Ferguson, Carr, Steele, wildfire disasters lets talk about what to do before, during and after the disasters.

Redding California 8 hours ago.

We have another major wildfire burning tens of thousands of acres in one of the most scenic areas of the state, it has been dubbed the Carr Fire, it is also one of the hottest. I spoke with a friend who lives in Redding, I didn't know what he would have to say or what conditions he and his family are confronting. My intent was to check on him to offer his family and him a place to pitch his tent if he was under an order to evacuate. Disasters are widespread in California, almost everyone I have spoken with has a connection to every incident that takes place. It is a small world, we're lucky to have such good reliable communications. I'm not sure how comforting a telephone call is especially during trying times, but sometimes that is all a guy has.

We never know where a wildfire will start, but we expect the firefighters to be there to fight them.

The Carr fire West of Redding California had scorched 40,000 acres as of last night when I went to bed, doubling in size to 80,000 acres upon waking up this morning. (Saturday, July 28, 2018) This fire is another Northern California monster it is on the same scale of the fires that took place last year that destroyed Santa Rosa. Residents of both cities had to flee without notice, these fires travel and spread rapidly. The latest report of the number of people evacuated is at this moment 38,000, with more most likely. My friend Joe and his wife live on acreage East of Interstate 5, 15 miles from the blazing inferno. His two Grandsons are on an evacuation alert, his daughter and son in law are amongst the 38,000 abandoning their homes. Joe is not in danger right now, but as with all wildfires conditions change rapidly, he is retired and disabled. He is not one to worry about, a concern is a correct mindset, it's important to offer support and a place to stay. He told me where he lives there is no wind, 15 miles away at the fire-line the wind speed is 20 miles per hour, top wind speed 80 mph.

Wildfires create their own wind, gusting up to 80 miles per hour and creating fire tornadoes with higher velocities. Blowing garage doors off, roofs were torn apart, and pieces of the structure being flung many tens of yards away. It's hard to imagine a tornado of flames strong enough to do that sort of damage, it is the worst of many worlds. A number of the residents start running their lawn sprinklers before they evacuate setting them on the roof of their houses, and others saturating the area surrounding their homes. It makes a big difference, having saved many of those places.

The Ferguson Fire 24 hours ago.

Joe told me that is the accepted practice, he is set up for that scenario, his grandsons started theirs when the warning to evacuate was issued. It has saved countless homes, it is most effective at those residences that had created a safety zone around their properties. A fire-resistant zone constructed around their homes by eliminating all weeds, wood piles, and flammable debris with a distance of 30 feet to form a parameter. The weeds, when left unattended grow to between two and four feet high during the winter rainy season, when the rain stops, is when the problems begin. Drying out to almost zero moisture level makes a situation that encourages the start of a fire. When dried brush, manzanita, pine, and deciduous trees are added into the equation it is an impossible situation to predict. Prediction of direction, and wind speed change by the minute leaving the affected people with little idea in which direction is the safest to escape.

Such was the case when a Great-Grandmother and her two grandchildren were on a walk when the fire started, trapping them in the woods. Their bodies were found today after searching for two days, they did not make it back to their home becoming confused in the smoke. It is not surprising that evacuees would become confused, the fires burn in confusing ways due to creating their own environments. I'm not sure what could have been done in that short of a notice by a grandmother and three young ones, but there are some things we can do in advance.

Before the threat.

* Most communities have a warning system, sign up for it and you will be alerted via an app on your cell phone. Other alerts are provided by the Emergency Alert System (Link). and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on their Weather Radio provide alerts as well. (Link)

*Communities also have evacuation plans providing instructions for several ways to exit the area, practice driving the routes paying attention to shelter locations. They will also have suggestions pertaining to planning for taking care of livestock and pets.

They are there when we need them, we need to be there for them.

*Purchase respirators, goggles, and emergency supplies, breathing the smoke-filled air has the potential of ending a persons life. Include pet planning, medications, and asthma needs.

* Choose a room and make it so it can be closed off from the outside environment, close windows and doors. The purchase of a portable air cleaner may be in order to maintain indoor smoke levels to a safe level when that threat presents itself.

