Emergency evacuation plan

[TAM Farm]

Today there was a fire about a mile from our house, "as the crow flies". It got me thinking about an emergency evacuation plan. I have added lots of animals in the last year and I would not be able to transport them all if I had to "bug out" today.

What are things that you need to do to get ready?

 

[Zinjifrah]

I have a horse trailer that's large enough to haul four horses, divided into two sections. I only have two horses. It has a storage area in the front that I've sectioned off. If I need to - both cats get tossed into the storage area, the horses go into the front compartment, the chickens go into large dog crates in the back compartment, the dogs go in that area as well. The fish are SOL, unfortunately. The snakes all get loaded into shipping bags - basically, pillowcases - and secured in a storage bin, either in the truck or in the back compartment of the horse trailer. Rifles and other important valuables go into the truck.

Last year I had wildfires burning their way over the hills on both sides of the valley I live in. It was stressful.

 

[ChickNanny13]

Zinjifrah has a plan something those with animals should think about way before an emergency evacuation arises.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Search "evacuation" here on BYC there are quite a few threads with some good tips. Some are on hurricane preparedness, others are dealing with fire.

First and foremost you and your family's life, health and safety are absolutely the most important, but it's good to have a plan in place.

@Zinjifrah has a good plan. Having a few extra totes, crates or kennels to place your animals in for transport would be a good idea - if you have a trailer you can put those on. You would need to also think about food/water, etc.

Another thing, if I remember correctly was last year people were having a hard time finding a place to go with their animals in tow. So getting that worked out beforehand would be a good idea too.