survive a forest fire?

[Rotte]

I was up in Yellowstone at the end of September when a forest fire broke out. Started by a lightning strike presmably.

The first day it was 4 acres, the next 10, and the next 800.

Leaving the park was tricky because the road we needed was closed for a while. When we did get to use it, visibility was reduced to 40-50 meters in places because of the smoke. The sun was an orange-ish spot in the sky.

It was strange though because you couldn't always see where the fire was. Even if you were near the fire, you might only smell some faint smoke.

It got me to thinking about hiking in dry forest in the summer and the risk of forest fires: 1) You can be pretty close without knowing exactly where the fire is, 2) the fire can expand really quickly, and 3) having access to a car may not be as helpful as one might hope.

In addition, one ranger mentioned that there had been a bear attack a year or so ago. Apparently a frightened Grizzly came charging out from a fire and attacked a firefighter. Talk about adding insult to injury.

Any thoughts on intelligent strategies to survive a forest fire?

 

[shanny19]

Try to discern what is "driving" the fire. Is it wind, the terrain (i.e. burning upslope much faster than downslope or sidehill), or fuels?
In the case of a (relatively) flat-country fire such as the Arnica fire you have pictured (I was there, too), wind is probably the biggest factor. Figure out the wind direction and you've figured out where not to be. Take a look at fire scars on Google Earth in flat ground, Texas for example. Looong, skinny burns, driven by the wind. If the wind remains constant, not too difficult to avoid "being in front of". In the event of a highly unstable airmass coupled with dry fuel conditions, a "plume-dominated" fire can occur and more or less chart it's own course in flat country, that's a situation to be aware of as well.
As far as surviving, get downslope, down drainage, upwind of the thing. Don't put yourself in situations like box canyons or dense brushfields that take your visibility away. If you come across a "safety zone" in your hike, like a large scree slope or a lake or a scar from last year's fire, file it away in your memory.

 

[BOOMSTICK]

I was told also that you can start your own fire to burn all the fuel away from you. the scorched earth theory. this would be a last ditch effort.

 

[Davyd]

Big topic over here in Oz at the moment. We are preparing for the fires season now and reviewning why we lost 170 in this state in 2 days last year - a number less than 40m form where I sit in the middle of the city. The Royal Comission of inquiry is starting to release its findings now.

The old stay and defend (your home) or leave early, policy has tilted to simply leave early. Many died trying to defend homes - and were well prepared with hoses. roof sprinkers, protective clothing etc- however these were severe firestorms of a rare intensity. So the advice really depends on the fire

And the best advice is do not be there at a high risk time. That was clearly and simply what was learned

Other advice repeated with all car but no responsibility:
- Fires go faster than people up hills. One firefighter in the past reprotedly lit a fire and followed that up the hill and survived when the rest of the team did not.

- Go into water and cover up to protect from radiant heat. But not in water tanks above ground

- For most fires (but not all unfortunate all) a house will last long enough for the fire front to go past an you to memerge afterwards - and possibly watch the house burn down.

If moving Be clear on where you are going - the smoke becomes very intense and people get lost - and cars bump each other. This may have caused a few deaths as people mashed thier cars and got caught by the fire

Find a big open area where radiant heat from intse sources like forest is minimised and drive your car through the grass fire to the burnt out bit when the fire comes. A number of people did this succesfully - where the fire was not at its most intense

I have heard that the grass fire/tree top fire races ahead of the intense fire. The old acvice if out hiking, and nothing better presents - curl up around the base of a tree. Wait for the flash fire to go buy then move away quickly before the intense ground fire catches up.

You can see a lot of this advice varies on the location and assumptions on the intensity of the fire


If given any time and caught out hiking I would think -
1. skirt it if possible
2. If a large amount of water is around use that combined with radiant heat protections. If not -
3. Dig the biggest covered hole in the clearest area you can, with the maximum radiant heat protection and clear as much space around you as possible.


......Open to be corrected by those more knowledgeable than myself

 

[Wildewinds]

I would suggest going upwind and downhill from the fire.

 

[Skimo]

I would suggest going upwind and downhill from the fire.

First and foremost, do everything in your power to stay away from forest fires, unless you're a firefighter.


I agree and at night... just keep going, the change in temperatures causes wind changes and will push a fire downhill in a hurry.

The best thing to escape a forest fire is to find a HUGE open area, dig a trench and cover yourself with a fire tent, if you don't have a fire tent, raise the pit with rocks and dirt.

Fire is bad mojo, the heat emanating from a fire is intense, the smoke from a fire can easily reach 1,500 degrees, enough to sear your lungs and eyeballs in an instant.

bury your face in the bottom of the trench you made to help cool the air more.

That's what they taught us in firefighting class.

 

[dartanyon]

Survive a forest fire ... >gulp< ... does this ever stop going through your head when constantly faced with this danger, run, hide, use a break, not be there ... train, learn, experience ... lighting a fire and follow it (wow, smart), go back into the fire ... survive a forest fire.