Reply #12: More tips from a SoCal reporter who's covered many fires:

[Liberty Belle]

Videotape your belongings, every room, and store video in a safe deposit box. Update annually or whenever you make a major new purchase. This can be a godsend when you have to prove to the insurer what you owned.

Use offsite backup for your important computer records.

Time permitting, before you evacuate do the following:

Close all windows and doors so sparks won't blow inside and ignite drapes or furniture.

Pack your medications, photos, address book/important phone numbers, cell phones, and other important items ahead of time.

Remember to pack food, leashes, etc. for pets and if you have small children, diapers, formula and other critical supplies.

If you have a water supply such as a pool or well, post a sign on your garage door notifying firefighters. This can save your home. Also include location of any pumps or fire hoses.

You can save some belongings, such as dishware, pottery, or silver by placing them in a pool.

Never, ever delay evacuating once the order is given.

If you find yourself trapped, soak a blanket in water and cover yourself before attempting to run through flames. This saved a friend of mine who though badly burned, survived.

Another couple, finding the only exit road blocked, saved themselves by jumping in their pool and pulling bowls over their heads to breathe while the fire passed overhead.

Invest in fire-fighting foam and apply it early. Some types can be applied days or even weeks before a fire and will last until the first rain; others are useless unless applied just before the home burns--avoid the latter.

Do NOT waste water by filling bathtubs or running sprinklers. This can deplete water supplies and reduce water pressure, causing firefighters to run out of water to fight fires.

Do NOT defy evacuation orders or sneak back in after an evacuation. Every year I've had to write about people who died doing these things.

Do NOT attempt to shelter in place if you have an option to get out. You can die or become ill from smoke inhalation even if the flames never reach you.


Preplan with family members where to meet up in the event of a fire or other emergency. Have a contact person outside of your community for messages.

If fire danger is high, have one family member stay awake during nighttime hours. Reverse 911 calls DON'T WORK if your answering machine picks up! One man who stayed up all night wound up saving many neighbors in Wildcat Canyon, where 14 people died the night the Cedar fire started.

Use your judgment. If a 911 operator tells you you're in no danger, it isn't necessarily true. One man informed an ill-informed operator that he'd just seen flames leap 3 miles across a lake within seconds. He barely had time to escape with his family's lives after being told there was no danger.