What Would I Save?

 RHYS BOWEN:  When I lived in London and worked for the BBC I shared an apartment with three college friends in Queen Anne Street, just off Regent Street and behind Oxford Street. It was a perfect location and we had lucked out as a firm of solicitors owned the lovely Georgian house and only used the bottom two floors. The top two had remained vacant until we moved in. (I bet they’d cost a fortune these days. Perfect location--quiet street within walking distance of Oxford Circus).

I was on the top floor, the fourth. And I used to lie in bed and worry about what I would try to save in a fire. Stupid thing to worry about as in those days I didn’t have anything of great value. But these days the same worry has returned, because I live in a fire prone area of California. Fire is always on our minds. We have become like woodland creatures.  If we smell smoke we are instantly alert. I go to the back balcony and look over the landscape for any signs of fire, then the front of the house.

We’ve had close calls. In September there was a fire in the next valley. Luckily it raced up the hillside away from us but the tankers came in low over our heads for several hours. In the big Sonoma County fire a few years ago my daughter arrived at our house in the middle of the night bringing only her kids, the dog and the book of her wedding pictures. No toothbrush, hairbrush, change of underwear.  We do not think rationally when told to evacuate.  (Her husband drove to his job at the veterans home with flames licking at both sides of the car. He shot a video. Terrifying).

So you don’t make rational decisions in moments of panic, which causes me to make mental lists. What would I grab if told to get out?  The obvious: my phone, Mac, iPad, connections, my jewelry box, passport. But then what? My awards? I’d really like to keep them but I can’t picture myself rushing to and from a car with teapots and tombstones (yes, one Anthony award was a tombstone). Photo albums? Items my mother gave me? As many clothes as possible in case i was in a shelter? We have some lovely antiques, but I couldn’t carry out a Queen Anne desk or a glass cabinet full of dolls. We have our trust documents in a supposedly fireproof safe, but they have not stood up well to really intense fires. However our attorney has a copy of the trust so no biggie there. 

My tax records? That would be more important. I’d hate to try to explain to the IRS that I had no proof of any claim.

But do you know what? I find that I am not really that bothered about things. If the antiques burn it would be a shame. If I lost all my clothes I’d be annoyed. But the photo albums? The children when they were small? Priceless.  So…. I’ve bought one of those scanners and soon everything will be digital.

How about you? What would you try to save first. Which things mean so much to you that you’d have to rescue them?

JENN McKINLAY: I’ve watched so much footage of the fires, Rhys. It’s just awful. Heartbreaking and horrible. I can’t imagine being told to get out with only a moment’s notice.  I’m the sort of person who doesn’t like to be rushed, so you can imagine how poorly that would go. The Hooligans and I always joke that the Hub will only save us if we’re carrying one of his guitars, or preferably two. Musicians!

That being said, I’ve digitized my photos and videos. My important papers are in a fireproof safe. I don’t collect anything. So, the critters would be the top priority and then, I don’t know, some clothes, some cash, favorite pieces of jewelry? So long as my loved ones were safe, I think could leave the rest behind.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: This is too awful, and, yes, Jenn,  too heartbreaking, and I think we decide at the time. People, cash, computer, phone. Art and clothes and awards and ahhh…  I’m going to take photos of everything, and then send them to you all, and then SOMEONE will have them. Does that work?  I agree, Rhys, no way to think rationally, that’s why we have to plan. But--ah. Then we don’t. Do you? 

LUCY BURDETTE: Very moving line about becoming woodland creatures, Rhys. Those fires are terrifying, cleaning out entire towns so quickly. We had a small practice with this question when a hurricane threatened. We took the electronics and the animals and their food and not much else. I meant to get to digitizing this summer, but the time got away. Losing people or pets, or the neighborhood would break my heart.

HALLIE EPHRON: Easy first choice for me: my husband’s drawings--two accordion files packed with them. After that, the “important documents” folder (it’s all replaceable but I’ve recently learned that there’s a lot of hoop-jumping to do if anything needs to be replaced.) A painting by my mother’s brother who died in his 20s. Water! Cell phone cell phone cell phone. What did we do without them? And I’d take a quick detour to be sure my neighbors on all sides are on the move, too.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Oh, Rhys, I can't imagine living with that constant threat. That's so terrifying! Here we have "tornado season" when we are on extra alert, but that's not like having fire marching towards you. If we did have a tornado, we wouldn't have time to do more than grab the animals (assuming we could corral the cats) and our phones and laptops. I would get my passport and my vax card (which I keep in my passport) and we would just have to hope for the best on everything else.

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: This would have been a much more difficult answer just a few months ago, before I adopted Rocky and Kingsley, bringing the TDN (total dog number) of my house to three. Getting them and Janey out and into the car would be my top priority, no doubt. After that? My laptop, since so much of what we traditionally want to grab - important personal info, photos, etc - is online. Really, I can access it with another computer if necessary.

If I have five more minutes after that, I have some family portraits - you know, the old fashioned painted kind - that I’d grab off the walls. Fortunately, my office is the Spencer-Fleming-Hugo-Vidal Family Shrine, so I wouldn’t have to go to more than one room to get all the important pictures. By the way, one of the nice aspects to living in an old house like this is the peace of mind that comes from knowing it has stood for two hundred years at this point. I mean, anything could happen, but I think my chances are pretty good it will still be here in 2121.

RHYS: So what about you? What would you take with you? Has anyone experienced a rapid evacuation from a hurricane or tornado, or even a wildfire?