With the recent devastating forest fires in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada, I thought I would write up a quick post about the importance of emergency preparedness for house sitters, and how you can help be prepared.

As house sitters, we come into your home to look after your pets and take care of your home. One thing that can get glossed over is emergency preparedness.

In the wake of these Fort Mac fires we’ve contacted home owners at a future sit in British Columbia to ask about their procedures in advance, being that province is also prone to intense forest fires. And if you’re a sitter with some upcoming Pacific Northwest house sits, you’ll definitely want to know these procedures – it’s been hot and dry and it’s only May.

Emergency preparedness for house sitters varies based on where you’re sitting. Forest fires are, sadly, very common in Canada, the US, Australia and Europe. Hurricanes are prevalent in the Caribbean at certain times of the year. The southern US is called tornado alley for a reason. Floods can occur seemingly out of nowhere at all corners of the globe, and the ring of fire can see devastating earthquakes, as we saw recently in Ecuador.

It doesn’t take much to ask a home owner to do up some instructions for emergency preparedness for house sitters. If their area is prone to disasters, they likely have something in place, so don’t forget to bring it up.

As you know we like checklists and worksheets, so we’ve added it to our checklist of things to go over with home owners. And rather than try to re-create the wheel, PetSitters.org has this great EMERGENCY PLANNING GUIDE FOR PET OWNERS. So know what potential situations you’re getting into and discuss emergency preparedness with your home owners/house sitters.

If you do find yourself in an emergency situation – remember – life is the only thing that matters. Save yourself and the animals – the rest is just stuff.

We have friends that lived in Fort Mac who were displaced, along with over 90,000+ other people. If you have some extra stuff – don’t sell it – donate it to those who will truly NEED it. Better yet, if you have a few bucks to spare, they could sure use it at a time like this!

Now go DONATE to the good people of Fort McMurray!