4 Prepping Lessons Learned Following a Near DisasterGaye Levy There is no way to anticipate these sudden, unexpected events. But we can do our best to prepare for them not only as individuals and as families, but as communities as well. Here in my own small community, we experienced our own unexpected event on Wednesday morning when an 85 yacht at our marina burst into flames. For those of you not familiar with boats and marinas, let me explain the danger. First of all, boats these days are made of fiberglass. When burned, fiberglass produces heavy toxic fumes and smoke lots of it. Then there is the matter of fuel. Typically, diesel fuel is flammable but not explosive. On the other hand, gasoline is both highly flammable and explosive. In this case, the burning yacht was adjacent to a fuel dock where both diesel and gasoline are pumped to visiting vessels And then there is the fragile marine environment. This yacht held 2,500 gallons of diesel fuel. A spill of this magnitude would be devastating to our little harbor. I doubt that there would be crab, shrimp and edible fish for many years to come. The boat here at Roche Harbor burned for most of the day and it eventually sank. The smoke throughout the day was thick and based upon first hand reports, was seen as far away as Pender Island in British Columbia. As luck would have it, our community was well prepared for this event. Through drills and practice, the mostly all-volunteer fire department and EMS crew knew what to do when they reached the scene and were successful at isolating the fire to the vessel itself, insuring the safety of the local residents as well as the hundreds of tourists that visit this time of year. You know that I have strong feeling about having a sense of community, about knowing your neighbors, and about learning preparedness skills so that you can deal with the unexpected bumps in life. Wednesday was a fine example of why I feel that way as I witnessed the community, its citizens and its local businesses pitching in to avert what could have been a major holocaust of an explosion and fire. Today I am sharing some lessons learned from this incident lessons that can translated into action by all preppers, no matter where you live, near the water or not. Survival and preparedness skills need to be practiced Identify an escape route in case you need it later Know your neighbors and help when you can Dont underestimate the value of protective masks Having a protective mask (such as an N95) at the first sign of fire and smoke makes good sense. And even if you can not see the smoke due to atmospheric conditions, it can still be there along with toxic fumes. These masks are cheap, about $10 for a box of 20. You can bet that I am going to get some extras. After the fact, it is easy to think of yesterdays fire as a big adventure. On the other hand, tonight the winds have shifted and now, more than 24 hours later, I can still smell smoke. Still, a little smoke is a lot better than the potential disaster that was averted through a combination of skill, luck and the capable, quick acting members of my community. No one was hurt and loss of property was isolated to the burning boat itself. This event made me grateful that I am prepared, with the goods, skills and mental mindset to prevail in an emergency. Furthermore, it reconfirmed that crazy, unpredictable events do indeed happen to ordinary people, living ordinary lives, in ordinary places. Read other articles by Gaye Levy here. Enjoy your next adventure through common sense and thoughtful preparation! 