I have a completely different take on it. First, I’m very sorry to hear about your experience with the fire. What a catastrophe. However, I’ve been lived in Southern California, and had to evacuate quickly in the past, I’ve learned that the only thing I would take are those things that are irreplaceable. Stereo equipment is not one of them unfortunately as important as it is to my life. That’s what insurance is for instead, I will grab my server which has all my
work documents, my important personal documents, all my photos, and most important, my entire music collection. I would take my pets. If I had any time left after that, I would probably grab my old wine, which would be difficult to replace.. I currently live in Miami, and with hurricanes, I would just cover all my equipment with trash bags and plastic, and make sure everything is insured. My record collection from college is potentially valuable, but bulky and probably difficult to save. Other Momentos from my career as a lawyer and famous clients and that sort of thing I would probably also grab. Bottom line is my rule of thumb is take the things you can’t replace leave the rest.