When I lived in Alabama, emergency preparedness was easy. Tornado--run like hell to neighbor's basement, drink his beer and listen to emergency radio until it passes. Hurricane--take several hours to batten down the hatches and drive away if it was headed your way. Now I have moved to Oregon, and the summers in my part are so dry you cant even cut the grass or drive in the woods. Wildfires can spring up suddenly, and envelop your home and escape routes quickly. I have put together a good bug-out plan, have the bag packed, etc. My dilemma--do I die with the truck running while my wife makes her inevitable third return to the house, or do I just drive away?

Every man for himself. Drive Brother.

Some wiseachre will ask you to post a picture of your wife, not me.

I take she's not going back for any of your stuff.

As long as she's got another load of longarms, wait for her.

Be a man! Stand by with the garden hose and give her a good soak so she can try for a fourth trip. A plucky gal like that deserves a little consideration.

Obviously, you need a bigger truck - and a trailer. On a more serious note our house is surrounded by thousands of acres of forest land and August and September can get a bit tense - especially if the fire crews are already committed to other fires. Since we are far outside of any fire district, we maximize our defensible space and always begin fire season by packing key documents and any valuables in a couple of go boxes.
We also have two tow vehicles and two trailers.

Waiting on pics of wife😜

Get a reliable used fire truck and make sure you have a good well. Wife can make sammiches and bring beer rather than worrying about her belongings.

Shouldn't a well-stocked bug-out location include a girlfriend?

Where's the popcorn?

This is gonna be good!!!!

Depends entirely on the year model, how many miles on the clock, how much is owing, and how comfortable you are with her.


It is up to you which you apply this answer to.

Got all the important goodies you want/need from the house already?

Go old school then, knock on head with club, drag to truck, drive away. (guess you could always tell her afterward she was hit by a falling timber?)

Or not,

tough choice

If this thread is serious, I'll suggest using the FIREWISE method around your place.

You and me are both up the proverbial crick, bender - Me more than you! Too much timber too close. (on the Kenai - in Kotz (no trees, on gravel spit with water on 4 sides!) we don't worry about it- and I rent there, anyway ).

I gotta get some of those trees at home moved back, especially in back, at least enough so the bombers can maybe miss the house. Trouble is the dufus that built the house built it too close to the crazy-lady's property line- on the back - I can only clear back about 50 -60 '

But it will make garden space, anyway. Been meaning to get at it since the trees were 9 feet high. Buggers are shutting out the light now, after 30 years.... but back then they were up against the house. I put in a lawn some time ago back there. ("If you will plant a lawn back there, honey, I'll take care of it". - You know how that turned out. fk'n grass!!! )

I'm hoping when I take those trees out to subsoil right to the property line (behind the 30' of grass) the wind will blow a bunch of her trees down as they lack wind protection. Hopefully the roots won't hold.

I saw years back that someone had invented a kind of super-water chemical that one can paint?? on the house. It was supposed to greatly increase the flash point of siding/shingles.

My house needs new roofing anyway - its 30 plus years old. I'm thinking metal over the asphalt shingles. I like the sound of rain on metal.....

Records and guns first - fk the house plants! . Photobucket is out there....

The 2003 1 ton Ram (newest vehicle) with overhead camper with boat hitched is kept ready as a bug-out vehicle. I can pile a lot of stuff in old Sneer (18 ft flat-bottom boat, with a lisp). If I have time. Got a place to live for awhile, anyway...

Besides, for this coming summer anyway, the wife be way north in Kotzebue, mostly. I'm on my own. Scart, I can skedaddle!

There is always the remote cabin in Interior Alaska, too. Been meaning to spend a winter there since I bought it in '74. or '75..... and Hell, I'm retired. Or is that retard?

Remember Alfred E. Neuman from Mad magazine? "What, me worry?"

And kids to move in with.... Preferably Denver - Fairbanks in winter sucks.

Moral delimma- the last time I heard someone discussing this was talking with a couple of retired cops at a neighbor-hood drun- I mean get-together.

One said that the only moral delimma he had ever faced was pondering the theory (neither had ever used a gun on duty) of whether to quit shooting when the perp hit the ground, or when he ran out the clip.

We had another drink on that note, still undecided.

A friend had a very unpleasant situation along the RR tracks at the Whittier interchange. He was with his child, wife, and puppy when a train approached. Puppy darted in front of train, wife followed to "save" the puppy and was taken out by train.

He was grilled at great length as though he had thrown her in front of the train...

Rational is not always in the equation...

Depends on her attitude that day, one day at a time bro.

That third trip back to the house is oh so familiar.