It’s here y’all, the end of the world/the apocalypse. Or that’s sort of what it feels like living in California during fire season (from October - to whenever the first rain falls in the winter). If you’re a lucky Californian, a fire season used to mean monitoring air quality daily, wearing a particulate filtering mask during the smoky days, and orange glowy sunlight (from the smoke haze). It also meant investing in a good air purifier (I’ve tried about half a dozen and here is a review of the air purifiers I liked and disliked).
But now fire season also means living with blackouts that can go on for days, and it’s affected a large number of us in Northern California including myself. Living without power adds a whole other level of complexity (especially in an apartment building). We are decently prepared, but that’s because my husband likes to camp (though we did find out the hard way that we need a new portable lamp). We have headlamps, a small propane “stove” (it’s called the jetboil, and it’s amazing), dry canned foods (though I’ll need to restock on that this week because another blackout is forecasted), a heavy duty cooler that can keep things cold at least 48 hours, and water jugs (also important for an earthquake kit).
And now that’s if you’re lucky. The worst is of course when the fire is in your neighborhood. We had a close call over the weekend and it has really opened my eyes that state of things and what my priorities are. We live in an apartment building in a very urban environment (I can walk to the downtown area in 5 minutes). So I never imagined a fire threatening our area (but if it can happen in a city center in New Zealand, it can happen in any small city center I suppose). But the next neighborhood over is quite heavily forested and a fire broke out there, and we’re right on the border. So even though we didn’t have mandatory evacuation orders, we were put on notice that it was heading our way. And the way the gusty (hurricane-force) dry winds blow these days, it could mean you have only minutes to leave.
The exercise of packing all your earthly possessions into a car is an eye opener for sure. What to take? What to leave behind? If I had to wear the same thing over the next months or years what would that be (for me that’s Elizabeth Suzann, especially since I can sell it in a pinch if I had to). What do you leave which you can rebuy later? (That would be most of Emi’s stuff since baby clothes and toys are easier to come by). Anyway it made me see all the excess stuff we have. The things we wouldn’t take in case of a fire. And if those are not daily worn or used items, do I really need them? Having also done a year with 3 moves and a month of grief cleaning, I feel like my life is bloated by too many things. I feel this quite often actually, and try to purge. But I find myself in a vicious cycle of buying and purging. It’s a form of material bulimia. This is definitely something I’ll be working on.
Anyway these were just some of the thoughts I have this past weekend. And for my fellow Californians, I found the NextDoor app and getting notifications were super useful in a chaotic situation like an evacuation notice. We were able to get relevant information quick thanks to some vigilant neighbors. Also following your local county fire department and City/Community Twitter keeps you informed from the frontlines so to speak. And always have an emergency bag packed and know your emergency plan (because the middle of the night with no electricity is not the time to pack and figure things out). Stay safe this fire season guys!