With fire season exploding, these tips could save your life

From our home — yikes, from our home! — my wife and I watch flames from the Holy fire march in our direction and we chatter about an emergency evacuation plan.

But the wind shifts. I get back to work. She runs an errand. And planning vanishes like so much smoke.

Fire officials warn: Don’t be like us.

Just because firefighters are finally making some headway with the current batch of wildfires, it doesn’t mean fire season is over.

The reality is that in Southern California — so far — we’ve been relatively lucky. But in the months to come, Santa Ana winds will hit.

There’s a reason we call them devil winds.

Think hurricane force gusts. In forests, wildfires can travel up to 6.7 miles an hour. In grasslands, they have been clocked at 14 mph.

If you are miles away and you get notice, you have plenty of warning. But that’s not the nature of wildfire. Until they’re on top of you, flames run silent.

In Napa County last year, the Tubbs fire started shortly before 10 p.m. on Oct. 8. In three hours, it covered 12 miles.

Smoke poured in when Santa Rose resident Christine Sims opened her front door. By 2 a.m., she had fled and looked back at her neighborhood. It glowed orange.

Consider that when the devastating Santiago fire burned in Limestone Canyon Regional Park in 2007, Newport Beach was only 12 miles away.

With the San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountains surrounding us, more communities than we’d like to admit are within a wildfire’s grasp.

Fortunately, there are plenty of tips on staying alive.

Garage door danger

When the Santa Rosa fire burned last year, trees toppled and utility lines were cut. Cheryl Diehm raced to her garage and pulled the red cord to release the electronic door system.

She tugged. She strained. Nothing. She could only get the garage door up two feet.

Finally, a couple came along and helped her raise the door. Diehm and her two cats escaped.

What is shocking is that Diehm wasn’t alone in her struggle. According to reports, at least four people died in that wildfire, apparently unable to get out of their garages.

A few hours before the Holy fire started the other week and just a few miles away, there was a massive power outage for three hours.

Most people managed. Yet many were unable to get to work because they didn’t know how, or were unable, to manually open their garage doors.

If you can’t get your vehicle out of the garage, good luck trying to outrun a wildfire.

There are several solutions, however, depending on your garage door. One solution is a battery backup.

In the wake of the deadly Tubbs fire, Senate Bill 969 already is pending in the legislature to require such battery backups.

“We absolutely cannot allow something like this, that is so easily corrected, to happen again,” says Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa. “My bill requiring garage doors to have backup batteries will ensure no one is left vulnerable in the event of a future power failure during such a calamity.”

Dodd reports that on the night of the Tubbs fire he, too, was unable to open his own “heavy wooden” garage door.

If Dodd’s bill continues to clear hurdles, it is slated to go into effect July 1, 2019.

That makes sense — if you are comfortable waiting. Me? I’m not waiting.

The simplest and best way to test if you can open your garage door without electricity is to try it.

Typically, this means yanking the cord to disengage the system. (The manual release disengages the trolly.) But first, be sure the door is all the way down. If not, prop it up to stop the door from crashing down.

Next, hoist up the beast.

If you are unable, consult an expert about fixing the problem.

But wait, there’s much more to do.

Have a plan

When I was five years old, we lived in Topanga Canyon and I watched my mother grab a garden hose, climb a wood ladder and water down our roof as flames consumed a nearby hillside.

Fortunately, Mom was smart enough to realize the futility. She turned off the hose, stuffed me and my sister in the car and headed for Santa Monica. Days later, we returned to find our home intact. Hundreds of people, however, came home to lost or damaged homes.

Of course, if Mom had access to information from the National Fire Protection Association she would have known to:

• Assemble an emergency supply kit which should include important documents, medications and personal identification.
• Develop an emergency evacuation plan and practice it with everyone in the home.
• Look for at least two ways out of the neighborhood and designate a meeting place.

She also would have:

• Stayed abreast of the latest news and updates from local media and fire departments.
• Moved patio furniture, cushions, door mats and potted plants either indoors or away from the house.
• Closed attic, pet, garage and basement doors to prevent embers from penetrating the home.
• Connected garden hoses and filled any pools, hot tubs, garbage cans, tubs, or other large containers with water. (This helps firefighters who may need water.)

One more thing: Leave as early as possible. It may save your life and will also help clear roads for firefighters to get equipment in place.

Clear debris

A few more things:

• Clear leaves and other debris from gutters, eaves, porches and decks.
• Remove dead vegetation and other flammable items from under your deck and within 10 feet of the house — 30 feet if it’s a propane tank.
• Prune trees so the lowest branches are six to 10 feet from the ground.
• Replace or repair shingles and roof tiles that are loose or missing.
• Cover exterior vents and screens with metal wire mesh no larger than one-eighth-inch to prevent sparks from entering your home.

Oh, yes, my wife and I now have a plan and a place to meet. Marti and Doug, we may be knocking.