House burning down: What would you save?

[MrsPete]

In all seriousness, my brother had a serious house fire.  I'd never really considered what a person's immediate needs would be in this situation, but here's what happened to him:

- He got out of the house fine, but he was wearing only PJ bottoms and a tee-shirt.  Not even shoes.
- The ambulance took him to the hospital, and from there he called our other brother, who picked him up and brought him some make-do-for-the-moment clothes from his own closet. 
- He is completely dependent upon eyeglasses, and they were gone.  His prescription?  That was gone too. 
- He is dependent upon diabetes medication.  Gone; however, the hospital took care of him for the day, and he has a doctor and pharmacy who know him -- the meds were easily replaced.
- With no ID, he couldn't access his bank accounts.  That was a bigger issue than the medicines. 
- His car wasn't damaged, but he had no car keys. 
- His computer wasn't even a blip on his radar. 

[Daleth]

Your house is burning down [ETA: or insert other disaster of your choice - an earthquake, tornado, hurricane warning, etc.].  You have time to save ONE item.  Your family (people and pets) are all safely out.  What do you grab?

[ETA: Added bolding to highlight the point as it seems to be in question by multiple posters below.]

I would grab my diaries, except that I don't need to because a few years ago I bought a secondhand fireproof safe on eBay for them.

So I guess the backup hard drive that everything from our computers and phones is saved on. What can I say, I'm sometimes a practical person.

[Daleth]

Yes, same. Laptop.

+1. Most expensive thing I own, with my whole project for my PhD on it. Assuming DH and Fido are safe, everything else is replaceable.

You need to do a secure offsite backup of that PhD work pronto. Put it on a hard drive, a cloud server like dropbox, or something that you keep somewhere else so you have a second copy. Not doing so is insanity. Having done a PhD, concentrating that much in one place without it being replaceable is too big a risk. Laptops get coffee spilled on them, hard drives make chewbacca sounds and then stop working, things get stolen, and all other kinds of mischief can occur.

Yes. Seconded or thirded or whatever. I'm a writer and every time I finish a work session for the day, I email myself the file. That's my "offsite backup." If there are other associated files (research I collected...) I email those too, whenever I've updated them.

[Mikhial]

I don't have anything that I can't replace, so I would take what would be most inconvenient to replace. Either a small folder with passports/other paper items (most everything is stored online) or my computer. Everything is backed up, but I'd really rather not build that hackintosh again.

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[LiveLean]

1998 -- pre-digital era.

Wake up at 3 a.m. in apartment and see flashing lights. Fire engines coming into complex, but sirens silent. Wiping sleep from my eyes, I wonder where the fire is. At that moment, I smell smoke.

Pounding on the door, I open to see firefighters in full gear. "Sir, you must get out NOW!"

Wearing only shorts, I was able to grab the laptop only because it was near the door. This being Florida in August, standing in the parking lot wearing only shorts wasn't that unusual.

The apartment below me was pretty much destroyed and there was some minor damage to mine. But the episode taught me to be a minimalist in terms of belongings and to keep stuff backed up off site (and now in the cloud).

We have friends who lost everything in a fire about 10 years ago. But the father often talks about how he's thankful for the experience. They buy little, accumulate nothing, and use their resources to take awesome marathon family vacations each summer with their four kids, even bringing a couple cousins along.

[asauer]

Kids, cats, photos.  Everything else is replaceable.

[Villanelle]

Right now, our back up drive since we re in the middle of switching storage approaches.  But beyond that, a 35 year old piece of an old red robe. 

[ivyhedge]

In addition to us and our beloved shiba inu, the materials in the safe's go-bag and our backup hard drives. Easy!

[canadian bacon]

i would start with my '63 Gibson SG Jr

[Goldielocks]

My Son's asthma medications, because he would be having an attack RIGHT NOW.

Otherwise, with a few minutes, a change of clothes, coats, a pair of shoes and snack food to get us through a day.
If at night and fast?  My glasses and a bra (or sweater).  I hate people seeing me in PJ's without a bra.

[markbike528CBX]

....
- He is completely dependent upon eyeglasses, and they were gone.  His prescription?  That was gone too. 
 
- With no ID, he couldn't access his bank accounts.  That was a bigger issue than the medicines. 
- His car wasn't damaged, but he had no car keys. 

The above items got me thinking.

Glasses---I have a spare at work, and at 12 diopter ,  they are the FIRST thing I grab on moving from the bed so I can't think of a scenario were I'd get out without them.

I'd think my vote is for wallet/ID/bank cards.

Since my car is non-mustachian, the keys are $315, and the nearest dealer is 200miles away, they'd be a strong attraction.

