Imagine that you’ve just learned that a wildfire is approaching your home. You are under an Evacuation Warning, meaning that you need to be ready to leave at a moment’s notice.

Then, tomorrow, you receive an Evacuation Order, meaning that you need to leave immediately. As you leave, you wave to your home, not knowing when or whether you will see it again. You end up being away from home until four weeks from today.

You read that right: Four weeks!

That’s not an uncommon scenario. According to data collected by the US Census Bureau, more than half of the people who reported having been displaced because of a wildfire in 2023-2024 were away from home for more than a month. Nearly one-third were away for more than six months or never returned to their home.

Here’s what the numbers say:

If you had to leave home tomorrow and couldn’t return for four weeks, where would you go at first? Where can you stay for a month? What would you need to have with you?

Think about it.

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For insights about evacuating and returning home, enjoy these posts:

• Do not hesitate, evacuate early!
• Getting Ready to Evacuate
• When in doubt, throw it out!

Check out our other Burning Truths.