Lessons We Can All Learn from a Forest Fire Evacuation

A recent forest fire in the mountains south west of Denver, Colorado has prompted some families to rethink their plans for bugging out when the Sheriff's Dept. ordered residents to evacuate. Some people lost their homes to the fire, some were unable to return home for a week.

The Lower North Fork fire started in very dry, windy conditions in a heavily forested residential area around Conifer, Colorado. Some residents called the authorities to ask what was happening, but at that time, the fire wasn't considered a serious problem, so some people wasted time before finally evacuating.

The first lesson to be learned from this is, when you have concerns about your safety, don't wait to be told to leave. If you think it is safer to leave rather than stay, then leave!

Second, some simple preparations at the beginning of fire season, hurricane season, tornado season, or any other time of the year when certain natural disasters are more likely to occur, is to keep a bag packed with the important items such as personal papers, emergency cash, change of clothes, etc. Have a plan for where to go; Keep the car with at least a half tank of gasoline at all times; Be able to notify friends, relatives, neighbors, and emergency personnel such as local law enforcement about who you are, how many people in your family or group, and where you can be reached.

Practice leaving home inside of five minutes and plan accordingly. These are just a few of the things that should be included in a bugout plan.

Junkyard Dog likes Big Cats

The Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keenesburg, Colorado, USA is home to many exotic animals that have been rescued from neglect and cruelty in private collections, roadside attractions, and traveling shows. Most of the people who work at the sanctuary are volunteers, and they have done an incredible job of building a home for bears, tigers, african lions and other wild cats--even a camel. Their latest project is to build an elevated platform one mile long, that visitors can walk along to get a better view of the animals without disturbing them. Please take a look at their website and pass it on to your friends:

http://www.wildanimalsanctuary.org/aboutus/mileintothewild.html

Are You Prepared?

That's a loaded question. Nobody can be prepared for absolutely everything, nor would we want to be. There is no point in preparing for things if they simply cannot happen to you , in your particular situation. If you live in a desert, for example, then preparing to escape a forest fire isn't a good use of your time and resources.

Things that threaten our well-being can be loosely divided into two groups: Natural disaster, and man-made disaster. A natural disaster such as a flood or an earthquake is something that you may expect, depending on where you are. Certain regions of the world are more prone than others to these events, therefore, if you're standing on the banks of the Mississippi river, it's more likely that you could experience a flood; Living in California, it may be more likely you feel an earthquake (except for the rainy season, when they get floods and mudslides). Now we can fine tune our expectancy to what is the most likely threat based on where we are and what time of the year we are there. Now we know the answer before the question is asked. Answer: Earthquake; Question: what is a likely threat to your survival if you live in California?

Man-made disasters are not necessarily as predictable. They are either accidents such as the chemical tanker that crashes on the expressway, spilling a cloud of toxic gas over the local neighborhood, or it could be the deliberate acts such as violent crime or terrorism. If you live near an expressway, you know that a tanker crash is a possibility, and you probably know that of the thousands of people who drive by your neighborhood every day, eventually one of them is going to look at your neighborhood as a place where they can commit a crime and then get back on the freeway and be long gone in a short period of time.

Again, with a little thought and assessment, you can come up with some scenarios that are more likely than others. Once you have figured out what these likely scenarios are, then you can come up with a simple plan and some steps to prepare for them. Be aware, of course, that if you go somewhere else, the situation could be completely different, and you have to assess your surroundings from the beginning.

And that could be as simple as walking through another part of your home town, some place you've never been to before, or a place you haven't visited in a long time, and it's changed, for better or worse.

The bottom line is that wherever we go, we need to be aware of our surroundings and evaluate what, realistically, are the threats to our well-being; have a simple plan, and know what event will cause us to put that plan into action.

Always know when and how to escape

In 1977, the Beverly Hills Supper Club in Ohio burned to the ground. It was a large building, standing in its own grounds. It consisted of various ballrooms, bars and dining facilities. People held wedding receptions and other functions there. On that night in 1977, there were about three thousand people--customers and staff--in the building.

A member of the staff noticed that a small fire had begun and began to notify the staff and the customers. The building did not have the sophisticated fire alarm systems that buildings have now, and the staff had to go to each room and tell people to leave because there was a fire.

