What you can do to prepare for a fire evacuation

If you have to evacuate your house, put life before property -- your foremost concern is to get your family out, and after that, your pets, emergency officials say.

Before an evacuation order:

If you know that wildfires are burning in the area, listen to a battery-operated radio for reports and updates.

Make sure your car has a full or near-full tank of gas. Park it in the direction of escape with the key in the ignition. Shut (but do not lock) car doors and roll up windows. Disconnect automatic garage door and gate openers.

Round up pets and confine them in one room. Make sure identification tags are attached to collars.

If you do not have an emergency kit prepared, assemble the essentials: water; food that won’t spoil; prescription medicines; eyeglasses; diapers, formula, bottles and other supplies for infants; a change of clothing; and blankets.

Have credit cards and cash ready, along with cellphones and chargers. Know where your valuables and important family documents are (insurance policies, bank account and credit card numbers, deeds, passports, birth and marriage certificates). Line up leashes, crates and carriers for your pets.

Find medical records to show that their vaccinations are current in case you need to house them in a kennel or animal shelter.

If you are asked to evacuate:

Leave as soon as possible. Early evacuation reduces traffic jams and makes it easier for firefighters to do their jobs.

If you have to leave a pet behind, put it inside the house, if possible, with food and water. Place a sign on the door or in a window saying where the pet is, along with your phone number or other contact information. If you can’t find a pet, leave the sign with information about the pet and how to contact you.

Wear sturdy, closed-toe shoes, long cotton pants, a long-sleeved cotton shirt (polyester and rayon can melt) and gloves -- and put a bandanna over your face to keep from breathing ash. Call a friend, relative or co-worker to let someone know when you left and where you are heading. Lock your home.

Be aware of your surroundings and alert to changes in the speed and direction of fire and smoke.

To protect your home, if you’re sure you have time:

* Shut off gas at the meter. Turn off pilot lights. Turn off propane tanks.

* Open fireplace dampers. Close fireplace screens.

* Close windows, vents, doors and noncombustible window coverings. Remove lightweight curtains.

* Move flammable furniture away from windows. Move combustible patio furniture inside.

* Use a garden hose to wet the roof. Wet the ground within 15 feet of the home.

* Leave lawn sprinklers on. If possible, set sprinklers on the roof or near above-ground propane tanks.

If you go to an emergency shelter:

You can expect the shelter to provide food, bottled water, cots and blankets. But it will it be nowhere nearly as comfortable -- or private -- as even a cheap motel. Members of your family will be able to sit and sleep next to one another -- but in a large room of strangers, all of whom are likely as stressed as you are.

You will have to stand in line for meals and to use the restrooms. The shelter is not likely to offer showers, and you may not be able to change clothes for several days. But expect shelter workers to hand out small kits with toothbrushes and toothpaste and to pass around so many bottles of hand sanitizer that the air will smell as antiseptic as a hospital.

Look for volunteers to ask about toys for children, mental health counseling and medical services.

Sources: California Office of Emergency Services, American Red Cross ( www.redcross.org/services/disaster)

mary.engel@latimes.com