“He told me they are just ‘things’”
December 21, 2017 3:56 AM Subscribe
The Nib interviewed evacuees from the Thomas fire (previously) asking them what they grabbed as they fled their homes.
three chickens in a duffel bag sounds about eight
Exactly.
posted by pracowity at 5:11 AM on December 21, 2017 [12 favorites]
Exactly.
posted by pracowity at 5:11 AM on December 21, 2017 [12 favorites]
My teddy bear from when I was a child. I'd definitely grab that. Other than that, I really can't say. An extra pair of shoes?
posted by Thorzdad at 5:28 AM on December 21, 2017
posted by Thorzdad at 5:28 AM on December 21, 2017
three chickens in a duffel bag
Terrible idea IMO, you don't know if there will be a fridge or freezer where you're going, and or even if there was an oven and some seasoning how are you going to eat it all before it goes bad?
posted by EndsOfInvention at 5:36 AM on December 21, 2017 [2 favorites]
Terrible idea IMO, you don't know if there will be a fridge or freezer where you're going, and or even if there was an oven and some seasoning how are you going to eat it all before it goes bad?
posted by EndsOfInvention at 5:36 AM on December 21, 2017 [2 favorites]
My chickens would be super pissed off in a duffle bag. That said. I have a go bag. I've lived in Los Angeles my entire life. I've seen every dad on the block watering down their roofs. You need to have a go bag.
posted by Sophie1 at 7:10 AM on December 21, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Sophie1 at 7:10 AM on December 21, 2017 [2 favorites]
The Mother's Day card from her son who died; Jesus. Yeah, I'd take that too.
Other than computers/documents/pet, what would I take, I wonder? I'm not very sentimental about most of the stuff we own. Family photos, that I probably don't have digital copies of, maybe. My mom's jewelry that I wear for good luck sometimes. The bible my dad gave me when I was 15.
Everything else is either replaceable or just stuff. Though having to replace my entire wardrobe of clothes would be an expensive pain in the ass.
posted by emjaybee at 7:17 AM on December 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
Other than computers/documents/pet, what would I take, I wonder? I'm not very sentimental about most of the stuff we own. Family photos, that I probably don't have digital copies of, maybe. My mom's jewelry that I wear for good luck sometimes. The bible my dad gave me when I was 15.
Everything else is either replaceable or just stuff. Though having to replace my entire wardrobe of clothes would be an expensive pain in the ass.
posted by emjaybee at 7:17 AM on December 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
I learned from my husband that after important documents, one of the first things you grab is non-digital photo albums. All his pictures burned in Bosnia and it weighed on him as he was trying to rebuild his life.
posted by Tarumba at 8:05 AM on December 21, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by Tarumba at 8:05 AM on December 21, 2017 [7 favorites]
The drawing of those be-duffeled chickens is perfect. I understand those chickens. Hell, I AM those chickens.
posted by theatro at 10:02 AM on December 21, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by theatro at 10:02 AM on December 21, 2017 [3 favorites]
after the huge fire in my old building, i met all of my neighbors as we gathered at the restaurant across the street; my favourite neighbor was the girl in her nightgown who had fled with the 2 most important items in her home: a brand new chanel purse containing a snoozing 3 month old frenchie puppy.
posted by poffin boffin at 1:15 PM on December 21, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by poffin boffin at 1:15 PM on December 21, 2017 [7 favorites]
My partner's parents had five minutes to evacuate before a fire burnt down their home recently and everything in it was destroyed. They grabbed dogs, computers, and I think also paperwork. I asked what else they would have taken, and it was the non-digital photos.
posted by aniola at 4:25 PM on December 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by aniola at 4:25 PM on December 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
During the big fires of 2007, my 17 nephew took his XBox and nothing literally nothing else. Now he’s 27 and married with a kid, and I think besides his actual wife and actual child, he probably has the same plan.
posted by sideshow at 11:34 PM on December 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by sideshow at 11:34 PM on December 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
But my grandparents got a “you need to leave within 5 mins if you want to survive” knock at the door during the last big Glendora fires. They already keep their priceless stuff (mostly documents related to their real estate business) in a fire proof vault. They then jumped in their semi-worn out 37 Ford, risking their Mercedes SL Convertable and Aston Martin DB9 to the flames. The 37 wasn’t worth a lot but was also pricessless. The others were just expensive cars insurance could replace with slightly newer ones.
In any case, the fire didn’t burn the house down. There was actually a ranger station between them and the fire, so firefighters were highly motivated. But so much ash got into the swimming pool they had to dig it out and put in a new one. Guess the ash turned into a kind of cement that was imposssble to remove.
posted by sideshow at 11:43 PM on December 21, 2017
In any case, the fire didn’t burn the house down. There was actually a ranger station between them and the fire, so firefighters were highly motivated. But so much ash got into the swimming pool they had to dig it out and put in a new one. Guess the ash turned into a kind of cement that was imposssble to remove.
posted by sideshow at 11:43 PM on December 21, 2017
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posted by Literaryhero at 4:33 AM on December 21, 2017 [4 favorites]