San Diego Fires

David,

Thanks for your concern. I have been out - literally - until now. My house is behind the fire line, but it is still there. I'm very lucky. The house behind me is burned flat to the ground. I have many friends and neighbors who lost everything. The SD Woodturning Centre is also OK.

I haven't had a chance to take stock in this week's events, but I will let everyone know my "should of, could of, would of " list when I do. Things like complete inventories of tools, furnishings, etc., having a grab and go box with essential papers, having a fire safe, whatever.

Thankful and fortunate, Joe Fleming - San Diego ==========================================

Glad you're OK - one thing I've thought of doing (but never have gotten around to) is to take a tour of the house & shop w/a video camera so that everything is more or less inventoried. At least the big stuff anyway. Then keep a copy of the tape off site. Hopefully none of us will ever need that tape, but it could make things a bunch easier in the event of a catastrophe...

...Kevin

Kevin,

We also need to make a "guess" at the replcement value of the contents in the house and see if the homeowners insurance covers that much. At one time, my shop was a small enough percentage that I didn't need a rider to beef up the coverage. Now I'm not so sure. So, in addition to a video and written inventory, I'm doing a value assessment and double check on my homeowners coverage limits.

I will also be figuring out what should go in my "grab and go" box. In other words, I get to grab one box on the way out the door - what is in it. I plan to make this box fireproof in case I'm not there when the fire occurs.

Finally, I plan to do a priority "take" list. If I have X minutes to get out and 1, 2 or whatever cars, what is going and what is staying.

I was out of town camping with my son, but my wife was home with my daughter. She had about an hour, but only took my daughter and her cats, a computer (financials), some papers including the bills (she's a CPA and hates late payments), her collection of autographed baseballs (which she forgot on the bed), and a few clothes for her and our daughter. The car was not even close to full. I would have grabbed a bunch of our art (collectible stuff) and photos.

Joe

All of our old photos have been scanned, put onto CD, and distributed. Made us feel a lot better knowing the past was safe, even if the future was uncertain.

Hi Joe,

Although we were not in the path of the fire and therefore did not need to evacuate, all of those things went through our minds on Sunday. We made sure we had our important documents ready to load and go but, in retrospect, we didn't think it through clearly. During a time of panic is *not* the time to figure out what to take. We plan to spend some future weekend getting our ducks in a row, so to speak, in case this type of emergency situation occurs. But not this weekend as I'll be at the SD Woodturning Center for the beginning turners course! A small light shining in an otherwise very solemn week.

Cheers, Mike in North SD County

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Man, sure makes me appreciate the 80" of rain we get here a year! :-)

Only flare ups we get are the Northern Lights, and they're amazing, but non-threatening...

...Kevin