Everyone living in the Rogue Valley shares an awareness that we are in fire season, if only because of the heavy smoke draping the valley floor this week. A look at a live fire map of our region shows the large blazes burning to the North in the Umpqua to the East, to the South and to the Southwest of us.
It can be dizzying to keep up with the progression of wildfires and smoke conditions in our region during these summer months. Whether you monitor the Watch Duty app, Purple Air’s livemap, or some other source of data, it’s a daily task to keep up with everything. Notwithstanding that daily routine, many of us still have not taken the steps to prepare for a sudden evacuation from a catastrophic fire event that could threaten residents and businesses in our community.
Maybe it’s a given that most people reading have already assembled their own “Go Bag” for evacuations, are informed, and have stocked essentials in their homes in event of an emergency. But for many, preparing for the unexpected can often get pushed down in my priority list and with so many resource websites available, things can be difficult to navigate.
For that reason, we thought it could be helpful to offer a short list of websites and downloadable checklists to help.
