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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
by marak830 9y ago
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.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- flukus 9y ago> The most important rule. IF YOU CAN SEE THE FIRE AT ALL, GO. Actually, listen to local authorities, if you can see the fire then there's a good chance that it's too late. I'm sure you're aware of our newer "stay or go" procedures and that these decisions must often be taken 12-24 hours in advance. You don't want to be one of those tragic images of a burnt out car on the road while you were trying to evacuate. If OP is asking on HN now then I think it's safe to say they don't have a well thought out evacuation plan and should leave ASAP if it's still safe to do so, just take the phone, wallet and a few clothes.
- Mz 9y agoI would assume OP is up on whatever local authorities are advising and is posting to HN (at least in part) as an alternative to running around flailing arms and screaming like Kermit the Frog. I approve such choices and am happy to participate in helping them try to stay calm and do something vaguely constructive in the face of this.
- marak830 9y agoHmm I'm on two minds about this, I don't know what it's like in the us, but in aus, when there's a fire we get constant updates about position and direction. If you are unsure, I'll certainly agree, be. Fucking. Careful. Otherwise, staying seems like a bad plan(cavet yes I know I know, but shit. If it's coming towards toh, go, if there is akm firebreak between you don't, I can't cover everything edge case)
- flukus 9y agoStaying is an awful plan right up until the point where it isn't. That point depends on local factors like which roads you can take. If there is only one access road and it's in the fires path with no time to escape then you're better off taking your chances at home with a garden hose or swimming pool. A significant number of the black Saturday deaths were from people that left evacuation too late: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Saturday_bushfires https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Saturday_bushfires