[Living a Fantasy]

Originally Posted by Rainger99

I am watching the devastation in Los Angeles and reading that people had only minutes to evacuate their homes.

What are the 5 items that you would take with you if you only had 15 minutes to evacuate your house? I am talking about physical items - not family and pets.

These are the only two things that come to mind.

????????????

Oh, yes. Just remember a third.

MY WIFE!!

[Catfishjeff]

ElDiabloJoe...All great info. We also had our home destroyed in the Northridge Earthquake and I have a few things to add.

Cars - always treat them like ½ a tank of gas is empty so that worst case scenario you always have at least that ½ a tank.

Documents - Scan all your important documents and save them to a cloud (DropBox, Google Drive, OneDrive, etc.). so you can access them from anywhere and on any device.

Devices - Like the gas tanks, always keep your tablets, smart watches, etc. charged above 50%.

[mraines]

Originally Posted by Rainger99

I am watching the devastation in Los Angeles and reading that people had only minutes to evacuate their homes.

What are the 5 items that you would take with you if you only had 15 minutes to evacuate your house? I am talking about physical items - not family and pets.

When I left my home during a CA wildfire, I took my 2 dogs, cat, turtle and my grandson. I figure everything else could be replaced.

[mraines]

Originally Posted by Catfishjeff

ElDiabloJoe...All great info. We also had our home destroyed in the Northridge Earthquake and I have a few things to add.

Cars - always treat them like ½ a tank of gas is empty so that worst case scenario you always have at least that ½ a tank.

Documents - Scan all your important documents and save them to a cloud (DropBox, Google Drive, OneDrive, etc.). so you can access them from anywhere and on any device.

Devices - Like the gas tanks, always keep your tablets, smart watches, etc. charged above 50%.

I was there for the Northridge quake. Scared the crap out of me. I was packed and came to FL in two weeks. But then, I realized all my friends were there and they were ok so I went back.

[asianthree]

Truthfully if you’re looking at lighting strike probably wouldn’t have time for much. Especially if you have gas appliances. if your phone is close.

Now if you are suggesting a fire storm such as socal, in TV, then you will see a mass evacuation 2 days before it becomes an official evacuation. Then again if you live south of 44 very little foliage/trees, so less fire debris floating.

As far as what we would take, all docs (saved on cloud) and any sentimental items are in bank vault. We keep an emergency phone in car, (built in WiFi) with go bag for us and go bag/pet carrier. (For us go bag is for use in case of emergency run to Gainesville.)
That way grab pet, (she’s old so easy to find on the loveseat) out the door in minutes

[mkjelenbaas]

Originally Posted by Rainger99

I am watching the devastation in Los Angeles and reading that people had only minutes to evacuate their homes.

What are the 5 items that you would take with you if you only had 15 minutes to evacuate your house? I am talking about physical items - not family and pets.

That is proprietary information that I never share.

[Nana2Teddy]

Originally Posted by Catfishjeff

ElDiabloJoe...All great info. We also had our home destroyed in the Northridge Earthquake and I have a few things to add.

Cars - always treat them like ½ a tank of gas is empty so that worst case scenario you always have at least that ½ a tank.

Documents - Scan all your important documents and save them to a cloud (DropBox, Google Drive, OneDrive, etc.). so you can access them from anywhere and on any device.

Devices - Like the gas tanks, always keep your tablets, smart watches, etc. charged above 50%.

So glad to hear you say to scan all important documents. I did that before we moved here from SoCal (also experienced the EQs, and had to evacuate more than once for wildfires). I also digitized all photos and home videos (this was a long process, but very much worth it). I wish I had done it much sooner. Knowing the most important docs, and irreplaceable photos/videos are saved in the cloud is very comforting in an evacuation emergency.

I don’t understand those who are saying take the safe. Isn’t your safe fireproof? Ours is, and there’s no way my hubby and I could grab that thing and get it into our vehicle without help. Definitely not if trying to get out within the time period we’ve had in the past to evacuate for wildfires.

The last time we evacuated was in Nov 2018 for the Woolsey fire. It took 45 minutes just to catch one of our terrified cats. We were lucky we had that time because many didn’t. In most fire evacuations you will not have the time you think you will.

[ElDiabloJoe]

Originally Posted by Nana2Teddy

...
I don’t understand those who are saying take the safe. Isn’t your safe fireproof? Ours is, and there’s no way my hubby and I could grab that thing and get it into our vehicle without help. Definitely not if trying to get out within the time period we’ve had in the past to evacuate for wildfires.
...

No safe is fire"proof."

Very large gun safes can easily weigh 1,000 pounds (1/2 ton). Most resist water and air (and thieves) from getting in, at least for a time, but the heat is what will singe/damage/catch things on fire. No safe is fireproof. They have a rating at which they will resist heat to rated temps for a rated amount of time. Basic safes will rate to 1,200F for an hour. 1,200F isn't hard to reach in a fire, and an hour goes by quickly.

That rating (safes vary - as do their price accordingly) means they will keep contents under 350f for an hour. Paper combusts at 451F. A fire will reach that easily. If your gun safe is in the middle of the house or deep in a basement, the temps will soar. If it is along an outside garage wall where air and firefighters with water can get to it and cool it down quickly, your odds of successfully saving contents increase greatly.

A Sentry safe is a grab-n-go safe that you can put inside your gun safe to give a double layer of protection from heat and water. It's like nesting boxes to protect goods you are shipping. Here's a link to what most mean when they refer to a Sentry safe:

Amazon.com

Site Maintenance

Here's a basic primer on safe ratings: An Explanation of Fire Ratings for Home Safes and Gun Safes | Dean Safe

[Regorp]

Originally Posted by Rainger99

I am watching the devastation in Los Angeles and reading that people had only minutes to evacuate their homes.

What are the 5 items that you would take with you if you only had 15 minutes to evacuate your house? I am talking about physical items - not family and pets.

Two security boxes, small safe, money, and laptop. Only if there's time.

[ElDiabloJoe]

Originally Posted by mkjelenbaas

That is proprietary information that I never share.

Ahhhh, drugs and sex toys. Got it.

[kcrazorbackfan]

My wife and my pups.

[ElDiabloJoe]

Originally Posted by kcrazorbackfan

My wife and my pups.

O.P. specifically excluded family and pets. So what OTHER 5 items would one take?

[PugMom]

i'd grab my meds, bank cards, pc, hubby's urn and if possible, my car

[Herscheleen]

Originally Posted by FloridaGuy66

Golf clubs, passport, maybe my wife depending on how things are going at that moment.

HAHA. Mention that to her so she has the same option.

[asianthree]

Originally Posted by ElDiabloJoe

O.P. specifically excluded family and pets. So what OTHER 5 items would one take?

Maybe most are already prepared with offsite storage and scanned docs. Only thing left to consider is family and pets