You Can Survive a Wildfire. Here's How.

A wildfire often feels like the ultimate form of doom, but you can prepare for these disasters just like the others. And prepare we should. Fires pose an immanent risk across the U.S. now thanks to our destabilizing weather, and California offers us a preview of the oncoming hell state as our climate crisis deepens. I know too many people who’ve lost everything. I know people who never thought they would ever face a wildfire… who ended up having to evacuate.

It takes years to recover.

Many people never make a full recovery. Governments abandon them. Insurance companies abandon them. They have to start over. Of course, you have to survive the fires themselves first. Most people, even myself at one point, had no idea how to prepare or what to do. At times, I even found myself throwing my hands up and declaring we couldn’t prepare for something that the media often presents as something so engulfing and overwhelming. But that’s the wrong attitude. Wildfires evoke a particular kind of panic in the public imagination, but there’s a lot you can do to prepare for them, and improve your odds.

Wildfires now pose a risk to the east and west coast in the U.S., and everywhere in between. So, yet another thing to prepare for. But we have to prepare, because this new administration will do even less to help than the last. Look at how Agent Orange has responded so far. That’s not just bully behavior. It’s a sign of things to come. It’s also worth remembering that neither party is even talking about a relief bill for the worst hurricane in recent history.

So, how do you even start to prep for a wildfire?

It’s not as simple as “just evacuate.”

Here’s what I’m figuring out.