re: UPDATE: Found Dead A father’s desperate search for family after TN wildfires

Not sure, was the evacuation in effect at that point?

In some of the videos people are talking about how they really couldn't tell how much danger they were in up to the point they left, and that the news coverage wasn't really helping.

So while I think it probably would have made sense to put everyone in the car, I can see a situation where the dad and son are trying to gauge the situation around them in lieu of any good reports from media and law enforcement.