I do everything backwards.

[NeuroTypical]

So, after years of carefully preparing to survive hard times in a remote home out of the city, the recent Colorado forest fire forced us to bug out of our retreat and take shelter in civilization. It burned over 14,000 acres, destroyed 509 homes, and killed two people (their bodies were found in their garage, still loading stuff and preparing to evacuate).

It looked like this:

We're safely moved back, all is well, our neighborhood seemingly untouched. 3 days in a hotel with pool and free breakfast. Dogs and cats in an emergency shelter run by a local vet business out of the goodness of their hearts. A big check written out by insurance to cover out-of-pocket expenses. Grateful neighbors, because I was able to take some of their things with us while they were in another state.

My ward has 7 families with destroyed homes. It's impacted a few people at my work. In our school district, 200 students and dozens of staff are homeless. It burned down our local vetrinary hospital, and all 3 doctors are homeless. My friend who works with large animal rescue looks like she's aged 10 years, and has countless stories of horses with burn wounds and abandoned animals.

My church is still standing. In fact, the YM/YW had just completed a church service project and hauled out 15 truckloads of pine needles. I saw that project go by - there was much whining and complaining. But there's a photo of the fire going right up to the property line, and then stopping.

Good things:

* Being a 'preparadness enthusaist' helped immensely. We were prepared and did not fear.

* Large tupperware containers are great when you must pack and leave, and can rent a storage unit within a day.

* Being able to walk around prepared in the middle of civilization, without looking like the backwoodsman militant patriot survivalist wannabe you know you are. (The grey man theory rocks.)

* Colorado Natn'l guard, local cops, city cops, county sheriffs, state highway patrol, and utility companies - they all had superb coordination. County called the shots, everyone else said "no - go ask County if you want a yes". Very little looting/vandalism. Very friendly checkpoints and help for homeowners who left medication and pets behind.

* Twitter and facebook were instant sources of official news - better than the media.

* Safe deposit box, already stocked, and my shiny new 16 gig thumb drive, already backed up. With those two things, and an insurance company to write out checks, we would have been able to rebuild our home anywhere. (The thumb drive replaces boxes of photos, filing cabinets full of files, bank records.)

* Family banding together to get along - everyone contributed - everyone helped the other members be comfortable.

* I may be a fat guy in his '40's, but I'm a fat guy in his '40's who can do a 60 second plank, and who runs uphill 2x/week at the gym. I was able to load and unload, move and carry, lift and sweat, do just about all the heavy work our family of me, wife, and 2 young daughters needed. Most of it while inconspicuously armed.

* My family watched traffic jams and news reports of desparate people rummaging through donated food and clothing, from the air conditioned comfort of a hotel room with kitchenette, surrounded by our bug-out bags and get-home bags and stay-put bags, plus a grocery store nearby.

Stuff to improve for next time:

* Cardboard boxes are the enemy. They are to be treated as a threat to your family's safety, because they come apart as you move them from place to place, sometimes in the middle of traffic. Duct tape continues to be king, but even duct tape can't fix cardboard.

* Need to get rifle cases. Throwing a bedsheet over a handful of longarms worked in a pinch, but basically advertised to everyone who knew what to look for.

* We risked our lives on a 50 year old pickup bed/trailer conversion with a slow tire leak and cracks in the frame welds. Never again. Goodwill picked it up yesterday.

* Need to work on a 90 second plank, and faster running, etc. And less fast food. Always room for improvement.

* Don't get complacent. There may not always be air conditioning and safety and functioning credit card machines.

[pam]

Thanks for all of this LM. I'm glad that you and your family are okay. This gives me much to think about. While I'm sorry you had to go through this..actually reading this from someone who has experienced it much much more helpful.

[lds2]

Seven families from your ward? Ouch!

What are they doing now?

[WyomingEMT]

We prepare and prepare to stay at home during an emergency. Food, stored water and a 90 day supply of Prozac should help us hunker down at home. We forget that an emergency might force use out into the cold. Thank goodness Prozac pills are small and don't weigh a lot.

[Quin]

We prepare and prepare to stay at home during an emergency. Food, stored water and a 90 day supply of Prozac should help us hunker down at home. We forget that an emergency might force use out into the cold. Thank goodness Prozac pills are small and don't weigh a lot.

LOL...Actually... #4 on my list is a full on raid on GLaxoSmithKlein for Ventolin. I can make penicillin & opium, but can't make albuterol, much less aerosolize it! Numbers 1-3 all involve schlepping to GlaxoSmithklein. (With way points at UPS/ FedEx distribution centers). Little bigger than Prozac. But, hey.

_______

Late shout out to LMM.. 3 months into fire recovery... How's your area doing?

Q

[NeuroTypical]

The Colorado Springs area had a large fire last year, and this year's flash floods have taken some lives and done some damage. My area is doing ok - lots of rebuilding, hauling. The powers-that-be came together relatively early and killed a bunch of zoning rules and procedures and stuff that had built up over time, with the intention of streamlining the process for rebuilding.

The fire fighters concentrated on community structures - schools, churches, community centers. Some folks were a little upset that such places were sometimes favored over their individual homes. But just because lots of folks are wearing t-shirts that say "community doesn't burn" doesn't make it true. A community can indeed burn up and get destroyed. But despite several hundred school district families losing homes, everyone's kids started their school year in two schools surrounded by burned trees.

I've only been able to help with one cleanup so far. Home was a total loss - big steel I-beam that held up the house was all twisted and droopy, draped over what used to be their year's supply of food. My wife helped some crotchety guy who was about to get violent, by helping to run some idiot gawkers off his land.

We're ok with the rubberneckers that drive through. We're fed up with the rude idiots that think traffic laws don't apply because the trees are black, or private property laws don't apply because a home has burned.

We prepare and prepare to stay at home during an emergency. Food, stored water and a 90 day supply of Prozac should help us hunker down at home. We forget that an emergency might force use out into the cold. Thank goodness Prozac pills are small and don't weigh a lot.

Yep - that was our thinking too. Fortunately, we had 4 hours to scoop all those meds up with everything else and leave. You never know what's coming.