There’s fire and ice, to start with:

Wildfire destroys house and belongings. Almost happened a few years ago, The Hayman fire got within 10 miles of our house, with nothing between the house and the fire but tinder. Fortunately, the winds shifted and the fire stopped its advance. Our planning for that was to be on a cruise ship in the Caribbean listening to CNN newscasts about a fire in the Denver suburbs. Not the most effective plan, but we didn’t worry about it since Denver is 70 miles away.

Our house sits on a non-treed patch of ground. The nearest real trees are hundreds of yards away. We have a lot of shrub oak in the horse fields but not anywhere close to the house. And the horses do their best to keep the grass non-existent in their fields. Our biggest concern would have to be the grass right around the house. We don’t keep it cut because it isn’t very thick. (We have no real topsoil.) It is deep, though. I don’t know if it would sustain enough fire to warm up our oil-soaked wood siding to the burning point, but, Elaine did cut the grass back this year. It will probably need cutting in another three years.

But, if embers did fly and our house were to burn; we would gather our precious papers, put the horses and animals in the trailer and take off down the road, ready to rebuild once the fire passed.

Most wildfires will give you some warning that they are coming. You can prepare and collect the essentials.

I did think about setting up sprinklers on the roof and wetting things down, but we are on well water and probably don’t have enough water pressure to make a difference. After 10-20 minutes the pressure would come down to a dribble. Better to fill up what tubs and vats we can and get out of the valley.

I did create a “go-bag” that carries a few items that would be nice to have and that might not get collected in an escape. Mine is not an urban bag. Then there is the sillier ‘go bag’. I know Making Light brings up the preparedness issue pretty regularly. My problem is to remember to replenish the perishables in the bag.

I also have a 5-gallon cooler of water sitting in the garage. I need to replenish that as well. If we need to evacuate from our home, I expect it will be by car (or truck with horse trailer attached). So we can carry some heavier items, like water.

My biggest concern about fire is getting cut off from the utility grid. Even if my house survives, the telephone and electric poles may not and we could be without power for a while. More on that in another post. And the Ice.