Fire Season 2023 - still relevant in 2025

[twinfin]

Well, 2023 fire season is upon us and it?s time to take a look at preparations for wildfire especially if you live in the country. As for our homestead, our primary focus is brush clearing and thinning to improve survivability of our home and maintaining a fire pump, water supply and hose sufficient to steer a fire front around our structures if evacuation is not possible. Check out FireWise and other internet sources on hardening your home for wildfire ahead of time.

Wildland fire is one of the most complex hazards one can try to prepare for because the variables of weather, fire behavior and risk factors specific to your location are endless. Though we would all agree that evacuation is usually the wisest course of action, what if you can?t? What then? Do you have water, fire pump, hose and a working knowledge of how to put them to best use?

Here are some links to information you might find useful as you get ready for fire season 2023.

A very excellent 6 minute video of a firefighter team preparing for and confronting a fire front when it threatens a home in the wildland interface zone. Lots of lessons in that video. Note some of these time points in the video:

0:45 and 2:08: Note the citizens who stay behind and how they are poorly dressed for an approaching fire. would you do differently? (See next video for how to dress for wildfire) Note also the wasteful use of water ahead of the fire. Much of the water they?re spraying will be long gone by the time the fire arrives.

4:00 note how firefighter is using water not to put the fire out but to protect the structure by cooling the intensity of the fire until it burns out on its own. When water is limited, it must be used appropriately.

Note throughout the video the wind conditions and how it?s pushing the fire.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32YGGYaUTgE

A good 2 minute video from our friends Down Under about radiant heat from wild fire and how to protect yourself.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btQJpIqvEEM

Another good 3 minute video from Down Under about ember cast and why it?s so important to have your home ready ahead of time to survive the ember storm.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyoYlz995k0

A short read about one guy who lives on an island where there is no help coming and what pump, hose and water supply he?s using to defend against wildfire. It?s basically what I have for my own rural home.

https://learn.eartheasy.com/articles/our-diy-off-grid-fire-protection-system/

If your interested in beefing up your safety gear:

3M brand Filter mask and proper filter cartridge for helping filter out heavy wildfire smoke:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IF7RBS4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009POHG2M/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Fire resistive clothing like Nomex and treated cotton that the wildland firefighters wear is quite expensive. Here is a link to a French surplus Nomex blend jacket and pants for a ridiculously low price. I have a pair of these and use them when I?m burning brush piles in the winter. In the summer, they sit next to my firefighting equipment.

Wear all cotton long sleeve t-shirt and cotton jeans underneath this type of outer garment for optimal thermal protection. Consider buying one size up so they are a little baggy since you?ll be wearing them over your cotton clothing. Never wear synthetic blended clothing due to their potential to melt or catch fire compared to cotton or wool which smolder rather than catch fire. Don?t wet your clothing with water; it will lead to steam burns. Dry clothing protects your skin from radiant heat better than wet.

https://www.keepshooting.com/french-army-fire-resistant-field-jacket.html

https://www.keepshooting.com/french-army-fire-resistant-pants-with-suspenders.html

If you?re looking for water pumps and fire hose, the choices of vendors is endless but I?ve had good luck dealing with Fire hose Direct (dot com) for fire hose and fittings. If you buy fire hose, get the stuff that?s double jacket or single jacket rated for firefighting. Avoid the ?house line? that is used for warehouse and hotel fire cabinets. It?s temptingly cheap but too lightweight for use around the home and will puncture too easily or succumb to embers.

Last but not least, if you feel you?ll just ramble on down the road long before the fire front arrives, here?s 17 minutes of 911 calls from trapped people in the first six hours of the night of the October 8th, 2017 wildfire in Sonoma County. If you have an evacuation plan, congratulations, at least you have a plan. But if that?s your only plan, your unprepared.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpgCR4W9VjE

Anyone doing anything different or have other thoughts?

[Xplosiv3]

I've always wondered what is the most effective way to keep embers out of roof vents when fire is near and you are in a hurry. I hear of people installing screens on the inside but it seems that there would still be embers small enough to pass through.

