How to protect your house and family in the event of a wildfire

[thewayne]

http://howto.wired.com/wiredhowtos/index.cgi?page_name=protect_your_house_and_family_in_case_of_a_wildfire;action=display;category=Live

Some angles that I hadn't previously considered.

Comments

[deborak]

LOL, the 'don't lock up' suggestion is really dumb. If a fireman needs to get into your house, trust me, he'll just break in. Leaving your home unsecured just makes it easy for looters to get choice pickin's.

[cteare.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't leave my house unlocked. Firefighters don't normally go into homes that are burning in a wildfire. When there is so much fire all around, if your home catches fire, that's it. Firefighters focus their attention on keeping the fire from spreading to adjacent homes. They don't have enough resources to actually try, and save a house that has started to burn. If you're lucky a water dropping aircraft may come by to dump a load on your house.

[cteare.livejournal.com]

Brush clearance requirements around here are 100 ft. With Santa Ana winds blowing though, that doesn't mean a thing. The winds can carry embers the size of a rolled up newspaper 2 or more miles. You just have to hope the winds are blowing the flames away from your house. Other than that it's all up to chance. I've seen wildfires skip houses and burn others to the ground. There's really no rhyme or reason to it.