Wireless and Cell Phone Fire Tips from Wireless and Mobile News

By Editor Wireless and Mobile News on May 8, 2009 4:11 PM

Unfortunately, we need to remind you again as wildfires rage over Santa Barbara, tips to have your cell phone, phones and information ready in case of fire.

Be sure to keep your cell phone charged.
Send text messages to save bandwidth - frequently during a disaster the cell tower traffic can get overloaded. Sending text takes far less bandwidth and can notify your loved ones without tying up resources.
Keep your cell phone away from extreme heat such as the dashboard of your car, or fires.
Don't let your cell phone be exposed to water.
A car charger, battery booster or other form of charger such as a the fuel cell Medis 24-7 is good to have Solio also makes a solar phone charger. During a power outage it is important to have another way to charge your cell phone.

Store important numbers in your cell phone, you won't have time to look them up.
Designate a friend or family member outside the fire area to contact in case your service goes down, or you lose members of your family who are unable to contact you.
If your primary phone number is a landline, make sure you have phone that does not require power, a simple dial phone.
If you have time before leaving and have a web-enabled phone, bookmark important news sources like the County of Santa Barbara Emergency HomePage.

You may want to contact your carrier to find out if they have evacuation centers or mobile stores if stores have been burnt down. Verizon has set up a wireless phone bank at a second emergency shelter, being opened at the University of California Santa Barbara Multi Activity Center on the UCSB campus.

Because you may not be able to carry a lot with you if you are evacuated, you can store your important documents on a USB drive or microSD card. You should always store files off site by some method, in case a fire burns your computer.