Of fish and flames

As Mama Wren wrote in her post today, a large fire has been burning in the Lake Tahoe area, not terribly far from both her home and mine. They're calling it the Angora Fire, and photos of brown and grey devastation riddle the pages of both our newspaper and the Sacramento Bee. The numbers alone are staggering: over 200 structures - many of them homes - have been destroyed, and it's not over yet. Further, its destroying forested areas whose terrain are pretty unique to the area. Being as it's 40+ miles up the hill from Mama Wren's nest, and there for about 50+ miles up the hill from me, I'm not packing up and heading to Grandma's yet, but I wonder.

There is a story that will be running in our newspaper tomorrow about the Nation Fire Protection Association recommending that everyone have a good fire escape plan, and to practice it. This is, of course, because of the Angora Fire, but the angle of the story is that it's a good way to celebrate Fire Prevention Week 2007 ... which is taking place in mid-October, with the Great American Fire Drill.

In October. After the worst of the fire season has already passed and left whatever devastation it will leave. And that's when everyone, country-wide, should practice it. You can even download your very own "I Did The Drill" certificate. You know, just for that extra bit of protection/forewarning/speed that might save your your life as you run for it.

Fire Prevention Week is held in October to mark the anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. You'd think that in the 85 years the Association has been observing Fire Prevention Week, someone would have tipped them off to the fact that while yes, fires can occur in October, there are a hell of a lot more of them in summer. When it's hotter and drier.

I love stupid people. Really. It's free entertainment, right? Sigh.

I'm pretty sure that the boy and I won't have any trouble getting out of our home if a fire starts up. We're in a tiny little one-room apartment, with a bathroom and kitchen both so small that we have to take turns standing in them. There's really not much to plan there: if a fire starts, grab the necessities and run out the door. If the door is blocked by the fire, hop up onto the bed in the bedroom and climb out the window. We can pack a few bags of basic necessities and keep them in our vehicles, away from a home-fire, so we don't need to try to find them and drag them out of harm's way at a critical moment. Things like computers and CDs and such would suck to lose, but they are replaceable, and not necessary to day-to-day survival, so we won't worry about them (too much).

Easy.

What I wonder about is what I'll do with my three pet fish in case of a fire.

Oh sure, laugh. It is kinda funny, or at least a funny thing to worry about. Harry will be taken care of; he has a cage that he can be transported in, and extra heating and lighting equipment to set up wherever we may end up after fleeing a burning home. But the fish? I don't have an extra tank lying around, and ten-gallons of water isn't something you can just tuck under one arm and run with. So, I wonder: should I leave the fish in the case of a fire, hoping that the flames are put out before things get so hot that they shatter the glass of the one, ten-gallon tank and melt the plastic of the other, two-and-a-half-gallon tank? Should I dump both large-ish fancy goldfish (Fred and George) into the two-and-a-half-gallon with the tiny lil' betta (Maedeiu) and try to take that with me? Should I dump both tanks into the bathtub or kitchen sink and hope the water doesn't evaporate in the heat?

These are the kinds of things that keep me up at night. I know the boy and I will be ok, but damn if my pets aren't my kids, and I worry over them if they so much as move a bit more slowly than usual one morning when I feed them. I can't help it; I love the lil' stinkers.

So, in very-early recognition of Fire Prevention Week, I'm going to attempt to figure out what the hell to do with the fish if a fire breaks out at home. Maybe I'll just take them all to work; it's located just aroudn the corner and up the road from the fire station, so response time would probably ensure their survival in their respective tanks there. But then I wouldn't get to enjoy them at home ...

Sigh. Ah, the constant worries of the pet-owner.

Folks, do be smarter than the National Fire Protection Association — plan for and practice your fire escape plans now, not when it may already be too late. Your kids, furry and scaled and human alike, depend on it.