Some people left immediately, others took a little more time to leave, and (amazingly) others just sat at their tables and continued with what they were doing. Some people, it is said, even ordered another round of drinks. It may have been the last thing that some of them did.

Around 167 people died in the fire. When firefighters eventually put out the flames and walked through the wreckage, they found a few people who had died, sitting at their tables.

Why didn't they try to escape?

I think there may be a couple of reasons:

First, some people just don't believe that something bad will happen to them. You may even know somebody who, when you remind them to put on their seatbelt in the car, or to not walk home alone late at night, or to not hitch-hike, will simply dismiss your concerns and say, "It'll be OK. Don't worry." As if you're nuts to even think about the possibility of danger.

Second, there are people who have no real understanding of the concept of being aware of their surroundings and never give a thought to their own safety.

In either case, when they are confronted with a situation they cannot ignore, such as a fire in the building where they are, they are forced to go through three mental and emotional phases. First, the go into denial (this cannot possibly be happening to me!); when they finally accept that it is happening to them, they go into phase two, deliberation (what do I do now?); and finally, in phase three, they do whatever it is they decided on in phase two (action).

The problem is that this mental exersize takes time. And if they take too long to figure out what it is they should be doing, they run out of time and they die.

It is far better to have developed a simple plan before it is ever needed. In the example above, anyone who visited the supper club for the first time should have made a note of the location of the exits and been aware that in the event of a fire (or any other physical threat) they could, and should simply leave by the nearest exit as quickly as possible.

This isn't rocket science. It's just a question of being aware of your surroundings, coming up with a very simple plan to deal with whatever situation may be a possible threat, and to know what event will trigger you putting that plan into action.

For example: "I can see two ways to get out of this restaurant in addition to the way I came in. If there is a fire in the restaurant I will leave immediately by whichever exit will get me outside the quickest and easiest."

Once you have a plan, you can go ahead and enjoy your meal, knowing that you have a way out if you need it.

Be Competent

It is part of human nature to strive to be the best that we can be in some chosen field or occupation. People who are Number One, whether it is in sports or academic achievement or professional entertainment, are applauded by the rest of us.

That’s fine, but the problem is that very few people are number one at everything they do. And many people who are at the top of their game in one field fail dismally in other activities because they have put their lives into being the very best at one thing.

So often, society rewards us for being exceptional, for being number one in our chosen endeavor. Nobody remembers who finished second in any major race, competition or political election.

But in reality, in day-to-day life, isn’t it often the people who are “adequate but not exceptional” who are often the most useful because they are “adequate but not exceptional” in several different fields. In other words, the people who finish in second place are still finishers. They still accomplished their goal (or at least a major part of it).

On a sinking ship, an adequate swimmer is more likely to survive than a world class professional rock guitarist. When we talk about a mugging, a sixty-year-old retired police officer may well do better than a thirty-year-old dentist.

Most of us don’t have the ability to be number one in a single field. But in many aspects of life, being a good all-rounder actually makes us more useful for ourselves and other people.

I recently listened to a short piece of a radio interview with musician Billy Joel where he said (and I’m paraphrasing here) that he knows how to play a piano, how to sing, how to write songs, how to record songs, how to perform in public, but that he did not consider himself to be really good at any of those skills. What he does consider himself to be is competent.

The dictionary defines competent as “… having suitable or sufficient skill, knowledge, experience, etc., for some purpose; properly qualified; adequate but not exceptional.” Notice those three words: “suitable,” “sufficient,” and “adequate.” They define the person who has a wide range of skills that may not be complete, but will be enough to help them to survive a wide array of threatening situations.

If, for example, you can think on your feet quite well, run quite well, punch, kick, stab and shoot quite well, you are probably “adequate but not exceptional.” And if, on top of those skills, you are constantly aware of what is happening around you, and you have a good plan for how you will deal with specific threatening situations and which of your skills you will use and when to use them, then you are probably much closer to being number one as a survivor than most people around you.

When we think about surviving disasters, it would be nice if we were all experts of whatever disaster threatens our lives, but in reality, we are better off having a core set of skills and a highly developed survival mindset that allows us to be competent to deal with a variety of threatening situations that we cannot avoid.

You don’t necessarily have to be a champion boxer or cage fighter to survive a mugging. Of course it helps if you are, but many people survive knowing just a handful of fighting moves: kick, punch, block, throw etc, but what few moves they do know, they can do very well. In the same way, the average driver knows enough to avoid car accidents most of the time, without having to become a world class NASCAR or Grand Prix racer.

