|
| Author |
Message |
elkdiebymybow
Member
|
# Posted: 1 May 2011 14:36
Reply
With a new season approaching I thought I'd asked about fire protection.
I have a set up with a gas powered pump on a hand cart. It has a suction hose to draw from any type of water source (pond, creek, large water tank) and a firefighting kit which includes a 2" flexible hose with a firemans nozzel attached. It cranks out a 2" stream of water to 60'. The engine is 5.5 HP and pumps 195 gallons per minute.
I'm working on digging a pond this year to have a good source to draw from in case of a fire emergency.
We have been taking measures such as clearing the lot from dead fall and soon will be pruning up from the ground some of the limbs of the pines so that a brush/grass fire is more likely to burn low and not get into the canopy of the trees.
What have others done to take precautions in remote areas?
|
|
unixfmike
Member
|
# Posted: 1 May 2011 20:07
Reply
I didn't even consider it. Then it was too late.
--MikeW
|
|
elkdiebymybow
Member
|
# Posted: 2 May 2011 23:30 - Edited by: elkdiebymybow
Reply
Mike,
Wow.... what happened? Did you or do you plan to rebuild? What a bummer, sorry to hear that you had to go through such a tragedy. All the best that you are able to pick up the pieces and more ahead.
Best wishes,
~Elk
|
|
MtnDon
Member
|
# Posted: 3 May 2011 00:02
Reply
The best fire protection is prevention. The first thing we did was clean up the dead fall. Then remove all the skinny trash trees. Then thin the trees within 25 feet of the building site. That took a couple of years before the cabin build was commenced.
Then we built the cabin and have the ground area within a 30 foot radius cleared of all low bushes. All the pine needle duff was scrapped away as well. Grasses within that area are kept short especially in the fall as they dry and brown.
We used a lot of cement board siding and trim and metal roof as those don't burn. This includes the soffits and fascia. Note that the soffits are a frequent point of ingress for fire. Another is the windows. If there is a nearby hot fire vinyl can soften, melt and the glass fall in or out, for example.
There are special paints and paint additives that resist fire spread. Google Intumescent Paint.
If I had a high capacity well, or a large in ground water cistern I would install sprinklers on the cabin roof. Large sprinklers that could saturate the area surrounding the cabin and buildings. Ideally this could be triggered remotely. There are commercially available exterior fire suppression systems that spray a foam mixture on exterior walls, roofs, whatever, when fire threatens.
|
|
Mortred24
Member
|
# Posted: 23 Oct 2011 02:49
Reply
I agree with MtnDon.. Safety first! we all know that we cant predict what will happen, but when it comes with fire, you can do a lot of prevention.. Whats your plan now? Rebuild?
|
|
dstraate
Member
|
# Posted: 25 Oct 2011 14:59
Reply
I'm wondering how flammable various trees are. I know the pines and junipers can really burn. I saw that firsthand in New Mexico last summer. However, my place is surrounded by scrub oaks, which wouldn't seem as flammable. I don't really know, I guess I should check into that.
From what I've seen of the piney areas, If they are going to burn, they are going to burn. That doesn't mean that you don't take steps to protect your immediate area, but I think I recall hearing that crown fires can ignite a one mile area in seconds. This would seem to be a "wall of fire" that can't really be stopped without heavy duty equipment.
|
|
dstraate
Member
|
# Posted: 25 Oct 2011 15:03
Reply
Never mind, apparently Oak are highly flammable as well. Heck.
|
|
toyota_mdt_tech
Member
|
# Posted: 2 Nov 2011 18:26
Reply
Clear branches off trees up to the 8 foot mark, clear all tree limbs around the cabin, use hardi board for your facia on the ends of your rafter tails, clear brush from cabin, install lots of gravel around the perimiter and keep weeds away with Casoron granules.
|
|
|
MtnDon
Member
|
# Posted: 2 Nov 2011 19:27
Reply
Crown fires... the idea is to keep ten to twenty feet clearance between tree crowns, not the trunks. It's okay to have small clumps of several trees but then a space is needed to the next tree or clump. The typical western conifer forest that has not been thinned or burned has tree crowns that are all intertwined. And yes, those can spread like an explosion. That's what happened here in NM this summer 2 miles from us. It was like a volcano erupting the way the smoke increased; I saw it happen. Caused by a tree falling on a powerline.
|
|
larry
Member
|
# Posted: 2 Nov 2011 21:17
Reply
i bought insurance, $120,000 worth. costs little to nothing for the cabin size. so when the fire comes, burn baby,burn!
|
|
|