* Keep all important paperwork and documents in a high quality, fireproof, safe. Protect digital copies with a password and cloud storage.

* When making repairs or renovations to the home us fire-resistant materials.

* Set up a water system with a hose that is capable of reaching every area of your home and property.

* Clear a fire-resistant area around your home free of leaves, debris, and flammable materials for a distance of a minimum of 30 feet from your home.

* Make sure your homeowners' insurance is up to date.

* Stay up on air quality alerts.

Survival during the event

* If told to evacuate do so immediately when alerted by the authorities.

* Keep your cell phone charged. If you become trapped call 911 making sure to give your location, turn outdoor lights on, or some other unique signal such as a parked car with the emergency flashers on. The expectation of delays from the emergency response teams is warranted, there will be a lot of distressed residents.

* Listen to the emergency alert radio stations and alert systems.

* Have your respirators, goggles, and emergency kits at the ready, load them in your vehicle to enable a rapid escape.

* Stay indoors in smokey environments exist, close all windows and stay inside a safe spot, if that is not possible to go to a community building, the smoke levels will be lower.

* Maintain at least 1/2 tank of fuel in your vehicle.

* Create a flyer with a picture of your family members with your pets, after the fire it will make finding a lost pet easier.

Advice to remain Safe after the wildfire is over:

* Authorities will advise you when it is safe to return home, if utilities are back on and if the water is safe to drink.

* There will be, smoke, burned trees, hot smoldering debris, as well as embers still glowing red. Peat deposits may still be burning underground, creating hot spots that may start another fire.

* Take care of your pets, cats will often hide versus running off, many times they will remain close to their known home, unlike dogs. Pet dogs panic when they are let out in such a situation, running fast, far, and long the cherished members of the family are never to be seen again in the majority of cases.

* Establish an out of town contact number for all members of the family to contact, cell phone lines will be jammed for local calls, out of state will not be. Text messages may be more successful due to them taking up less transmitting space.

* Wear your respirator, hat, gloves, and goggles, when around the ash-covered areas. Wetting down the area to cut down dust is advised.

Wet everything down when returning home, wear a respirator,
goggles, hat, and gloves.

* Take a lot of photographs and videos, contact your insurance company they will assist you.

* Take notice of the possibility of flooding, after a wildfire there is not any vegetation to control run-off from rain or melting snow. If you don't have flood insurance determine if it would be wise for you to purchase it.

Unfortunately, wildfires have become a common occurrence to us in the Western United States, they do occur in every state, however. As I have been writing this more wildfires have started to add to the several that are currently burning, the new one is in NAPA, the Steele fire as it has been named, it started at 4:30 this afternoon. It is only 10% contained and in this short time 3 homes have already burned down. The Ferguson fire near the Southern Gate of Yosemite is raging, my daughter lives 50 miles South of it and went to the emergency room, she was determined to be suffering from a severe respiratory infection. There are too many happening right now to mention them all in any detail, in fact, one started 5 miles south of me near the only road out of this area. If that were to turn into a major fire we would have to shelter in place. Luckily we are prepared for it.

(Link to FEMA's planning templates)

The sky is filled with smoke again this summer, blocking out the sun it lowers the temperature as if that is any kind of comfort to the victims' many miles away. During the past week, I have seen two fires start without any more effort than turning to my left and looking out my window towards the west. Neither was nearly as large as the ones burning now, but they are every bit as devastating to the people that have lost everything. I am not sure if there is a solution to this mess we are in, if it's the "new normal", we're going to go broke fighting them. I have a hard time imagining how the insurance companies will be able to finance all of the repairs and rebuilds. Mostly I am concerned about how long FEMA will be able to honor their commitments for Hurricanes, Flooding, Tornadoes, and all of the other catastrophic events of our now new modern existence.

Thanks for reading and sharing, I am distressed and concerned about my friends and family members scattered all over the country. I suspect you like I have friends or family in most of the disaster areas, it is a smaller world than we suspect. I am going to call everyone I know today, whether they are in an affected area or not, just to make sure they are alright, let's all do that. Thanks again.

jacquesandkate  emergencykitsplus.com