By all means, strive for excellence; be number one in your chosen field, but remember also that true survivors are likely to be competent in several different areas.

What Kind of a Survivor Are You?

Here's an interesting little survey from The Survivors Club. I'm not sure how much it actually tells us about ourselves, but I do think it prompts us to question how we would handle specific threats and emergencies.

So for that reason alone, I took the survey. It only takes a couple of minutes. Click here to go to the survey. You may be surprised what you find out about yourself.

Those Pesky Spring Snowstorms!

It's snowing hard in my part of the world. Big, fluffy, wet flakes that have brought visibility down to a couple of hundred yards--less in some places. This is the type of storm that produces enough heavy, wet snow to bring down branches, and in some cases entire trees. And when that happens, quite often power lines come down too.

The forecast is for 6 - 12 inches of snow over the next 24 hours. It's not uncommon for entire neighborhoods to be without power for several days when weather like this hits.

But there are some simple preparations that most people can make in case the power goes out for an extended period:

It's a good idea to make a run to the store before the storm hits and pick up some food that doesn't require heat to prepare. Maybe a few extra batteries for flashlights would be a good idea too. Keep in mind that candles burn the oxygen out of the air in a confined space, and that they should never be left unattended because of the risk of fire.

This is a good time to stay inside and eat nutritious food, to help stay warm and drink plenty of fluids to avoid dehydration. Close off rooms that aren't needed and put newspaper or similar material at the base of doors to keep the cold out. Painter's masking tape is pretty good for temporarily sealing drafts from cracks around doors and windows, and if it isn't left on for days, it won't peel off the paint when it's taken off. Be very careful using any kind of heater that produces a flame and in all circumstances make sure that there is adequate ventilation. People die from carbon monoxide poisoning when they light a fire without having sufficient ventilation to remove the fumes, so it is vital to have a constant supply of fresh air into the living area.

It may be necessary during the course of the storm to go outside to check that ventilation ducts have not been choked with snow, preventing fresh air from getting into the building.

An extra layer or two of clothing is, of course a simple way to stay warmer, but don't forget that pets may also need an extra blanket to help them stay warm.

Be careful of walking under trees that have a heavy blanket of snow on them that may cause branches to snap off and fall.

Disaster Preparedness for Animals

We've all seen disasters on the TV news such as hurricanes, tornados, flooding, and earthquakes. Much attention (and rightly so) is given to the suffering and deaths of people, but what about the animals involved? What can people do to care for their pets in a crisis?

Here are a few guidelines:

Every household needs a basic plan to cope with natural disasters and possible evacuations. The plan should include taking pets along if the owners have to evacuate their homes. Some people may just turn their pets loose to fend for themselves in a disaster, but not only is this not in the animal's best interests, but it may cause a problem for someone else. It's better to try to take pets along in the event of an evacuation.

However, except for service animals, most emergency shelters don't accept pets. As part of the overall emergency plan, it's worth checking with local hotels to see which ones allow owners with their pets and where there are pet boarding services that may be outside of the disaster area.

If pets are to be boarded, the facility will first want to check that all vaccinations are up to date, so remember to bring the animal's veterinary records along too.

Pets will also need to wear indentification tags with contact information such as a phone number in case they are lost.

Assemble a disaster kit for pets that includes food, water, medication (if any) can opener, litter box and information on name, address, medical and behavioral issues.

For most of us, our pets are part of the family. Why wouldn't we take a few simple steps to look after them in an emergency?

Earthquake in Haiti

The 7.3 magnitude earthquake that has devastated Haiti at the western end of the island of Hispaniola in the Carribean Sea has already killed thousands of people, and the after effects are likely to kill more.

Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere. Two thirds of the population relies on subsistence farming, and the country as a whole suffers from a shortage of potable water. These two factors alone will cause major problems over the next few weeks and months. I doubt that the country can support it's population without major contributions from the UN and surrounding nations.

As bad as this earthquake was, it is likely to be just the beginning of a bad run of luck for the people of this poor nation. In the short term, one of the most serious concerns will be finding enough clean drinking water for the survivors. In the 90 degree heat, the corpses of people killed in the earthquake are going to present a major health risk and possible contamination of drinking water unless they are removed quickly.

