I cannot recall how old I was when a house caught on fire in my neighborhood but it had to be around five years old or perhaps even younger. I was not yet in school and my youngest brother had not yet been born when I heard the sound of a fire truck rushing down my street. My mother heard the alarm as well and rushed into our front yard with me following behind her. 

The smoke and flames appeared to be coming from the home of an elderly man who lived alone just down the way from us. It was not a huge fire and therefore was easy to extinguish but then the firefighters went inside to see if anyone was hurt. Their search ended when they discovered the body of the old man who had died most probably from inhaling the smoke. 

I still have a vivid memory of seeing our neighbor wheeled out of the house on a stretcher inside a body bag. I remember my mother attempting to explain to me what had happened with as few gory details as possible. She did her best to assure me that this was an unusual situation and that I need not worry about what I had seen. 

I suppose that my inner response was far darker then my mother ever imagined it would have been. I instinctively developed a hyped up fear of fire that would follow me to this very day. As a result of this childhood trauma I would worry constantly about the possibility of a fire in my home. As an adult I purchased fire extinguishers and fire blankets and rehearsed escape routes and routines with my two daughters. I took fire drills at school more seriously than most. The image of the charred home I had seen in my childhood have stayed with me to this very day. 

A few years ago I heard about a fire in a home that occurred a few days after Christmas. Members of a family were staying together when a Christmas tree burst into flames in the middle of the night. By the time the fire alarms began to sound the people upstairs were trapped by the fire that was already moving rapidly along the only way out. When I read that all of them died I immediately purchased a flexible ladder that attaches to the window sill so that in the event of a fire anyone in the second story will have a means of escaping. 

Ironically the brother who had not yet been born when my mother and I witnessed the tragedy of the fire on our street became a firefighter. He plied me with even more useful information regarding how to stay calm and find ways to escape from flames. He taught me to search for the closest exits from hotel rooms and seats in theaters even before I settle down to enjoy my vacations and entertainment. To this day I find myself observing the lay of the land wherever I go and thinking about what I will do in case of an emergency.

I suppose that my mind is urging me to review the safety measures that I have set in place due to the fires that seem to be breaking out more and more often raging through entire neighborhoods so quickly that people sometimes have no means of escape other than running on foot. Climate change has limited rain in many areas turning homes into kindling when a fire breaks out. We have seen it happen in Maui and at this moment in Los Angeles. Dryness coupled with strong winds wreaks havoc that not even fire extinguishers and fire blankets can handle. People literally have to flee for their lives. 

All of this has made me consider outlining escape routes on the roads near my home ahead of time in the event that something terrible happens where I live. While floods seem more likely to occur in my vicinity I know that last summer my brothers’ cabin in Colorado was threatened by an out of control fire and the area where one of my daughter lives has seen little or no rain for years. I have trained her well enough that she has already practiced evacuating. 

It is a shame that we are constantly fighting battles with nature but in most cases we have also ignored all of the danger signals coming from our changing climate. Our society does not want to think about the possibilities and so we simply react once a natural disaster has occurred. We do not consider such things in the construction of neighborhoods and roads. We react rather than planning ahead. We just keep building with abandon in areas where wells are going dry or places just waiting to be destroyed by hurricanes and storms. It is as though we do not want to face the possible consequences of our folly. 

I suppose that many would roll their eyes at the very mention of my obsession with fire safety. They would no doubt think that I would do better getting some help for my anxiety than stewing over things that are unlikely to ever happen but life has taught me that the unbelievable sometimes occurs. Huge buildings do indeed collapse after being hit by planes. Quaint towns are destroyed by hurricanes that began hundreds of miles away. A tropical paradise can turn into a hellscape. People die when they do not properly prepare or when they ignore the evidence that we must spend far more time considering the consequences of our actions. The earth is having its way with us and telling us that we need to make some changes. We ignore the warnings at our own peril.