Preparing my family for a fire.

[rhaswell79]

I live in Southern California and we’ve had a bad record of wildfires over the past few years. I’d really like suggestions on things I can to do prepare my family if and when this situation happens again. Are there things I can do personally, other than just talking to them about it? I think it could be helpful to enroll them in a rec class or something offered through a school or extracurricular program. Does anyone know of any organizations that do this? Maybe the [url=http://www.redcross.org/portal/site/en/menuitem.d8aaecf214c576bf971e4cfe43181aa0/?vgnextoid=e4a20c45f663b110VgnVCM10000089f0870aRCRD&vgnextfmt=default]red cross[/url]? I’ve also heard about a local self defense studio that does a [url=http://www.atwussd.com]disaster preparation[/url] course, but I’m not sure what my best option would be. My kids are 8 and 13, so it would need to be geared towards that age group. I’d appreciate any suggestions!

“Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time.” Steven Wright

[tkd4u2]

I don't live near a forest so I can't compare getting prepared for that. I would think though one of the first things anyone would want to do is have a go-pack for your family that is ready at a moments notice. As you well know, you may only have a few moments to get out the door into a car and down the road. Being able to grab one or two items and on the run is a major benefit I would imagine. This works for any type of disaster I think.

As for training, I might suggest looking into a neighborhood training course or state-run course that teaches about disaster preparation, etc. One that comes to mine is Community Emergency Response Teams or CERT. You can find their location here: https://www.citizencorps.gov/cert/  There should be one near you I would think.
The best thing you can do for your family is to be educated and prepared yourself. Then you can adequately prepare your family in turn.

When you mentioned self-defense I assume you are talking about stree-defense? There are many family oriented organizations that can teach your children the art of defense. I had my children in an organization called ATA. American Taekwondo Association. There are tons of them and are pretty good for kids. At least they were when I had them in there. Good luck.