[SMP]

My wallet, my NAS (Synology DS414) and maybe the watch inherited from my great-grandfather.

[Squirrel away]

....
- He is completely dependent upon eyeglasses, and they were gone.  His prescription?  That was gone too. 
 
- With no ID, he couldn't access his bank accounts.  That was a bigger issue than the medicines. 
- His car wasn't damaged, but he had no car keys. 

The above items got me thinking.

Glasses---I have a spare at work, and at 12 diopter ,  they are the FIRST thing I grab on moving from the bed so I can't think of a scenario were I'd get out without them.

I'd think my vote is for wallet/ID/bank cards.

Since my car is non-mustachian, the keys are $315, and the nearest dealer is 200miles away, they'd be a strong attraction.

Actually that is a good point, my husband would probably have to grab his glasses.

[dusty]

Nothing.

Everything meaningful i.e photos, is backed up elsewhere, so I would get out and enjoy the show.

I work on ships at sea and have played this game for real during drills and in my mind.  Gear wise I grab my wallet for ID and the crews passports I keep in the safe next to my bed (Government bureaucracy is a pain so i would hate to have to replace all those) - otherwise I notice in an emergency I always put pants and a shirt on (I may or may not forgo safety boots) but screw the rest.

Always fun rocking up at the Emergency Station during a 'silent hours'  exercise to see who is dressed, who is in PJs and who is the guy that is wearing a Kangaroo onesie.

[MrsPete]

Glasses---I have a spare at work, and at 12 diopter ,  they are the FIRST thing I grab on moving from the bed so I can't think of a scenario were I'd get out without them.

I'd think my vote is for wallet/ID/bank cards.

Since my car is non-mustachian, the keys are $315, and the nearest dealer is 200miles away, they'd be a strong attraction.

Having a spare pair of glasses, bank card, and car keys at work is a pretty good idea.  Someone would give you a ride to work, and those few things would put you eons ahead of where my brother was that day. 

You could probably "do" with leaving your last pair of glasses at work as a back up.
My car came with a valet key, which I never use -- it's grey and doesn't have the clickers.  It opens the doors and starts the engine, but it does not open the trunk.  That would be a good thing to place elsewhere. 

[markbike528CBX]

I like the idea of stashing some stuff at work,
however, I'm reluctant to leave anything at work, since we've had layoffs with no end in sight.
I expect to show up someday and find a note on the door that the facility is closing down.

Not really a problem for me (nearly FI), but for my colleagues, it would blow big time.

A safety deposit box is a neat idea, but assumes you've got the key and ID on you.

Re: Laptop saving from a burning building...
 
         Does NO ONE do offsite hardcopy backups (CD/DVD)?
or has everyone's electronic crap gotten bigger than a few multiples of 4GB.   
The whole Bible in ascii text format is only 4MB.

My "need to save" file is a 700kb spreadsheet.
If I lost a few months of updates on it, no big deal.

[snogirl]

Already have a bag packed for this purpose. It contains:
Water, poncho, emergency blanket, warm jacket
Medications, extra glasses for all family members
Passports, extra credit card, cash
Safe deposit box key, list of all accounts.

If possible I'd throw the wedding album into the pack as well. And hope my fire safe was really fire proof.

I'm going to make one of these bags up this weekend.
Great idea

[spokey doke]

My dog

[I'm a red panda]

I can't see without my glasses, but if there was a fire during the day, they'd be on my face; and if there was one at night, they'd be on the nightstand, so they are quite close.

If I did run out without them, I CAN (but don't like to) wear contacts, and I'm sure the eye doctor would be willing to give me a trial pack while I wait for glasses to be made. The last pair took under 2 weeks, which is what  trial contacts take.


One of my friend's lost everything he owned in a flood.  He said the only thing he misses 5 years later is his parent's wedding photos. Especially because his Mom didn't know he had them. (He was scanning them for a project.)  He didn't have time to prepare anything to evacuate, because he was volunteering to notify ANOTHER area to evacuate, when his area was unexpectedly hit. 



When I was a kid, I was so scared of a fire (not sure why- I think it was just on my mind because we did fire drills every 6 months or so) that I packed a bag every night with my best toys and set it by the window I was supposed to climb out of.  That lasted for years.  I was also terrified of the path I had to take down the roof, even though I had practiced it.

[AZDude]

I keep all the important stuff in a fire-safe lockbox, but really, if you and your family are safe, everything else is replaceable.  Actually dealt with a scary situation a few years ago where my neighbors house burned down, and the possibility that our house would burn too existed. At the time it was the middle of the night and my daughter was about four weeks old. We grabbed her and a quick overnight bag and got out of there. House ended up being fine, but in the moment all the random stuff in the house never entered my mind. Just making sure my little one was OK was all that mattered.

