Keep an emergency kit in every vehicle through fire season
Canada’s Get Prepared program — and Ready.gov in the US — recommend a basic vehicle emergency kit year-round, and fire season is the time to upgrade...
Canada’s Get Prepared program — and Ready.gov in the US — recommend a basic vehicle emergency kit year-round, and fire season is the time to upgrade it. Include at least four litres of water per person, non-perishable food, a battery or hand-crank radio, a flashlight with spare batteries, phone chargers and a power bank, a first-aid kit, an N95 respirator for each person, paper maps of the region, jumper cables, a tow strap, a basic tool kit, work gloves, and a wool blanket. Keep medications, ID and any pet supplies in a grab bag that can come with you if you have to leave the vehicle. Through fire season, also carry a fuel can if local rules allow, and a pair of safety glasses for ash and grit. Keep the fuel tank above half full at all times — gas stations near active fires routinely run out or lose power. If you tow a trailer or RV, build a second kit for it. None of this is exotic gear; the value is having it already in the vehicle when you need it, instead of trying to assemble a kit in a smoky parking lot.
A power-bank-charged phone, a paper map, and an N95 respirator are the three items most likely to be missing from a typical vehicle when fire-season trouble starts.
Source: Canada — Wildfires Get Prepared
Last reviewed 2026-05-02.
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