Ridecamp: [RC] Preparedness

We live in the Northern Central Valley of California.  This past Wednesday,
a wildfire erupted a little more than a mile from our farm.  This was a very
warm day (100° F) and 30+ mph winds.  The ignition point was alongside I-80,
and fire investigators suspect a carelessly discarded cigarette caused it.

I was attending a retirement function for one of my employees, and was about
a 45-minute drive from the house.  I received a page from my wife alerting
me of the situation.  Fortunately for us, the wind was pushing the fire away
from our area.  However, we had friends who lived in the vicinity that the
fire was threatening, and that they may need to evacuate their stock to our
farm.

Due to the fire, the normal 45-minute drive took over two hours.  Upon
finally arriving home, I learned that our friend's farm had escaped danger.
Yet, another neighbor needed assistance evacuating their stock.  Their home
had narrowly escaped burning, but there was still a threat of hotspots
flaring up.  They wanted to move the stock, just to be safe.

The access roads were closed to traffic, but the sheriff let us through
since we were evacuating horses.  We had to drive thru one stretch of road
where flames were burning within 10 yards of the roadway edge.  We reached
the horses and loaded them with no trouble, and they were quickly moved to
safe pasture.

All of this got me to thinking; we needed an emergency evacuation plan.  It
took me over two hours to get home, and I had the truck.  Even though my
wife was home, she had no way of moving the stock.  I will now keep a
current list of our friend's numbers who could respond in an emergency.

In our case it was a fire.  In your case it could be any sort of natural
disaster.  All I suggest is that you take a little time to draw up an
emergency plan.  The best thing that could happen is that you never need to
implement the plan.

Best regards,

Steve



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