Let's say you live in the mountains, there's a fire 5 miles away and they are evacuating the neighborhood. You have 30 mins-1 hour to grab your stuff, prep the house, and leave. You have about 6 vents on the roof and 6 soffit vents scattered under the eaves (the soffit vents should be no big deal as long as you have some foil and a staple gun and a ladder).

Do you just get a big roll of aluminum foil and some HVAC tape and tape everything on the roof up? That might not be good because HVAC tape has that wax paper backing that has to be peeled off precisely and one might not be able to do that in a tense situation when they are in a rush (that stuff is annoying as hell to try to separate with your fingernails). Duct tape won't stick to roof shingles. And you don't want to use a staple gun unless you plan on re-shingling your roof afterwards. So what else? Soak a bunch of bath towels with water and throw them over the roof vents and hope for the best?

It also might be a good idea while you're up there to purposely clog your rain gutter downspouts with something, have a family member hand you the garden hose, and fill up the rain gutters with water. That way, any embers that travel across your roof and fall, will just hopefully fall into the rain gutter and be extinguished instead of catching something on fire on the ground.

[harbormaster]

FWIW we keep one of these in our marina because we have the water supply and it really throws out a lot of water. Not that expensive and could probably really water log a home pretty quick

https://www.amazon.com/Generac-G0077320-Water-Orange-Black/dp/B09476G939/ref=psdc_3238155011_t3_B07X3Y6CQ6

[TheChief]

Great post TwinFin. Read through and watched with my teenager.

[madland]

Lots of good insight OP.
Here in SoCal its always kinda brush season. Yes the wet weather affects things. But we don't need to wait for Santa Anas blowing in October for a major incident. If you're in this forum you're probably already taking steps at being prepared if you aren't already.

A good set of boots if you plan on actively defending your home.
A good set of goggles to keep the wind, dust, embers, etc out of your eyes.
Leather gloves. Costco and Sam's Club always have those 3-pack sets on sale for around $20. Each car should always have at least 1 pair. Keep a pair with your fire gear. You don't need structure fire gloves for a brush fire. But you don't want a pair of Mechanix type either. Leather helps protect against the heat.
A headlamp with your gear in case it's night time. Some sort of head protection is optional. Though you can buy a shroud that attaches to the helmet as another added layer of protection. You could even go the route of the protective hood firefighters wear under their structure helmets. It will give you an added layer against flying embers.
A few firefighting/brush tools. Simple stuff. A few shovels. A few McLeods.
Chainsaw if you know your way around one for firefighting purposes vs just cutting up some fire wood. If your property is already squared away you should probably be doing other things if your property is being threatened. That's not the time to start doing brush clearance.

If you truly live with the Urban Interface then brush clearance is first and foremost. Keeping your wood piles and other combustibles/flammables away from the house is another big one.

As far as your vents..some tighter mesh screen will help. While a small ember might squeak thru..something is better than nothing.

Always making sure your vehicles have at least 1/2 tank of fuel.
Making sure your vehicles are equipped for bugging out as well. Tools, etc. (You're already in this forum so odds are they are squared away.)

Staying in decent shape. Firefighting is strenuous work. And although you might not be initiating direct attack on active flames (then again you might be) you are going to be smoked (no pun intended) fairly quickly if you are doing a lot of work to save your property. In which case you should have a plan to take with you what's most important to you in the least bit of time. It's only stuff. You might think it's irreplaceable..but is it really compared to YOU?

[twinfin]

I've always wondered what is the most effective way to keep embers out of roof vents when fire is near and you are in a hurry. I hear of people installing screens on the inside but it seems that there would still be embers small enough to pass through.

This is an area of research by insurance and fire protection interests and quite a bit of new research on the issue is emerging. It is understood that small embers can and do pass through the typical 1/4 inch mesh screen on most attic (and crawl space) ventilation systems. These embers are large enough to smolder for a time before erupting into an attic fire sometimes hours after the fire front has passed.

