampoo - from
salon - $40 High end conditioner - from salon - $40 Refining pore mask - from
salon - $55 I could probably keep thinking, and bring it up to about $400 for
the contents of my shower

------
marak830
Food/water, clothing(warm weather and cold), phone chargers!!! _if_ you have
time ( _never ever risk for this_ ), mementos (not photos, they are a waste -
I lost all mine to a fire previously),now only _if_ you have a _lot_ of time
(do _not_ even think about it it you don't ). Hard drives -pca/laptops are a
waste of time.

The most important rule. IF YOU CAN SEE THE FIRE AT ALL, GO.

I'm an Aussie, from the country, we saw a lot of fires when I was growing up.
It moves soich faster than you can imagine. In good condition ditiona it can
go faster than you can drive.

Be careful, gods speed buddy.

Edit, as mentioned : _if safe_ turn off gas.

2nd edit as techjuice said: legal documents and video, but this is the last
thing. Documents won't help your family if you don't get out.

Look I'm not kidding about how fast fire can move, if you can see it, it's
panic time.

Also, I emailed you, if you need to ask a question, drop me a email with your
skype, I'll call and answer anything I can.

Edit: email I sent to op, for anyone else's info:

Okay, now I'm sorry if some things sound like I'm talking down to you. I'm
just going to explain as I know it (also forgive typos I'm on a phone).

Driving through a fire- even on a road is not a plan. Ever. It starves the
engine of oxygen and the vehicle will stall. Bad place for it. Only ever do it
if it's an emergency.

Fire will move faster than you. Yes it takes days sometimes to move a few
hundred feet, but Murphy is an arsehole and fire can move faster than you can
drive, if the conditions are right.

Clothing; hot and cold, you don't know where you will be, pure cotton is
better than synthetic, synth melt if your in fire, melting is worse than
burn.(you have to take it _out_ of the skin if it melts).

Water, lots.

First aid kits: if you have it bring it, alovera plants are an amazing
treatment for burns, snap a small part off and run the juice over the burn.
_If_ there is a burn with a melt(eg clothing, plastic etc), _and_ if it's
safe, do _not_ pour cold water on, it will set the melt, try and remove as
much as possible (without touching the burn), before applying water.

I'll write more after this email. If you are forced to drive through fire,
a)very. Fucking. Dangerous. B) all windows up, clothing(cotton) around mouth
and nose. Be. Careful.(gods I hope you don't get into this)

Again. If you can see the fire, get. Out.

I don't have much more for during the fire, some people recommend sprinklers,
watering roof etc, I believe that's an edge case. Yes if you have time, it may
help, but there is no reason to risk your family for it.

Lives can be rebuilt, life cannot.

~~~
LammyL
Also, if you have time, throw out all food in your fridge and freezer that you
aren’t taking with you. If your house ends up being fine, it may be without
power for a long period of time and you may not be able to go back home right
away. It will save you from cleaning up a real mess afterwards. Also clean
your dishes if there is time, for the same reasons.

~~~
romdev
Put a quarter on top of a frozen cup of water in your freezer. If it's still
there when you get back, you haven't lost power for a long enough time for
your frozen food to thaw. If it sank to the bottom of the cup, toss out all
the food.

------
iampoul
Don't bring shit you can buy back afterwards, bring all the stuff thats
irreplaceable to safety and else the essential things like clothes and food.
recharge your phone and push all your files to the cloud from your computer.

------
unixhero
Id cards

Bank code generator

University diplomas

Your external hardrive containing a backup of your most important files (you
of course have this ready)

Any favourite item that you don't want to lose, hardcopy photos of loved ones
or memories such as that.

Your favourite blazer.

------
nvusuvu
If you have time, video your stuff for insurance. Go through drawers, closets,
boxes. Narrate it.

------
nextstep
Is this hypothetical or do you think it’s unsafe for some reason?

~~~
maxerickson
They mention in the comments that they are in northern California where there
are large wildfires burning.

15 people have died and hundreds of structures have been destroyed.

[https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/10/us/california-
fires.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/10/us/california-fires.html)

~~~
dredmorbius
Structural losses are now in the _thousands_.

"At least 2,000 homes and commercial facilities have been destroyed in the
fires, which are burning in Napa, Sonoma, Solano, Lake, Nevada, Butte,
Calaveras, Shasta, and Yuba counties. A fire station in the Fountaingrove area
of Santa Rosa was among the ravaged structures."

