June is not too early to prepare for wildfires, in fact the Cal Fire website says that it is “peak preparedness” time. Being organized is essential to being wildfire ready.
An organized garage will allow you access to the tools you may need during a fire, such as a shovel, metal rakes and a fire extinguisher. If you own a generator, now is the time to check the oil and the battery, make sure you have adequate propane or gas to run it for at least eight hours and be certain that you can access it easily when necessary. For me, this means being able to roll it in and out of my garage without having to move my car or other things out of the way.
An organized pantry will allow you to keep and track extra bottled water, canned goods and packaged foods that require little or no stove and oven time. An organized refrigerator/freezer that is never too stuffed will ensure that you can eat through or easily move your perishables in the event of a power outage (if you don’t have a generator). I keep a couple bags of ice in my garage freezer just to have a start on keeping things cold if something goes wrong with my generator and I can’t get to an ice machine.
Organized files are so important for peace of mind. If papers are scattered throughout the house, it’s incredibly difficult and stressful to pull together those that are essential for your “go bag” in an emergency. Try to keep the most important documents such as pink slips, birth certificates, passports, marriage certificates and others all in the same place. I keep some in a safe, but since my safe is small, slightly less important documents are in file folders at the front of one file drawer where they are easy to grab.
Make a list now of everything you would want to evacuate with, in order of importance, and make sure you can easily access and move these things. Cal Fire calls these things the 6 P’s of Evacuation: People and Pets, Papers and Phone (with all your contacts in it), Prescriptions and Eyeglasses, Pictures and Irreplaceable Memorabilia, Personal Computer and back up drives, and Plastic (credit cards) and cash.
Which things in each category do you need on your list and what sort of containers will you need on stand-by to make sure you can efficiently transport these items? For example, a good cat carrier and a plan for the litter box, or containers to put your jewelry in and a suitcase to throw a week’s worth of clothes into.
Speaking of clothes, an organized closet means that you know what you really wear. That Valentino dress and those Prada shoes might be the most expensive things in your closet but during an evacuation that could last a week or more, you’re unlikely to wear them. Opt for comfortable jeans, t-shirts, sneakers, socks, underwear and a mid-weight jacket.
Personally, I’m on the fence as to whether to try to evacuate with any art or memorabilia at all. I love Shutterfly because most of my photo albums can be repurchased, so they aren’t irreplaceable. But otherwise, everything in my house has a memory attached to it, so how to choose?
One more thing: if you’ve never used a fire extinguisher, learn how to now! This is on my “to do” list—I know I am not going to be able to quickly read all that tiny print on my extinguisher if I am under stress.
There’s a wealth of information on the readyforwildfire.org website that Cal Fire provides. Look there for more fire preparedness information.