Wildfires are truly horrifying.
A couple of tips for wildfire evacuation. You should have a small kit in your vehicle at all times. Most of us are not professional firefighters so we have to substitute in inexpensive items.
1) Swimming goggles. These can protect your eyes from smoke if you are driving through an area where it’s thick. You can easily be blinded by smoke and drive off the road. It’s very disorienting when it gets in your eyes.
2) A bandana or N95 mask. Something to filter the smoke out can help prevent coughing fits that can make it difficult to drive.
3) Welding gloves. These gloves are designed to withstand ultra high heat, which is very important if, say, you have to open a metal gate or move debris, to get through the fire area.
When I lived in California, I had these items in my vehicle 100% of the time. Sadly, fire season is now a constant there.