Current thinking is that by reducing vent screen size from 1/4 inch to 1/8 inch or 1/16 inch will greatly reduce the entry of embers into the attic. Even at the smaller screen size, research shows that embers will still pass through but their size and therefore energy potential are much less likely to start an attic fire.

Another consideration is what you may be storing in the attic. Combustible boxes and paper stored there become the tinder for embers to land. Don't store this sort of stuff in your attic or, if you do, move them away from the eves and more toward the center of the attic to put distance between combustibles and where embers enter.

Temporarily blocking your attic vents, especially large gable end vents has been mentioned in some of my research. You can use plywood for this too. What you use does not have to be metal. The idea is to block ember entry. Even a flammable piece of plywood over a vent will cause blowing embers to bounce off and fall to the ground instead of entering the attic. The draw back to this is if you're not home to do this ahead of time, you have no protection. Reducing screen size should be the first thing on your list as it's a level of protection in place whether you're home or not when the fire comes.

Here's a 2 minute video of ambers entering the attic space during a research test. If you do nothing else, at least watch this video so you understand the issue. The latter half of the video is most revealing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nd3p6ai_c-Q

Here's a one page fact sheet from Firewise et al.

https://www.nfpa.org/-/media/Files/Firewise/Fact-sheets/FirewiseFactSheetsAtticsCrawlSpaces.ashx

Fore a deeper dive into the issue, reed more here:

https://firesafemarin.org/harden-your-home/fire-resistant-vents/#gsc.tab=0

[Xplosiv3]

This is an area of research by insurance and fire protection interests and quite a bit of new research on the issue is emerging. It is understood that small embers can and do pass through the typical 1/4 inch mesh screen on most attic (and crawl space) ventilation systems. These embers are large enough to smolder for a time before erupting into an attic fire sometimes hours after the fire front has passed.

Current thinking is that by reducing vent screen size from 1/4 inch to 1/8 inch or 1/16 inch will greatly reduce the entry of embers into the attic. Even at the smaller screen size, research shows that embers will still pass through but their size and therefore energy potential are much less likely to start an attic fire.

Another consideration is what you may be storing in the attic. Combustible boxes and paper stored there become the tinder for embers to land. Don't store this sort of stuff in your attic or, if you do, move them away from the eves and more toward the center of the attic to put distance between combustibles and where embers enter.

Temporarily blocking your attic vents, especially large gable end vents has been mentioned in some of my research. You can use plywood for this too. What you use does not have to be metal. The idea is to block ember entry. Even a flammable piece of plywood over a vent will cause blowing embers to bounce off and fall to the ground instead of entering the attic. The draw back to this is if you're not home to do this ahead of time, you have no protection. Reducing screen size should be the first thing on your list as it's a level of protection in place whether you're home or not when the fire comes.

Here's a 2 minute video of ambers entering the attic space during a research test. If you do nothing else, at least watch this video so you understand the issue. The latter half of the video is most revealing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nd3p6ai_c-Q

Here's a one page fact sheet from Firewise et al.

https://www.nfpa.org/-/media/Files/Firewise/Fact-sheets/FirewiseFactSheetsAtticsCrawlSpaces.ashx

Fore a deeper dive into the issue, reed more here:
https://firesafemarin.org/harden-you...nts/#gsc.tab=0

Thank you for all the info.

And yeah, I bet homeowners insurance companies are doing research. Whenever I watch live wildfire coverage on TV, it's always a home that is hundreds of feet away from the flames that spontaneously catches on fire. Many times, it's even a newer construction clay roof tile tile HOA style stucco home.

Crawl space vents should be an area of concern too I guess.

[Duck Killer]

FWIW we keep one of these in our marina because we have the water supply and it really throws out a lot of water. Not that expensive and could probably really water log a home pretty quick
https://www.amazon.com/Generac-G0077..._t3_B07X3Y6CQ6

Wrong pump. It is designed to move water in volume not at pressure. If you going to get a pump get one designed for fighting fires. You won’t have the pressure to put water on your roof.

[Duck Killer]

I've always wondered what is the most effective way to keep embers out of roof vents when fire is near and you are in a hurry. I hear of people installing screens on the inside but it seems that there would still be embers small enough to pass through.

