Guide to Wildfire Preparedness

That gif is all you need. Smokey has your back! You have successfully prepared for a wildfire.

JK, you will almost certainly have no influence over the existence of a wildfire that will bring the following guide to bear in your life! You exist at the whim of the firestarter.

In addition to being exciting in so many new and terrible ways, 2020 was the most destructive wildfire year in the past decade. According to the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC), over 10.3 million acres burned from almost 60,000 wildfires in the US alone.

We’re not here to blame anyone for being an unwitting witch, but you should think long and hard about how many times you screamed, “Burn it to the ground!” in 2020.

Some areas have been prone to wildfire for decades, but climate change is always shuffling the deck. Wildfires can spring up without warning and can decimate vast areas of land in no time. If you don’t want to be home when the fire comes (and trust me, you don’t), you’d better be prepared to vamoose in a hurry. Here’s our guide to everything you need to know about wildfire preparedness so you can whisk your family to safety when the time comes.

•  Know thy enemy – What you need to know about wildfires
•  Who should prepare?
•  You need a wildfire emergency plan
•  Put together a wildfire prep kit
•  Get your property fire-ready
•  Practice makes perfect – How to perform a wildfire drill
•  Know when to go – Recognize the signs of a Wildfire
•  Stay safe after the flames
•  Listen to Smokey the Bear – How to prevent wildfires

About the Authors

Here Comes the Apocalypse Editorial Team

It takes a village! We are researching, writing and fact checking as a family. Collaboration is the name of the game, whether we’re running from a zombie horde or finding the best way to turn a complex concept into a deliciously digestible set of bullet points.

Katherine Esperanza Contributor

Katherine Esperanza is a Los Angeles based writer. When she's not conjuring new queer slice-of-life short stories, she's busy watching the newest films, out at queer shows, supporting queer artists, or just checking out the queer community as a whole.

A former international non-profiteer, small business owner, and co-op'er, Katherine is delighted to help introduce more leftist politics into the disaster preparedness/prepper sphere, which is currently far too right-wing.