Here’s the link to my own photos of this fire, taken from my front steps.
One of my friends was just on the news – reporters are camped out in front of his house and waiting for the news that they’ll have to evacuate.
2 Replies to “Griffith Park Fire – from my front steps”
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Someone on the blogging.la internal mailing list just wrote, “Um, my apartment is on los feliz justsouth of the park. Haven’t heard anything about evacuating. But I’m not sure how I would~I’ve never been evacuated before.”
I covered more than a few out-of-control brush fires for the Times, and interviewed dozens of people in the middle of evacuations.
Almost every one of them had regrets about stuff they either forgot to take, or simply couldn’t. In the end, the list below is what really mattered.
Evacuation checklist, in order of priority:
– Your ass
– Your family’s asses
– Your pets’ asses
Nothing below this line is worth risking anything above this line. Nothing.
– Keys and wallet. (Yep, some people left those behind)
– Prescription medicines that you or your family will need immediately
– At least 1 set of clean clothes. You’ll need something to wear to the laundromat while washing the other set and waiting to find time to buy more.
– Irreplaceable bank/financial papers
– Irreplaceable photos or artwork
– Computer hard drive
If you have time to throw this stuff and a few other things into your car, that’s a good thing to take with you, too.
If you have nowhere to stay, no friends to rely on, you might want to grab your shaving kit, too. But if you’re in a rush to leave the house because the fire is burning straight for you, forget *everything* else and listen very carefully to what fire crews tell you to do.
That’s it. Everything else can be replaced.
All good points Mack and you have your priorities straight on what gets out first. If you have kidlets bring their blasted Pampers, wipes and formula too.