Let's say you live in the mountains, there's a fire 5 miles away and they are evacuating the neighborhood. You have 30 mins-1 hour to grab your stuff, prep the house, and leave. You have about 6 vents on the roof and 6 soffit vents scattered under the eaves (the soffit vents should be no big deal as long as you have some foil and a staple gun and a ladder).

Do you just get a big roll of aluminum foil and some HVAC tape and tape everything on the roof up? That might not be good because HVAC tape has that wax paper backing that has to be peeled off precisely and one might not be able to do that in a tense situation when they are in a rush (that stuff is annoying as hell to try to separate with your fingernails). Duct tape won't stick to roof shingles. And you don't want to use a staple gun unless you plan on re-shingling your roof afterwards. So what else? Soak a bunch of bath towels with water and throw them over the roof vents and hope for the best?

It also might be a good idea while you're up there to purposely clog your rain gutter downspouts with something, have a family member hand you the garden hose, and fill up the rain gutters with water. That way, any embers that travel across your roof and fall, will just hopefully fall into the rain gutter and be extinguished instead of catching something on fire on the ground.

Honestly ambers coming in your roof vents is usually the least thing to worry about. Your main thing is clean gutters, non flammable roofing tile or steel, flammable things around the house and 100 foot defensive perimeter. Having a comp roof will light from ambers. Remember ambers can be larger than a shoe box.

[twinfin]

...If you're in this forum you're probably already taking steps at being prepared if you aren't already.

A good set of boots if you plan on actively defending your home.
A good set of goggles to keep the wind, dust, embers, etc out of your eyes.
Leather gloves. Costco and Sam's Club always have those 3-pack sets on sale for around $20. Each car should always have at least 1 pair. Keep a pair with your fire gear. You don't need structure fire gloves for a brush fire. But you don't want a pair of Mechanix type either. Leather helps protect against the heat.
A headlamp with your gear in case it's night time. Some sort of head protection is optional. Though you can buy a shroud that attaches to the helmet as another added layer of protection. You could even go the route of the protective hood firefighters wear under their structure helmets. It will give you an added layer against flying embers...

Very excellent points Madland! The important thing is to think these things through ahead of time and know what you are going to use for safety gear. The headlamp is a good idea; need to stash one with my gear.

As I pointed out in the first video in my opening post, the locals who stayed behind were all dressed in short pants and t-shirts. I know it's hot out and that's how they started the day but you have to think about what things may be like 1 hour from now. Expect conditions to change.

Here is an example of something just about everybody has on hand. Simple leather work gloves, 100% cotton, long sleeve shirt, hoodie and pants coving most parts of your body which protect from radiant heat and wind driven embers. A chainsaw helmet, if you have one, will cover your head:


If you want to go up an notch in safety gear, there's Nomex or treated cotton outerwear to be found used online for a fraction of the cost new. Most of the stuff in this photo were purchased from the links in my first post:

Here is an example of a simple, gas fire pump and hose I keep on hand. This fire pump saved me once when a fire broke out on my property in the middle of the night. My wife and I, working together, knocked down about a 50x100' patch of burning brush and trees that was advancing toward our 500 gallon propane tank!


As configured here, there is a gated wye supplying two lengths of 1.5 inch hose. The pump does not have the capacity to effectively supply both lines at the same time. The idea was to have a charged line available on both sides of my house so I don't have to physically move a heavy 1.5 inch hose line from one side of the house to the other. Instead, I just shut one line down then go to the other side of the house and use the charged line already laid down, ready for use on that other side. It's what works for the way my house is situated relative to the wildland around me.


If I ever had to replace this pump, I'd select this one:

https://www.amazon.com/NorthStar-High-Pressure-Water-Pump-Engine/dp/B00381T8J2/ref=sr_1_26_sspa?keywords=honda+gx200+water+pump&s=hi&sr=1-26-spons&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.2b70bf2b-6730-4ccf-ab97-eb60747b8daf&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9idGY&psc=1

When looking for gas powered pumps, avoid the ones rated as a "transfer pump." Those are typically low psi pumps. You need a higher psi rated pump for better performance with fire hose and nozzles.

