I think they’d be wrong. Outside is much better than a doorframe, as long as you’re far enough away from sticks that when they fall over they won’t fall on you. Doorframe is your best chance if you can’t get outside quickly.
My plan is very few emergencies leave no time to get dressed, and for the ones that don’t, I’ll be naked. That’s why emergency responders bring blankets.
A few years ago Peter Shumlin, the then-Governor of Vermont, ran outside in the middle of the night to confront some bears in his yard. Apparently, he didn’t bother to dress first. Story here.
Things To Worry About In Case of a Fire (in order)
[ul][li]Family[/li][li]Dog[/li][li]Wallet[/li][li]Bathrobe[/li][li]Slippers[/ul]It’s twenty degrees out, so I may reverse the last two.[/li]
Frostbite of the naughty bits is a worry for later.
We live on a big enough lot that I’m free to walk around our property naked any time of the day or night without being seen. But my emergency plan is that I just don’t really care if people see me naked. They’ll survive the experience, and so will I.
Being naked is my emergency plan. If anyone plans on breaking to my home to cause me harm, I figure the sight of a very big, very hairy, and very naked dude will cause them to reflexively cover their eyes in sheer terror, thus allowing me to get the drop on them.
When I have bolted out of bed on the several occasions my livestock was attacked by a mountain lion in the small hours of the night, it really varies what I end up with. One time I was barefoot (winter) in my bathrobe while my husband showed up wearing rubber boots but nothing else. I think his was the wiser choice. Nobody saw us, and if they had, I doubt either of us would have cared much.
In an earthquake, your main danger is things falling on you, like bookcases, or I-beams. If you are in a building of unreinforced masonry (not recommended), a doorway won’t protect you from being buried in rubble. If you can get into an open area very rapidly, do so. If not, cower under a solid table.
The most important thing is to be wearing shoes if you have to bolt in the night. You might have to walk over broken glass and ruble and not having shoes can make that almost impossible.
I’d just grab the dressing gown I use for going to the bathroom. Not that there’s much danger of a natural disaster in my area and my house is probably extremely low risk for fires too.
A couple of hundred years is semi-new? Damn, how old are you?
I’ve done the outside in Minnesota during a fire in Winter. Grab the shoes, grab the coat. Do NOT stand outside buck naked.
And you may not have time for much - the fire was in an apartment a few doors down. That apartment was rebuilt - floors and walls replaced, as was the apartment above it, the basement below it, and the units to either side.
It was an old brick apartment building (Steven’s Square - you probably know the area) and they kept the fire contained to that unit.
My clothes I wore before bed are always on a chair near the bed, I can either grab them or put them on if I have time. Trying to think what disaster would cause me to have to do that… No earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes and definitely no flooding. No natural gas supply, so unlikely a fire. Probably a Scud missile attack, if it could evade the city’s US-made anti-missile defence.