[Ian Narita]

Having been thru a house fire can be traumatic. Even if the damage is minimal.

Before I was disabled, my family and I went through a fire, and it was years to recover.

Mostly just kept going til we were back where we were.

One of the things I checked on when I got my first chair was loss insurance (at the time we were renters) for theft or accidental damage. Basically unaffordable.

I would hate to think about losing the chair.

Not sure what else to say.

[Ian Narita]

Couple of years ago I was on the way to the Doctor, when my chair quit.

Someone had not connected the charger properly and the batteries died. All I could do was get my son to disconnect the clutches (?). And for my son to push the chair back to the house. Rescheduled the Doctors appointment and went another day.

It’s why one of my sons usually goes with me. I don’t use the chair near as much as I’d like to. Not sure what else to say.

[Ian Narita]

I don’t use mine enough. I kinda need to get out more. Tuesday was election day. To the fairgrounds and back. Used to go to the doctor’s office in the chair. He has moved his office and the new location is considerably further, and will be a car trip from now on.

This winter the only time I got out was when Union Pacific brought UP’s big steam locomotive to town.

Not sure what else to say

Thx IGN

[Ian Narita]

I don’t want to be scary here. I tend to be long winded. I do want to make people think of what if.

A couple of days ago a grass fire started in the neighborhood. When I didn’t hear fire trucks after more than a few minutes I called 911. The benefits of living in a smallish town is 911 can spend time on the phone.

The 911 operator said they had several calls about the fire, but no location. All they could do was have the Police try to locate it. I asked my son and daughter in law to go look. They found the fire after a few minutes and called in the location (deep into a wooded lot).

The smell was a reminder of the house fire we had been thru, and a little unnerving for our family. Worse still as red flag warnings and a burn ban was in effect.

As to whether or not to save the wheelchair, a new manual wheelchair is about $100 bucks, affordable to a degree. Down this way pawn shops have wheelchairs all the time, usually about $20.. Noting this the manual wheelchair would be an easy decision for us to leave behind. My power chair retail cost is like $40,000. Medicaid gets a huge discount on that. But it would essentially be irreplaceable except every 5 years.

My current thoughts are to store my old chair outside the house, as a reserve in case of disaster.

Every disaster is different and you have to make decisions on the spot. Something else think about what kind of disasters could happen fire, flood, earthquake, tornado, etc. Then think about what should go where in case. Too many times the fire department finds an unused fire extinguisher after the fire. If you buy one get one that can be recharged and then talk to the fire department about some basic training about first response to fighting a fire. Practice and training makes all the difference. Also a fire drill so everyone knows what to do. A meeting place to account for household members, so you can account for all the people and pets in the house.

At my house I feel most of the time like Cassandra of myth. I can imagine the things that can go wrong, but can’t get people in the house to think and plan about the potential for disaster and consequences. Most fire departments have pamphlets on disaster preparation. Its best to look it over and then make plans about what to do in case.

Also if the arson case hasn’t gone to court you should contact the prosecutor’s office and make them understand your disabled and if allowed at sentencing be there and make a statement. Someone may have thought it a joke. You should dispel them of that idea.