Transcript:
It’s frightening and stressful to be told that your home is in the path of a fast-moving wildfire and that you need to evacuate.
Some people may be tempted to stay put and hope that things don’t get too bad or that they’ll be able to defend their house.
Stumpf: “And I understand. I sympathize with people who are afraid of what they might lose.”
But Rob Stumpf, the fire chief in Lyons, Colorado, says it’s incredibly important to follow evacuation orders and get out quickly.
As the climate warms, wildfires are growing more intense and are spreading fast, so he says there is often no time to wait and see what happens.
And when people fail to evacuate, they risk their lives and the lives of others.
Stumpf: “If I got to send two firefighter EMTs off to try and get someone who’d been warned time and again to get out and hadn’t, that’s two firefighters that I can’t put on an engine doing structural protection to keep the neighboring home from burning down or put on the fire lines. It absolutely takes away from what we’re trying to do. … I know it’s a painful decision to make, but the best course of action is if and when somebody with the training and the expertise tells you that you shouldn’t be there, you should listen to them, and you should evacuate.”
Reporting credit: Sarah Kennedy / ChavoBart Digital Media
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