[Rezdent]

Already have a bag packed for this purpose. It contains:
Water, poncho, emergency blanket, warm jacket
Medications, extra glasses for all family members
Passports, extra credit card, cash
Safe deposit box key, list of all accounts.

If possible I'd throw the wedding album into the pack as well. And hope my fire safe was really fire proof.

I'm going to make one of these bags up this weekend.
Great idea

A go bag is a great idea.

Lots of folks keep that bag next to their door so all they've got to do is grab on the way out.
However, if you leave home (job, school, whatever) on a regular basis and the fire happens when you are gone, the bag is gone too.
Most of us still leave the house for 8 or more hours per day and we sleep about as much - meaning the odds are about even for a fire when we are gone.

I was at work when fire threatened my neighborhood. Authorities  locked all roads and refused to let me within a mile of my house.
I was so glad that my bag was not IN the house.

I commute by car, so the bag stays in the car.  If I commuted by bike or foot, I'd keep a bag at a friend's or relatives place in a different neighborhood and they'd keep one at mine.

[GatewayTwo]

I would have to take two small things - a pair of small stuffed animals for my twins.  I would be fine, but they would be devastated if these particular objects didn't make it.

Everything else can be replaced.

(In theory, so could the stuffed animals, but it's WHO they came from that matters, and that person is not around to give them new ones).

A go bag in the car is a good idea though.

[BBub]

An old shotgun I inherited from a beloved family member.

[Nancy]

I would not go out of my way to save anything as I'm not attached to my stuff. My eyeglasses would be on my face before I even opened my eyeballs. I think my husband would take our hard drive if it were on the way out.

[EarlyRetirementGuy]

As much of the filing cabinet containing all important documents as possible. I expect most of it is now irrelevant or has online copies available but I'd still make a grab for it.

Other than that; our single most expensive possession is a 6 foot solid oak table.. couldn't imagine dragging that out :D

[Astatine]

Stashing a spare of glasses and car keys some place else is a great idea! Thanks for the suggestion, whoever it was!

[happy]

1.  handbag - would have wallet/phone and keys in it.

If I could have a second item, it would be our evacuation document box. I started this many years ago when under direct bushfire threat ( helicopters water-bombing the bush across the road).

It contains items like birth certificates, immunisation records and awards/certificates /school photos for the kids. All kept in a plastic container that can just be grabbed at short notice.  With ID, all of the documents are replaceable more or less, but it would save a lot of time and energy. The awards and the relatively few photos are just for sentimental value.

[matchewed]

Can't think of anything that can't be replaced...

Assuming everything goes up in flames; a change of underwear?

[Sailor Sam]

My manliness is forcing me to tell you that I'd grab my wallet, stuffed full of comforting ID's.

In reality, I'd take either my blankie, or my plush rabbit. Whichever once was closest to grab. Ideally both.

[sheepstache]

I've always thought about this in terms of natural disasters or some other situation where the shit hits the fan for everyone. With Hurricane Sandy, my plan was to grab my hiking backpack and bike. That would allow me to get away from the area and be somewhat self-sufficient while supplies and aid were in high demand.

I had kind of a trial run on 9/11 and what I actually took was my IDs and such (was already wearing pants), a bottle of water, a leftover sandwich, the library book I was reading (Because apparently I was like, "Oh, a terrorist attack. I might get bored."), and my glasses. In hindsight, I should have grabbed my contact lens case too, because while contact lens solution was easy to come by, I could not find a case for love or money.

For a fire situation, I dunno, I have a hard time figuring it out. It's not that I'm not attached to my stuff, it's that I'm attached equally to all of it so nothing super stands out. Or the stuff that I'd particularly like to save is large or gets used every day so it's not practical to have it in a separate container ready to go or in a fireproof thing. Like, I'm really sentimentally attached to my plants, but there's no way I can save them. And I don't value my stuff just qua stuff but also for the memory of how I got it But this thread has impressed on my mind that I should consider getting a safe for some of the obvious stuff like memory cards (although I feel like the heat might scramble them?).

[Melody]

Laptop (yes I am another one who needs a back up system which isn't also in their house... note to self transport back up drive to my "other bedroom" at my parents house and store there) or handbag (as others have said, wallet, keys, ipod etc... I just feel naked without it.) I'd like to keep a cool original painting I bought in South America but realistically it's massive (doesn't fit in the car unless I fold the seats down) so I don't think I'd run very far with it!!!