c9 | Kids, Don't Play With Fire! (Reply)

On the occasion of my first fire-alarm-related evacuation from our building, I present my list of things I would love to save, but did not actually gather today:

the husband
the cats
the photo albums
the important files in the filing cabinet

Taking these in order, here's why none of them actually accompanied me out of the building:

leapfish is in Fredericton, so I suspect he's a safe distance from the building
the cats hate their carriers, so I chose today to leave them home while I evacuated rather than subject them to the agony of their carriers and the outdoors, betting that even if it was a real fire, it was on a different floor and they'd be OK. I was very worried and spent about a minute considering this. But I did check the floor for smoke and general panic, reasoning that if the fire was on this floor I would be able to tell. Probably a foolish assumption on my part.
the photo albums are very unwieldy, so I put them in the same "probably just fine" category. This reminds me to come up with a better backup system for our digital photos too.
Which files to take? I don't even know what's important in there. I better think about this, maybe cluster those ones at the front or something. Or better yet, fireproof safe time maybe.

I was actually kinda startled by the alarm, it was a loud school-type alarm bell, but ringing in bursts, not constantly. I looked out the door and saw curious neighbours doing the same. I put on my shoes and jacket, looked out the window for any people already outside, unplugged the TV and stereo, petted the cats and told them to stay safe, grabbed my keys and cell phone, and hit the stairs. I left the condo unlocked which helps the firefighters but also helps thieves. Downstairs almost the entire evacuee population milled around in the lobby, rather than outside in the rain and cold. The building's median age is easily 65+, so it was like going to a church supper or a bingo game or something. I chatted with the board president and some board members we know. Out of roughly 65 units in the building, I counted only about 35 people outside. Some people were using the lobby intercom to call upstairs and talk to people who had not evacuated. Nice.

I guess I better make a plan, just like they say in school when they're talking fire safety. Damnit. I was hoping to get out of that extra homework. In roughly order of importance:

find leapfish, place near front door.
put cats in carriers that are stored near door. Carriers each have a can of cat food in them already, and a comfy towel.
grab both cell phones, ID, camera and keys
turn off everything you can reach quickly
close all windows and doors
grab emergency overnight bag, stored in front hall closet (still to be created)
put laptop and ac adapter in backpack or emergency overnight bag (it has copies of all digital photos)
if time, grab duffel bag stored in closet beside photo albums, and stuff them into it
carry overnight bag, duffel bag, and two cat carriers out the door, down five flights of stairs, and outside.

Looks reasonable. I suppose it's having a plan that matters, not the quality of it at first. I always tell my students that procedures that aren't written down are useless, because everyone is just making them up. Once they're written down, they can be changed. Until then, it's all just make-believe.

Finally, I just want to complain in general about the severe lack of cute fire safety imagery out there. Damn you, Fire Safety Councils of Canada and the US! The London Fire Brigade, Mesa Community College in Arizona, and (oddly) Simian Fever came to my rescue though.

OK, enough procrastination. Time to get stuff done before the weekend is over.