[http://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/Wine-Country-
fires-W...](http://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/Wine-Country-fires-What-
we-know-and-what-we-12266476.php#photo-14317539)

~~~
maxerickson
Yeah, the NYT article listed 2,000 when I posted it but I have a style
preference for describing small thousands as hundreds.

------
harry8
This is not meant to be rude or upsetting. Please interpret this in a positive
and optimistic light.

You're in a tough spot, when you have the time that is not better spent
dealing with it, review your decision that got you into that tough spot. Be
brutal with yourself, were the decisions reasonable? Did you make them
actively or did they just sort of happen? Should you have prepared
differently? Did you stop and consider it? Should you have done the research
you're trying to crash with this question months ago at least? Did you make
assumptions that have turned out to be horribly wrong?

Assess it from the point of view of how you can make these and any other
similar decisions in your life, better.

Keep yourself, your family, any people safe first and foremost, everything
else is just stuff. Even if it's irreplaceable for sentimental reasons it's
still just a bunch of things.

Get everything else you can out of this. It's a major opportunity to review
how you make decisions and why that can really help you improve that skill.
Improving that skill is amazingly valuable to your family, friends and
neighbours. You might tell this story to Forbes one day...

------
theklub
Take pictures of everything you can. Get passports, birth certs, if you have
copies of bills grab those so you can cancel or suspend accounts as needed.

------
ggariepy
I'd try to take a cellphone video of every room in the house, opening closets
and drawers as you go. Move at a deliberate pace; you will need to review the
video and write down what you see in it should the house burn down, and
sweeping too quickly through will make that difficult.

A 32GB thumb drive with scanned copies of your important documents is a nice-
to-have if you can swing it.

I would only try to grab medications, three day's clothing, then irreplaceable
items first, followed by what you have room/time for. If you have firearms,
they are likely only covered up to $2,500 on a basic homeowner policy. Please
be sure any left behind are _unloaded_ , the heat will cause them to discharge
otherwise.

Anything that is essential to earning your living (tools, laptops, photography
equipment, etc.) is high priority.

------
weisser
Generally good advice but especially relevant here: pack a “bug out bag” which
has everything you need if you need to leave at a moment’s notice.

Here’s the guide I’ve followed: [https://theprepared.com/guides/emergency-
preparedness-checkl...](https://theprepared.com/guides/emergency-preparedness-
checklist-prepping-beginners/#bob)

------
richforrester
I realize HN might not be the time and place but I wanted to wish you the best
of luck. Hope all works out as well as it could.

------
Overtonwindow
Grab all identification you can muster, and I'd say laptop, photos, etc. that
has sentimental value - but don't overdo it. I suggest also calling your
insurance company now, let them know what's likely to happen, get a case
opened, that way when the house is toast, things will already be moving for
you.

------
mar77i
For about 10 minutes I was just browsing comments here looking for why. For
whatever reason I only thought of human threat as the possible scenario for
your situation. Of course fires occur naturally too.

As for survival advice, I can cover the basics: Don't go die in a fire. :)

~~~
jo909
While I did not take quite so long, I came here thinking the same and expected
to find some crazy story. It then dawned on me that in other parts of the
world they have massive forest fires that can't really be stopped and wind
forecasts tell you if your house is at risk days in advance.

I can not think of any situation where you would get any warning of a house
fire where I live. It's either an accident, electrical fault etc, or arson. So
you either aren't at home when it happens, or have to get out immediately.
Best preparation I can think of is to place the most important documents in a
fireproof safe or at a bank, and maybe have scans stored online.

------
aboodman
Let us know what happened when you can. I'll be thinking good thoughts, fellow
hacker.

------
SCAQTony
Google maps snapshot to get the scope of the lot for location and "foot print"

~~~
monk_e_boy
Pile rocks in the corners of the lot. Maybe record good GPS of each corner. If
it all dissapears, at least you know where to rebuild the fences. Don't want
to argue with your neighbours on boundaries.

------
pmarreck
Everyone else seems to have covered the bases, just wanted to say that I’m
really sorry to anyone affected by the California fires and I hope you all
come out of this safe and (hopefully) still possessioned and housed

------
nikisweeting
Make sure to charge all your batteries before you leave! You may be stuck
without power, and it's helpful to have backup power banks and charged phones
with you while you're on the road.

