My brother and I lost our home in Big Lake, AK. back in '96 to the most destructive fire in terms of property structure losses in Alaska history, thanks to fireworks! I and our father, along with my brother's help on Sundays and evenings when he was off work, built him and his wife and young son a new home. We lost everything, save for his '65 Mustang conv. and her '65 T-bird, and 24 yrs. of memories. Randy

As much as I dislike the weather here in the Midwest, we don't have fires or bears... 

Or good fishing, low taxes, beautiful landscapes, ocean access....  But it is home!

It's true.

We got evacuated from Big Sur in the middle of the night a number of years ago. It was interesting as we were camping also.

We missed the fires in Santa Barbara when we lived there, but many friends were impacted by them. A number of friends lived not too far off old San Marcos Road. I forget the cross street name, here hoping everyone is OK.
Terry

That does sound like an adventure. Especially the bear part. I'm totally with your kids!

Someone was on this forum was kind enough to send me a 126 point evacuation checklist. Well intentioned and thank you. For the sake of brevity, I've pared it down a bit...

1) Insert key in Mini ignition.
2) Start engine.
3) Drive away.

I remember getting caught in a fire in the Angeles National forest many years ago while camping with the wife and kids. all roads out were closed with fire all around and the fire service had us and about 50 other families shelter in place with orders to shelter in the river if the fire came over the ridge. Thankfully it didn't, the wind shifted and the water dump aircraft sprayed down the ridge line. But it still took another 30 odd hours before we could head out in convoy. Of course the kids still think it was our best camping trip!! What worried me most was the two bears that the rangers kept on the other side of the river all night, I think all they wanted was to get in the river!

Rough night. The fire was moving down the mountain heading toward the neighborhood. My wife was out of town so I was on my own in deciding what to take when the evacuation order came through. The family photos and all of the important docs are safely copied to the cloud. So, I packed up my toothbrush and some clean underwear and I was set. Let's see... which car to take—the Audi or the Mini? Easiest decision of the evening.     link