Along with a water shortage, Haiti has very few emergency resources. The nation's ambulance brigade and hospital system is woefully inadequate to deal with a nation-wide problem such as this. So, we can expect more fatalities from those already injured, and those people who will eventually die from their injuries sustained in the earthquake, and a combination of sickness and dehydration.

We are also likely to see that help from the outside will be too little and too late to save every person who survived the initial earthquake. And the great shame here is that the population had so little before the 'quake, and now has even less resources to look after itself. It has to rely on foreign governments and organizations.

The earthquake in Haiti has presented us with some valuable lessons that we'd be wise to learn. It's foolish to think that we in the United States are immune from these disasters--it's just that we have better resources to deal with them when they strike. But that doesn't mean that as individuals, we can sit back and expect emergency organizations to rush to our aid. New Orleans, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina demonstrated that the people who took responsibility for their own survival had a greater chance of surviving than if they simply waited for help.

There are some simple things that almost anyone can do to increase their chances of surviving a natural disaster:
Be sure to have several days worth (or more) of drinking water available. Be sure to have several days worth of the type of food that needs very little preparation available. Keep a good first aid kit at home and another one in your vehicle. In case cell phone communications are unavailable--as they were immediately after 9/11--develop a plan with your family of where you will meet, and when, if you are not all together when disaster strikes. Identify the most likely events for where you are: earthquake, forest fire, flooding, terrorist attack, and then develop a simple plan for that eventuality and talk it through with your family, friends and neighbors.

After enduring decades of violence and oppression from dictators such as Papa Doc Duvalier, and Jean-Bertrande Aristide, hurricanes, poverty, AIDS, and illiteracy, you'd think that the law of averages would cut the Haitians a break. But as the song goes, "...if it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have no luck at all."

Please consider making a donation to the Red Cross or one of the other emergency aid organizations.

The Bugout Box

Running away, escaping, or simply Bugging Out is often the smartest way to avoid a dangerous situation. People bug out of burning buildings, bar fights, even countries; many times with just the clothes on their back or whatever they can throw into a bag.

I'd like to save a discussion about bugout bags for another time. Today, I'd like to talk about how we can put together a bugout box.

A bugout box is intended to store all the important papers that most of us accumulate over time: Insurance policies, bank account information, educational certificates, military service records, last will and testament, list of firearms and their serial numbers (you do have the serial numbers stored in a safe place in case of loss or theft, don't you?), passports, photocopies of credit cards and driver's license...the list goes on. Imagine how difficult and time-consuming it would be to have to recreate all that information if it was ever lost or destroyed.

In the event you have to suddenly bug out of your home, having all those papers stored in a single box makes it easy to just grab them and go.

It's important to store the bugout box in a safe, dry place that is easily accessible. Ideally, that location is somewhere like a closet or cupboard that can be locked, that is not a location most people in the home need to access very frequently.

What you decide to put in the bugout box is up to you, but the criteria should be something like this: Documents that cannot be replaced easily (graduation papers, military discharge papers); Documents that you may need immediately if you have to bug out (driver's license, passport, homeowners insurance policy, check book, list of contacts such as insurance agent, family, friends, employer, family doctor, etc.); Documents that have intrinsic value (bearer bonds, stocks, money orders).

If you've ever watched TV news accounts of people who have lost their homes to fire, flood, or tornado, you may have noticed how many people value the family photo album above most other things. But most photo albums are too bulky to be included in a bugout box. The solution is to have all your important photos scanned onto a CD or even a memory stick. That way, a huge number of photos takes up almost no space at all in the bugout box. Check with your local office supplies and services store to see if they can do this for you.

The bugout box itself should be large enough accomodate standard 8 1/2 x 11 inch paper, and should be made of some material such as plastic or metal so that it can withstand being bounced around. A cardboard grocery box is not a good idea. It may tear open under the weight of all those papers, it may disintegrate if it gets wet. A suitable box is tough, has a hinged lid, and some form of carry handle. You can find this type of box at office supply stores.

Finally, as you place important papers into your bugout box, make a checklist of items and leave that in the box where you can refer to it easily. As insurance policies and other similar papers come up for renewal, don't forget to remove the old version from the box and replace it with the latest copy.

Bugging out isn't fun. Why make it more difficult than it already is? A bugout box for your valuable papers makes a lot of sense.