Things to Grab

• Several days of clothes, shoes + rain gear

• Your entire month’s supply of prescriptions (don’t just grab a few day’s worth)

• Important identification (passport, social security card, birth certificate).  These are annoying to replace and can be vital during an evacuation.

• Phones, laptops, power cords and especially BATTERY backup packs.  You may be without power but able to check the news via your phone if you can keep it charged!

• Pets, pet cages, food and other essentials

• Photographs, NASs etc if possible

• Face masks

• Activities & entertainment for kids for several days, backpacks & school supplies

Official Resources

Cal Fire:  https://www.fire.ca.gov/

Twitter Accounts to Watch:

@CALFIRE_PIO **

@LACofDPIO **

@CAL_FIRE

@CALFIRESANDIEGO

@CALFIRERRU

@CALFIRE_CHIEF

@LACoFireAirOps

** PIO (Public Information Officer) accounts are frequently the best to follow for critical information.  Each region / department typically has a PIO and they are sometimes appointed separately for large fires.

Low Bandwidth News

It’s not uncommon for cell networks to be very slow during a fire.  Most major news websites offer a text only version.  Find these for your favorite news sites so you can keep up to date:  https://greycoder.com/a-list-of-text-only-new-sites/

Unofficial Resources

Find local Twitter accounts that are covering police and EMS scanners in your county. https://x.com/vcscanner?s=21 is a citizen operated account that monitors & reports on parts of Ventura County.  These types of accounts can be very helpful to know if the fire is active on your street and can provide better information than almost anywhere else during the actual event.

App:  Watch Duty - this is a nonprofit app that I’ve been using to track local fires for the last season.  It’s great for evacuation updates in almost real time.  There is a paid version that gives you access to see the firefighting aircraft which is pretty wild. 

Things to Know

Be very careful when driving.  These are some of the most dangerous driving conditions and people will not stop if there’s an accident.  Have a clear plan on where you’re going and if you’re meeting other people so that you can focus on driving not talking.

You may have to be evacuated for over a month (much longer if there is damage).  When my neighborhood burned, the smoke damage was so bad in the houses that didn’t burn that we were not allowed back in for almost a month.  The National Guard was stationed at the entrance to our neighborhood keeping everyone out.  It was very surreal.  It took weeks for the gas and water companies to be able to cap all of the melted pipes so that they could return service to the remaining houses.  While we were out some cleaning companies were allowed in to begin treating for smoke damage.

Best of luck and hopefully you never need these tip. 🤞