Would you comply with a mandatory evacuation order?

[Hekate]

27. All of SoCal is a seasonal fire zone, as is the Central Coast where I live

And the season just gets longer and longer.

We have had massive regional fires, increasing in frequency -- the Zaca Fire stayed mostly in the back country so the authorities let it burn itself out and I think it got to around a quarter million acres. Took a lot of manpower and money to keep it away from settled areas, though. The Painted Cave Fire came roaring out of the mountains, jumped all roads including the 6-lane freeway and two parallel roads and was heading toward the ocean when the wind died just enough just in time ... Hundreds of houses were lost in that one, and many people evacuated with no time whatsoever to save any possessions. The Gap Fire felt like it was practically on top of us, but we weren't in the actual evac zone. I left anyway because the air was so foul.

One thing we've learned locally is that people want to save their animals. As far as I can tell, we knew this before Katrina -- I was struck by the stories of people in New Orleans who stayed and sometimes died with beloved pets rather than abandon them. Locally I think those stories helped disaster preparedness people to become even more aware of the need to prepare for pets as well. The high school gyms and other evac shelters now have crates for cats and dogs as well as cots for people. The big showground stands ready to take horses, and always has.

That's a long way of saying: when we smell smoke, we look at the mountains and turn on the tv. And hell yes, if I were told to evacuate I would throw the dogs and some clothes in the car and leave pronto.

Hekate