3Get to safety
4 Use your car as protection
5Follow official instructions
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3Get to safety
• Keep the radio on and listen for updated local information and official instructions.
• If you are told to evacuate, follow the instructions carefully.
• Put on a hat and gloves, strong shoes, and cotton or woolen clothing that covers your arms and legs.
4 Use your car as protection
• If you are overtaken by flames when in the car, stay inside your vehicle. You are safer inside your car than outside in the thick smoke and fierce heat, even with the risk that the fuel tank may explode.
• Explain to any passengers the risks of leaving the car.
Take a brush to beat out small fires
Wear gloves to protect your hands
Wear your sturdiest shoes
• Take your pets, disaster emergency kit, and fire tools with you.
• Choose a planned route that will take you away from the fire, but be alert to changes in the fire’ s speed and direction.
! If you are outside
• Try to run diagonally away from the fire to get out of its path. Aim for
an open area; a road, or a river, if possible. If the fire comes close, lay down, curl into a ball, and cover your head, hands, and as much of your body as possible with a jacket.
• If your clothing catches fire, quickly smother the flames with a coat and
then roll around on the ground to extinguish them( p. 182).
5Follow official instructions
• Do not return home until you have been given the all-clear.
• When you are allowed to return home, proceed with caution –
small fires may still be blazing.
• As a precaution against more fires, resoak your house and the entire
safety zone with water.
• If your house has been damaged by fire, check with the fire department
that it is safe to enter the building.
• If necessary, arrange temporary accommodation elsewhere.
• If the fire has passed by your house, check for any smoke damage that
may call for an insurance claim. Take photographs, if you can, to support future claims.
Emergency action If fire is blocking all your escape routes, head for a dip or hollow and roll into a ball.