Earplugs? During a wildfire?

[AsYouSaid]

I know the news story is about the devastating fires, but I couldn't get past one lady interviewed on BBC News.

You're alone in your holiday house with your children. There are wildfires nearby. You know there are alerts, and that the situation could change overnight.

So you put earplugs in... and go to sleep.

She seemed indignant because she slept through the evacuation order.

I'm genuinely struggling to understand her decision. In that situation I'd want every sense available – to hear sirens, neighbours, emergency services, or anything else that might mean it's time to get out. I’m not sure I would have gone to bed at all, or shut my eyes, never mind wear earplugs.

Thankfully, for now she and her children are safe, but stranded and cut off

Surely, choosing to block out the very warnings that could save your life, and your children's, seems an extraordinary lack of judgement.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c80ny93xlrvo?app-referrer=deep-link

My exact thoughts, stupid person!

Whereas someone else I heard about (or perhaps it was a poster on here actually) said they set their alarm every 30 minutes throughout the night to check for alerts. Seems much more sensible to me!

If it wasn’t so life threatening, I would have laughed, assumed there was a punchline or something…but nope!

I don’t read her words as indignant? just factual. Its definitely a
weird decision to make though!

Yeah, you’d keep an eye on the situation wouldn’t you?

Being charitable, maybe she wanted a good night's sleep in case of long travel the next day - and thought she'd hear an alarm through earplugs? But yes, it's certainly not a choice I'd make.

I find these wildfires just terrifying. We actually almost booked to go on holiday right here but the place we were looking at booked up really quickly. I'm worried as to how many fires there have been and how frequently they are now.

I saw this earlier and was gobsmacked at the stupidity.

It is really scary

I wouldn't even hear a text while I was asleep anyway though

And how do they know to text you if you're there on holiday?

Yes, saw that, it’s one of those shorts on the BBC iPlayer news section. I got the impression that she didn’t believe that anyone had knocked to warn her, but she had earplugs in? Why!?

Absolutely bonkers. And we are in Bordeaux right not.

They just do. And it’s a loud alert, not just a text.

It was a very odd decision to put in earplugs when there’s something like that going on. I don’t understand why she did it.
We’ve been to a campsite in that area and there were fires then, it was like a tinderbox on the forest roads. We had planes flying into the lake to pick up water to drop down and the car was covered with ash. We also had to take a minor detour when leaving but it wasn’t an evacuation order.

I saw that interview. I wouldn't have slept. I might have dozed in a chair. As I did when DS was in hospital. It was baffling.

I read this earlier and could not wrap my head around it - 'so she slept alongside her young children with her earplugs in'.

What if her young children woke too and were calling out for her? It baffles me!

I know. Crazy !!!

I saw that. I thought sleeping with earplugs in at any time when you're the sole adult with young children is a bit daft, but in those circumstances unbelievably stupid. And then to tell the BBC about it so the whole world knows how idiotic you were!

Not her finest parenting moment.

This can’t be anything other than a practical joke

Mostly because there are no earplugs in the world that actually do much

Admittedly, I can hear if somebody sneezes in the next town. But still, I’d like to know what these earplugs are

Maybe she’s one of these people who can sleep through a circular saw cutting up payment?

I thought that and was wondering if they were actually sleep buds or something because every pair of earplugs I’ve ever worn have been useless!

Still, an incredibly stupid thing to do but it doesn’t surprise me. Many years ago there was an active rapist breaking into houses locally to me and at least a couple of my mum’s friends still refused to lock the doors because they just didn’t believe anything bad would or could ever possibly happen to them!

I had the same thought when I saw her on the news.

What a strange thing to do and then admit to the world .

Same. Heard her on radio earlier today and I was puzzled by the decision to put in ear plugs and go to sleep. She seemed to understand the seriousness of the situation. It sounded like she'd been worried about it all day so it was a bit odd that she decided to block out the world and get a good night's sleep with the kids!

I think the part that stood out for me the most was her utter outrage that she hadn’t been informed

Complete dick move

Everyone in the region can get an alert because it works on cell broadcast technology of every phone connected to a cell tower.

Four years ago I was staying in a hotel near Athens when wildfires were spreading rapidly in the region. The alerts went off during the night with evacuation instructions per town affected.

As previous posters suggested, I dozed in an armchair between alerts, translating each one from Greek as thry came in. I had a bath filled to the brim with water, and I had soaking wet towels rolled up against the bottom of each door in case I did doze too heavily.

I assume it is similar to the alerts we have here when there have been storm alerts, so can be area specific

There's no way I'd be sleeping at all! Ear plugs or not! I'd be straight out of there tbh, these wildfires are terrifying and how quickly they move.