What to do when it’s wildfire season

It’s a dreadful reality that we live in today where wildfires are common every summer. As this season’s flames draw close to the Metro Area, we have great cause for concern as a community. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed and out of control by this situation, but if you find yourself anxious, especially about your own home or those of friends and neighbors who might be impacted, I offer some things below that you can do to prepare and hopefully gain a sense of control back.

First off, consider your insurance. Ensure you have renters insurance if you're renting. If you own, make sure you're covered by at least $400 per sq ft (Boulder area) of your home and that you have at least 2 years of ALE (coverage to pay for an alternative living situation) in the event of needing to rebuild (higher if you have a custom build or specific items of high value). Next, take videos of everything in your home. Walk around with your phone camera and slowly film while you open drawers and cabinets and areas you don't look in often to capture exactly what you have. Break them up into videos by room so you have a catalog of your belongings. This is a great idea for any potential catastrophe that can be covered by insurance. 

If there is a high risk of evacuating, remove cars from the garage in case the power is cut. Ensure you're fueled up and have water in the vehicle. Have some options for exits from your home on foot or by car so you can move quickly if it's needed.

Ensure you have things like passports, birth certificates and social security cards or any other documents that are identifiers and hard to replace in a location where you can take them quickly.

Build an emergency kit/go-bag and make a family communication plan. Make sure pet needs are also considered in your kit. 

These are just a few things you can do to be better prepared that don't require a lot of time or being an expert in fire recovery. They might also help to alleviate anxiety right now. If nothing else, breathe. Hang in there. Take care of yourself.

Find more valuable information go here. And if you're looking for reliable fire updates, download the Watch Duty app. It's free and gives all updates on any fires including people and pet evacuation updates by local authorities.