Indeed, it has been my experience that these scenarios are likely to come up for most people several times during their lives.  This marks them as quite unique among things you might prepare for, in that the odds of most things that are "prepped" for are extremely unlikely, yet they tend to occupy most people's minds in this regard.

Consider your ordinary "stomping grounds"; that is, where you roam during your daily life over the space of a year.  It probably involves a radius of a hundred miles from your home on a very common (weekly or monthly) basis and it might involve a range of as much as 500 miles from your home, depending on what you do for a living and where you are situated.  For some who live in a small town or in a big city that range may be smaller, but it almost certainly involves a radius of at least 20 miles.

Now consider this: It's 3:00 AM.  You wake up choking and there is a nasty, yellow, flickering light coming from the hallway.  Your house or apartment is on fire!  You have 30 seconds to grab whatever and make your way out or you're going to die.