~~~
KozmoNau7
And use any low power/battery saver modes your devices have.

Most Samsung phones have an extreme battery saver mode, which can probably
stretch the battery for over a week.

------
jumpkickhit
Maybe take pics of serial number of things, and also appliances and things you
need to leave behind.

I'm really sorry, I hope your house is spared, it must be horrible right now
worrying.

------
cm2187
If you are insured, take pictures of your stuff and if you have them the
invoice for the most expensive items. Will help a lot to make a claim.

Also one thing I learned from my flat burning is that even if a room doesn't
burn, soot is super corrosive and will spread everywhere. A brand new hammer I
left on a table looked like a 70y old tool a week after the fire. So you
should try to wrap any electronic you care about and you can't transport.

------
davebaker
If there are things that you can't take with you but you'd like to optimize
the chance of saving them, consider putting them in the refrigerator/freezer
(replacing the food and ice therein) and in the washer and dryer (closing all
of their doors/lids). Though they'll get very warm or even scalding hot due to
the metal of the appliance, the contents may be shielded from the flames.

------
martininmelb
Photo albums and photographs. If they are all digital, you're lucky, take any
backup drives with photos on them (i.e. photos of family and friends)

------
betenoire
Been there. Sorry I'm on a phone.... Take a million pictures of everything you
own. Everything. Be ridiculous about it. Sorry if it goes that way.

~~~
KozmoNau7
Rather 100 pictures too many, than 1 too few.

------
Tempest1981
Grab some basic tools: screwdriver, pliers, adjustable wrench, shovel, pocket
knife, USB charger for car, tent.

And some bottles of water, and energy bars.

------
kd5bjo
After the initial evacuation, you will likely find yourself in an unfamiliar
environment with nothing to do but wait. Spare some thought for how you'll
fill that time, or else you may drive yourself crazy with worry.

When I ran away from hurricane Irma, for example, the tennis racket I grabbed
on my way out saw more use than most of the things I brought with me.

------
craigkerstiens
Make sure to take lots of pictures, not only for insurance/etc. but for
sentimental sake. Of course grab all key documents like IDs/credit cards/etc.,
but spending some extra time on pictures of both valuables but also ones that
you may look back and value personally over time can't be dismissed.

------
nfavaron
Sentimental value items: Printed photo albums, trips souvenirs, gifts, kids
favourite stuffed toy.

So easy to forget: a phone charger.

~~~
KozmoNau7
Any power banks you have, too. It's an extra full charge or two, which can end
up mattering a lot.

Lots of phones have battery saving modes, I know my Motorola can stretch the
battery for probably 3 days or so, on the battery saver mode. Turn the display
brightness way down. Every little bit helps.

If course a lot of things are more important than phones, but communication
should not be neglected.

------
dvt
Not really anything to add (never been in this kind of situation before), but
I hope you and your family stay safe!

------
digikata
Box up mementos, backup data, pull drives, receipts & model info of large
purchases... travel supplies

------
MrQuincle
\+ You can buy all kind of cloths later. But take the ones that have special
meaning to you. The one a guy gave you one time on your sabbatical trip, the
jacket of your wedding suit.

\+ Make pictures of everything. Sync to the cloud. You might lose your phone
later in the hassle.

------
karlzt
Cover your house with a material that doesn't burn and leave all the faucets
open.

------
BurningFrog
Shouldn't it be possible to come up with a relatively low cost
wall/wrap/something that could keep a house from igniting during fires like
these that pass by fairly quickly and don't get super close?

------
exikyut
I read recently how modern houses combust in 3 minutes versus 15 minutes for
old houses because of increased use of more flammable building materials.

Unsure how true this is, but it's possibly something to keep in mind.

------
Geee
Set up live streaming GoPro.

------
newshorts
From my wildland firefighting fiancé:

Cut down trees (not supposed to have them within 200 ft of house anyway). Dig
a fire line and cover the house with soapy water. Turn on sprinklers on the
way out.

------
navigator01
Take photos/videos of your entire home interior. For insurance.

~~~
kbenson
Did that, but it was yesterday morning when it was a bit more hectic. Planning
to go through again more thoroughly soon.

