Sad tale from wildfire a warning to RVers

California's infamous Valley Fire, is now 95 percent contained. In the weeks this fire has been chewing its way through Lake County, more than 1,400 homes were burned to a crisp. Four people lost their lives. It's an awful toll, but the sad thing is, the farther we go down the road, the more it seems that disasters – both "natural" and otherwise – can reach out and touch any one of us.

A sad story that came out of the fire zone was this one: A woman who lived in Middleton, near the heart of where the fire broke out, received word she had to evacuate. The woman's husband wasn't at home when the word came to leave, and a neighbor offered to help her out. The plan was they'd hitch the woman's trailer to the neighbor's pickup truck and flee. Trouble was, when the truck was pulled in to hitch up they found there was no power to operate the electric tongue jack on the trailer – and no time to locate and use the manual crank, if one existed. The woman's house – and the family escape vehicle – both burned.

While it's impossible to predict what emergency might force you and your family to "Get out of Dodge," wouldn't it be good to be prepared? This sad scenario brings to mind a few words of caution:

Whenever possible, make sure your rig is equipped with a few necessary items. If weather permits, a full fresh water tank, and empty waste tanks. Propane in the cylinders. Non-perishable food items in the pantry. A few extra clothes in the closet and wardrobe.

But even without these things, an otherwise "empty" RV could provide a much-needed shelter in times of distress. As we've seen, making sure the rig is ready to otherwise get underway is essential. In the case of a motorhome, having more than just a few ounces of fuel in the tank is critical. After all, who knows how far you might have to drive before you can stop and fuel up. Are the keys to the rig accessible to the whole family? Is the battery on your travel trailer charged up so that the jack will operate – or at least, is the manual crank easily accessible? Is the family trained on how to hitch up? If there's a hitch lock in place – where are the keys?

What if you store your rig off-site? If an emergency breaks out in the middle of the night, is there a way to access the storage yard, or will you be stuck driving up and finding yourself locked out? If there are electric gates at the storage yard (or at your own house) if the power fails, can you get the gates open and get your rig out?

Time would fail us if we were to go into detail about advance emergency planning. If nothing else, have a method set up to contact your loved ones. Remember, if a "big event" happens, it could easily "take out" or at least overload local telephone communications. Find a friend or family member who lives far away from your region and use them as a common point of reference. In many instances it's possible to call OUT of a disaster area, while not being able to call INTO it. Call Uncle Bob back East (or out West) and tell him where you'll be so that everyone else can do the same.

Take a little time and look up information on disaster preparedness. Make a plan. Get your family ready. Get your RV ready. It's most likely not a matter of IF but WHEN you'll be needing to put it to work.

Stock photo credit -- US Fish and Wildlife Service, Headquarters (on flickr.com)