What can you do if fire is heading for your house?
Updated 14nov21
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Fire
is
heading for your house. What do you do?
If it is a simple grass fire you can
try to defend your house with sprinklers, garden hoses and rakes until
the fire department shows up. Create a barrier of bare ground and wet
grass.
If it is a wildfire that the fire department is battling to control,
you won't be able to help. Watering your yard and roof is a waste of
time, and you will need every minute.
If you only have a few hours, load what you can into your vehicle and
get out before fire blocks the road. You don't have enough time to do
anything that will save your house, and you need that time to save your
stuff and escape before it is too late. If you wait too long you will
lose everything.
If you have a few days you can make your property more fire resistant.
But the best time to do this is before the fire starts.
Keep your pets in one room so you can find them quickly if you have to
evacuate.
Arrange for a temporary place to stay outside the threatened area.
Keep your indoor air clean – close windows and doors to prevent the
smoke outside from getting in your home. Use the recycle mode on the
air conditioner in your home or car. If you don’t have air conditioning
and it’s too hot to be inside, seek shelter somewhere else.
If the smoke is thick, don't go out in it. If you are exposed to it,
wear a respirator. The cheap dust masks with one string are inadequate,
the ones with two strings are better.
How
can
you make your property fire resistant?
The idea is to make it possible for
the fire department to save your house. They can tell which house can
be saved
and which can't just by looking. Most
of the fuel that destroys your home
is on your property. Keep
your property defensible at all
times.
Maintain 100 feet of defensible
space for the fire department. This means no buildup of combustible
plant material.
Keep combustibles away from the
house (ie fire wood, bushes, etc.)
Use fire resistive plants
Know how to shut off the
propane/gas
Have a family evacuation plan
Use a tile or composite roof
Have a stucco sided house
Prevent embers from entering
the attic space. Embers float around and circulate up under the eaves.
Airflow with suck them in if the vents are not screened.
If embers get in you have an attic fire (attics are full of cardboard
boxes that burn like gasoline). Make sure all attic vents are
screened.
Caulk gaps in the siding
Move the vehicles away from the
house when there is danger of fire
Remember that when fire arrives, it
will be raining embers. The heat will dry everything out and melt your
hoses & sprinklers. Many types of bushes can dry out, ignite via
ember, and burn like torches. Your only defense is to get everything
that burns away from the house.
You've seen the photos. A lone house stands unharmed in a sea of
scorch. That house had defensible space, and all the houses around
didn't.
Whenever you have advance
notice of a problem that could interfere with your water supply, fill
up everything that holds water while you can. Don't forget the bathtub.
If it is too late and the firemen are using all the water pressure,
don't take their water; they are protecting your house.
Whenever you have advance
notice of a problem that could interfere with your electricity supply,
charge up everything that can be recharged.
People
die in
wildfires because of things like this
They don't leave because they
are old and nobody knows they are there and comes to get them
They stay to protect
their stuff from looters
They stay to protect their
animals
They stay to protect their
house from the fire
They wait too long and can't
get out because the fire is blocking the road somewhere
They wait too long and can't
get out because the road is jammed with cars
They try to save too much
stuff. They spend too much time loading vehicles and arguing over what
is to be saved. See bugout bags and
the evacuation
page.
After
the fire
Dress for self-protection when cleanup up. Wear boots, leather
gloves, long pants & sleeves, etc. Wear only natural materials, as
synthetics can melt to your body if you are surprised by a hot spot.
Wet down any burned part of your property to avoid breathing dust
or ash.
Check for embers and hot spots, especially in your attic.
Discard all food that has been exposed to heat, smoke, ash, or
soot.