~~~
colechristensen
Record precise model numbers of the most expensive things you own, pictures of
them help. If you put "42 in TV" for reimbursement, you'll get reimbursed for
the cheapest one that can be found. If you put Sony XYZ123, you'll get
reimbursed for that very specific model (always higher, sometimes very much
higher)

Spend one minute just experiencing being inside your house before you leave.

Leave a note with your contact information inside.

------
lurker12390879
Dig a pit around the perimeter of the house if you have time, otherwise, burn
a perimeter around the house in your yard to prevent the fire from reaching
it.

------
sizzle
Will a fireproof safe protect your belongings in this scenario? I ask cause I
bought over rated for a about 30 mins - 1hr burn protection. Thanks.

------
mikeytown2
Plug the roof gutters and fill them up with water. Close any vents with
metallic tape. Remove any vegetation that’s on the structure.

------
quadcore
Rent a truck and move everything out?

------
GoToRO
Crazy idea: wrap it in tin foil. All or at least the sides from where the wind
is blowing fire.

------
tangental
Check maps and know where all the water bodies are in the area, and all the
routes to get to them.

------
rabboRubble
Hey do hope you heck back and let us know how things went for you & your
family.

~~~
kbenson
As of a couple hours ago the most threatening fire had been turned back with a
backfire just when the wind shifted for a bit, so there's a reprieve on that
front. There's another fire a few miles south, but it's probably a full day
before that could develop to something dangerous for my location, depending on
wind. There's another one still to the north end of town too.

It's all up in the air until they are all out. I'm relatively safe right now,
but still paying attention to all the alerts as they come in. They just issued
a new _advisory_ evacuation[1] in a separate part of town a couple minutes ago
just in case conditions change.

1: [http://www.nixle.us/9MPXP](http://www.nixle.us/9MPXP)

~~~
rabboRubble
Thanks the gods. I will have fingers crossed for you and the family.

------
Schizotypy
I'm really wondering here, how and why do you keep ow about this fire ahead of
time

------
piecu
How is your house? Is everything ok with you?

~~~
kbenson
Currently, yes. The scare that caused this post was handled by a back burn
from the fire department before it got into too heavily of a populated
area.[1] We're fairly safe as of this time, and most the fires area dealt
with, thankfully. Thanks for checking in!

1:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15455577](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15455577)

------
calbear81
Would something like this work?
[http://www.geltechsolutions.com/fireice/product.aspx?Product...](http://www.geltechsolutions.com/fireice/product.aspx?ProductId=70&product=FireIce+HDU+Wand+Combo+\(4+Buckets\)&subsiteid=2)

