So if an out control fire starts torching your housing tract -- you better be ready to go. Absolutely. It all depends. A wildfire can spread faster than almost anyone can imagine. That is one situation where I would be gone.
There was a video I saw about a year ago. The Dad wanted to slowly drive out of there, and had hopes of using his garden hose to save the house! The wife and kids were SCREAMING for him to drive fast and get out. They almost died.
In a different scenario, things might be different.
I do know traffic jams, and in a disaster, there may be millions on the roads.
That could lead to a bad situation very quickly.
Keep your gas tank half full at all times.
Always carry a stack of detailed paper printed maps in your vehicle to find the back way out of a situation. Stock maps not just of your city but of the suburbs, the county and surrounding counties. These maps will not be found at the corner convenience store so you’ll have to do a net search for them or find them at some tourist info centers. Update them every few years but keep the old ones in case the new ones don’t show ALL the back roads.