Butler Fire II: Winds Blow West & Smoke Fills Valley

The wind has picked up and is blowing from the West as predicted last night. So, it is filling the valley–we’ve been lucky until this point. If you have breathing problems you need to take some action and to consider getting out of this area.

My sneezing has increased and we have the windows closed and the air filters on. I am a little bit worried about my asthma–don’t get it often and don’t have an inhaler.

This am I am realizing some of the things I might have taken the time to gather before I left…nothing important. Which brings me to the discussion about what do you take when you evacuate.

The first time you evacuate people tend to try and take a lot of “stuff” but with each subsequent evacuation you really narrow down what you really need and what is important.

There must be some psychological explaination for it. I am down to my neck pillow, travel kit with bath and assorted items, clothing, meds or supplements, documents and banking materials, and the computer and assorted disks, drives, and support items. In the past, I had animals and all their stuff which was the top priority.

My parrot passed away last summer and I have chosen to be without animals for the moment due to travel and other demands but let me just say that if you have birds, they are very sensitive to the smoke.

Keep avians in an area that has a filter. If you evac you can place a wet towel over the travel cage before you head out. Keep the car windows closed, turn on the air an make sure to recirculate the air.

Last night someone asked when they should prepare…I thought it was a joke. Maybe the gal was in denial but you should be ready to evacuate NOW in case something bad happens and things turn for the worst. I know at least one of my friends that packed up vital stuff on the first Butler Fire and it is sitting in the garage in case they have to evacuate. Good thinking!

During evacuations you usually won’t have a lot of time to get out. I heard the manditory evacuation discussion on the scanner only minutes before they announced it to the public. Also, if the fire enters the valley you should have places 50 to 100 miles away where you can stay.

I am still searching for updates–nothing yet.



Thank you for reading this post. You can now Leave A Comment (0) or Leave A Trackback.

Post Info

This entry was posted on Monday, September 17th, 2007 and is filed under Uncategorized.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the Comments Feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Previous Post: »
Next Post: »

Read More

Related Reading:

Comments are closed.