~~~
Tempest1981
Interesting technology... not sure why the downvotes. Although the price is
insane.

~~~
lisper
We had a chance to deploy this product in an actual fire in 2009. Here's the
post-mortem:

[http://blog.rongarret.info/2009/08/living-through-brush-
fire...](http://blog.rongarret.info/2009/08/living-through-brush-fire-some-
lessons.html)

------
DeepYogurt
If you don't have it already see if you can sign up for fire insurance.

------
rburhum
coming from someone whose house has burned down twice, take photos of
everything. You will need it for the insurance.

------
Markoff
take:

1\. paper documents

2\. electronic data

3\. jewellery

pretty much everything else is replacable

take video of walk through house, preferably slowly, it's easier than taking
hundreds of photos

------
zero_one_one
Don't forget your towel!

------
dolguldur
Bikes you can put in the pool.

------
lisper
This is the blog post I wrote in 2009 after the Station Fire down in LA almost
burned our house down:

[http://blog.rongarret.info/2009/08/living-through-brush-
fire...](http://blog.rongarret.info/2009/08/living-through-brush-fire-some-
lessons.html)

To which I would add, to be more responsive to the question: don't try to save
anything that can be easily replaced. So: your laptop or a hard drive with a
copy of your data, photos, original art work, out-of-print books that you're
particularly attached to. Your passport. Maybe a few changes of clothes.
That's it. Everything else is just stuff.

If there is actually a fire nearby, don't waste time, _especially_ if it's
windy. If the wind is calm then you might have some time, but if it's blowing,
just get as far away as fast as you possibly can. A wind-drive fire is not to
be fucked with.

If you're interested, here are the live-blog entries I wrote during the fire:

[http://blog.rongarret.info/2009/08/going-to-be-
interesting-n...](http://blog.rongarret.info/2009/08/going-to-be-interesting-
night.html)

[http://blog.rongarret.info/2009/08/dodged-
bullet.html](http://blog.rongarret.info/2009/08/dodged-bullet.html)

[http://blog.rongarret.info/2009/08/turn-for-
worse.html](http://blog.rongarret.info/2009/08/turn-for-worse.html)

[http://blog.rongarret.info/2009/08/evacuated.html](http://blog.rongarret.info/2009/08/evacuated.html)

[http://blog.rongarret.info/2009/08/out-of-frying-
pan.html](http://blog.rongarret.info/2009/08/out-of-frying-pan.html)

And the denouement:

[http://blog.rongarret.info/2009/08/reflections-on-
fire.html](http://blog.rongarret.info/2009/08/reflections-on-fire.html)

Here's the TL;DR quote:

"I think if you're going to live anywhere near the mountains in SoCal you have
to make your peace with the fact that your house might burn down some day and
there will be nothing you can do about it. Accordingly, the best thing you can
do is to figure out well in advance what stuff in the house really matters to
you, and have a plan for getting that stuff out of the house, storing it
somewhere safe for a while, and then putting it back, either in the same house
or a new one that you build after the old one has burned down. Making that
inventory was not part of our advance preparation, and that was a huge
mistake. We found ourselves trying to decide under pressure what we wanted to
save. And it turned out that some of those things -- mainly artwork --
wouldn't fit in our cars."

Good luck to you. We were thinking of moving up to Santa Rosa ourselves last
year and decided against it. Never dreamed this could happen there.

------
magoon
Only save lives, GET OUT

------
ForFreedom
With all these forest fires, has anyone tried to ascertain the cause of these
fires?

------
yayougotfire
Stop using plastics!

------
jlebrech
get a lumberjack to fell the trees around your house and dig a moat

------
pvaldes
make a fire break

------
icantdrive55
Everyone gave good advice.

I think about the way Insurance companies have used these rare events to raise
rates, and cringe.

I think about all the people who couldn't afford property insurance, and
cringe.

(If it was my house, I might put a sprinkler on the roof, and turn it on. I
would nail the sprinkler head to the roof. Then again, they say it will lower
the water pressure to the fire hydrants in some areas.)

------
stupidcomments
Call the fire department.

------
am185
call the Fire Department.

~~~
s0rce
I think in this case they already know and are doing everything they can to
save people's lives and try to stop the fires.

------
teen
can u move it ?

------
quickthrower2
Double your contents insurance

------
exabrial
Probably, don't live in a desert... Assuming you're near CA. I mean there are
places in the USA to live with less taxes, less laws, less people, and lower
cost of living.

~~~
s0rce
FYI Santa Rosa gets over 30" of rain per year, its hardly a desert. Happens to
get dry in the summer. Maybe Houston is better, less taxes, less crowded,
lower cost of living and not a desert?

~~~
allpurposeguru
I live just outside of Houston. We will have flood-damaged household
belongings in piles along our streets for the next eighteen months at least.
They pick up the trash with a front-end loader right now.

That said, my aunt and cousins are about 3 miles from the evacuation zone in
Santa Rosa.

Sometimes you get whacked in the head right after the bus hits you.

Thanks to all for really great info and suggestions. I'm sending the info to
my cousins and keeping a copy for the next hurricane.

------
sitepodmatt
Consider looters and how to protect your property, place a sign with dangerous
dog inside, if you can rig up something to play barking sounds that would be
ideal, but obviously other priorities.

Render large expensive items temporarily useless - if example maybe you can't
take your new 50" TV but maybe remove one of circuit boards on the connector
panel, same with washing machines on control panel, expensive juicer (just a
difficult to replace small part), and so on. Power tools? Heavy and more
difficult but hide them at least.

~~~
chrsstrm
Seriously? We're talking about fire here, and in case you hadn't seen, take a
look [0]. There's nothing left after it passes through. Nothing.

[http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/California-fires-
aerial-p...](http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/California-fires-aerial-
photos-of-wine-country-12264966.php)

~~~
sitepodmatt
Not familiar with the area, the OP says 'might', not 'will', if the fire
doesn't pass through then you've got a lot of empty houses and emergency
services with attention diverted elsewhere. If looters aren't near and ready
to take advantage should the fire miss certain areas I'd be very surprised.

