When wildfire strikes, what would you save?

If a wildfire were coming your way, what would you grab before you go?

Experts have an easy list. Think of the six P's.

People and pets first.

Paper. including phone numbers and important documents.

Plastic, which includes credit and ATM cards and cash.

Pictures, including irreplaceable memorabilia.

Prescriptions for eyeglasses and medications.

Personal: Computers, external hard drives and phones.

Those who have survived a wildfire say that when confronted with a real firestorm, however, it can be more complex.

That's what Woody Hastings maintains after going through the Old Topanga fire in the Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California in 1993.

'The actual experience is a process much more complicated and unexpected than a simple checklist in your mind,' said Hastings, who now lives in Sebastopol.

Hastings said he and a housemate were actually camping in the San Bernardino National Forest when the fire broke out. News reports indicated it had already passed by their neighborhood. Fortunately, he said, another housemate had rescued his dog, his computer, his photo albums and a few other key items. But most of their other personal possessions were still inside.

Hastings said when he got back to his neighborhood it was apparent that the winds had turned and the fire was returning his way.

'So it was in this brief period, when we finally got to our house and when we arrived in the driveway, we knew we only had a few minutes to grab whatever we could and turn back around and hightail it out of there,' he said.

As he made one final survey of his home, his thoughts churned. There were the things he was almost relieved to release to fire.

The funky or worn-out furniture, the disorganized closets and garage filled with stuff. All the CDs, tapes and the home entertainment system — all things, he realized, were replaceable.

'The more complex set of feelings that grab you in this moment is the set of feelings you have as you think about the investment you've made in the place itself,' he reflected.

There are completed projects, projects in midstream and things that remind you of plans you had for your place, now all moot or otherwise doomed.

Remember that a home is not just a collection of meaningless knickknacks.

The house itself contains ongoing projects — hopes and dreams — and this is part of the experience that is inseparable from the experience of asking yourself the question: 'What should I take?'

For Hastings, the decision came down to these questions: 'What will make me happy?' and 'What will help me pass the time?'

What came into his mind was a vision of himself propped against a palm tree at Venice Beach pounding his drums, or playing darts with a small group of friends.

'So I grabbed my favorite drum and my dartboard, took a last quick look around, and off I went,' he said. 'The car was not nearly full.'

Randy Jones and his wife, Sally, 'evacuated' to Santa Rosa last year after watching the devastation left by major wildfires in their part of Colorado over the previous two years.

More than 900 homes were lost. And while theirs was never in danger, they didn't want to tempt fate. Nonetheless, those fires inspired them to develop a plan.

'We put all our important documents — birth and marriage certificates, car titles, insurance docs, real estate docs, advance directives, passports, etc. — in one file labeled 'Grab and Go' at the front of the top drawer of our filing cabinet. Then I scanned all of our pictures and other paper mementos into our computer and put them on an external hard drive,' he said.

'If we ever have to evacuate, I grab the hard drive and my wife grabs the 'Grab and Go' file, we jump in the car and proceed, in an orderly fashion, of course, to a designated staging area. ... I'm pretty sure we can make this plan work since it is so simple. The key is working out a plan before the evacuation order comes.'

When a firestorm swept through the Sonoma Valley in 1996, Sharon Ponsford lost her home, everything in it and three cherished pets.

'Looking back, it is now very clear to her that 'material things' like TVs, furniture and kitchenware are easy to replace.

'It's the totems collected over a lifetime that she misses, that 'are part of the mosaic that makes you and your life what it is.'

If she had it to do over or could advise someone else before fire strikes, she would recommend that people gather up jewelry with sentimental value.

'For some reason, I didn't wear my wedding ring that day and lost it in the fire. Awful!' she lamented.

In addition to the important papers and photos recommended by experts, both digital and in albums — she lost all childhood photos of her children — she now wishes she had thought to take a few Christmas ornaments, the ones her children made, those from her own childhood and a few she collected on trips.

Add to that box 'treasured recipes' collected from families and friends, irreplaceable artwork and special things handed down from family members like Bibles, letters and historical documents.

'My father had recorded his family history on a series of tapes for me. I tried to listen to them a couple of times after he died, but it was too soon after his death to hear his voice. I was saving them for a later time. What I wouldn't give to hear them now.'

What other readers say they would bring:

Recipes: 'In case of fire, if at all possible, I'd head to the kitchen drawer where a dozen or so manila envelopes containing hundreds of my favorite recipes are stored. My love of cooking would be greatly diminished without these recipes for daily meals, entertaining and experimentation.'

— Susan Cross, Santa Rosa

Jewelry and ashes: 'For me it would be intensely personal things such as beloved jewelry I inherited from my mom when she passed away 12 years ago. More importantly, I lost a baby three years ago. He was cremated. That is what I would focus on if I had to leave quickly. Those beautiful items from my mom and my sweet baby's ashes.'

— Kailani Forrest, Santa Rosa

Overnight necessities: 'I would grab a change of clothes, medications, a toothbrush, two books for my nerves, and an extra pair of shoes, a bottle of water, and of course, my purse. That's it. I don't know if I could grab any more. I'm 86 years old and my run is a slow walk for most people.'

— Mary Jane Taylor, Santa Rosa

You can reach Staff Writer Meg McConahey at meg.mcconahey@pressdemocrat.com or 521-5204.