For example, the same Honda engine paired with this pump is rated at 42psi where the pump linked above is rated at 95psi which is an important distinction when looking for a portable fire pump.https://www.amazon.com/NorthStar-Sem..._t2_B00381T8LU

[deckhandmike]

Honestly ambers coming in your roof vents is usually the least thing to worry about. Your main thing is clean gutters, non flammable roofing tile or steel, flammable things around the house and 100 foot defensive perimeter. Having a comp roof will light from ambers. Remember ambers can be larger than a shoe box.

Actually the one thing that will get you is the wind. If it’s blowing just gtfo. You can fire proof till you’re blue in the face but if it’s blowing 35mph leave as fast as you can. A nice big defensible space is key. Gravel, lawns with sprinklers etc all help.

The problem with these large crown fires is that they are uncontrollable with wind. I’d invest in extra insurance and don’t lose your life. Even as a former FF I wouldn’t stay. You ain’t stopping a ripping fire spread by wind. These days it’s easier than ever to evacuate. Most photos and documents are digital. The rest can be replaced.

Twinfin, clear the brush back from your pump a hundred feet or it’s going to be useless in bad conditions. At the least a dirt berm or corrugated metal.

[deckhandmike]

Your preps are good for a casual brush fire in perfect conditions but that pump and hose needs to be protected. But you got a good start. Are you really going to stay or bug out in a real fire?

[twinfin]

Twinfin, clear the brush back from your pump a hundred feet or it?s going to be useless in bad conditions. At the least a dirt berm or corrugated metal.

That area behind the pump has been significantly thinned since that photo was taken. Also, it was never quite as brushy or near the hydrant as the photo made it look. Thanks for the thoughts though, good points.

I wouldn't quite agree with the sentiment that these preparations are suitable for a "casual brush fire in perfect conditions." I have friends that absolutely would have lost their homes in the Thomas fire in Ventura and the CZU lightening complex fire in Bonny Doon (Santa Cruz Co.) with similar equipment.

My buddy in the Ventura Thomas fire experienced two fire fronts pass over his home from different directions, 30 hours apart. He was exhausted afterward as he was awake most of that time as the situation was very dynamic. After talking to him, I'm convinced he saved his home; twice. He never saw a single fire engine come to his aid; he doesn't blame them, they were all over on the next ridge trying to stop the fire as it devoured quite a few homes there. The Thomas fire was a wind driven event. He had a gas fired pump, hose and a pool to draw water from and is certain he would have lot his home without this equipment. After hearing his story, I agree.

Friends in Bonney Doon did not have big winds but much of California was on fire at the time so little was left to send to fight the fires in Santa Cruz/San Mateo. Talking to these friends after their experience defending their homes as well as the home of their neighbors who evacuated was quite informative.

You'll get no argument against the wisdom of evacuation from me. On the other hand, evacuation is sometimes not possible or in other cases, not exactly warranted. Having more options than less suits my way of thinking about this. Would I evacuate? Depends.

[Sanderhawk]

I live in the San Bernardino mountains. The winds are blowing pretty hard today. We had so much snow and water this winter I know were going to have a bad fire season

[deckhandmike]

I’m all about evacuating if it’s blowing more that 5mph. So many people die protecting homes they had insured.

New home paid for by insurance company or possible death? I don’t really see the point.

Now if you got a ranch and heavy machinery you can employ you got a bit of a chance but one pump and some nomex is not enough to get me to stay. Something as little as a blown hose or fitting and your SOL.

I did a little bit of wild land stuff when I was a FF and if it’s windy it’s like trying to stop the tide. There is a big difference between putting out a small grass fire and trying to stop a 100’ wall of flame. Also remember when you stay behind and then the wifey calls 911 in a panic you put rescuers at risk and pull resources away from the FF efforts. Just stuff to think about.

You’re not wrong for wanting to save your home but realise the risk vs gain and all the people it can also effect.