Forest fires are frightening events for everyone in the neighboring areas and for those whose homes sit in the area which is being burned. It is also frightening for the fire fighters since the fires can readily and rapidly intensify and change their paths. Fighting woodland and brush fires involves containment where the areas in front and alongside are hopefully denied to the fire and it is squeezed out by depriving it of fuel while attempts are made to extinguish the perimeter fire. The containment is just an early stage; there still remains the need to extinguish all the fire which has been contained. There are some precautions you should take to prevent fires spreading if and when they occur. There are some common sense actions you need to take to facilitate attack in case of any type of fire on your property.

Fires spread rapidly when there is an abundant supply of dry fuel. Some of the most devastating woodland fires  involved land which had been recently logged.  Tops and limbs dry out and often are in poor contact with the forest floor so that even a recent rain does not decrease their flammability.

On Sunday, 10 October 1871, Mrs. O’Leary went out to her barn in Chicago to milk her cow with aid from an oil lamp. The cow kicked over the lamp and started the Chicago Fire.  Although Mrs.O'Leary was an invention of a newspaper reporter, the fire was all too real.  Hundreds of people died and 4 square miles (2560 acres) of the city were destroyed.  As a consequence Chicago experienced a building boom which required massive amounts of timber.  The lumber companies in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan happily obliged by harvesting massive amounts of timber from their pine forests.  The Great Lakes supplied the ideal shipping route.  On 5 September, 1881, after a prolonged drought, coupled with hurricane force winds and an unknown source of ignition led to the Great Michigan Fire which consumed over 1,000,000 acres and over 300 hundred lives in less than 24 hours. The smoke could be smelled in New York City.

In 1894, a fire at Hinckley Minnesota consumed 160,000 acres and 12 towns taking 418 lives. Canada appears to hold the dubious record with 3,000,000 acres with the Miramichi Fire in 1825 in which 160 people were killed. Fighting those fires was difficult since there were no chain saws then, no bulldozers nor water bombers, just horses, oxen, crosscut saws, axes and shovels and crude scrappers. Rains and reversal of winds were the best friends of the fire fighter.

Controlled burns are a recognized tool of foresters, but when they go bad they can be very bad. A controlled burn in Yellowstone National Park in 1988 got out of hand and consumed 792,880 acres in Montana and Wyoming. Similarly, a 48,000 acre fire near Los Alamos, New Mexico, burned 420 dwellings, damaged around 100 buildings at The Los Alamos National Laboratory and did over $1 billion damage.

RISK MINIMIZATION

Obviously, disastrous forest and brush fires are not new. The question is, what can we do to minimize the risks? The US, National Interagency Fire Center has compiled a list of things you can do today. They also point out the fairly obvious fact that using fire resistant building materials is the best thing you can do. In the future when the roofing needs to be replaced one should use metal or slates. For now you should maintain a survivable space.

Fifteen Things You Should Do:

* Clean roof surfaces and gutters of pine needles, leaves, branches, etc., regularly to avoid accumulation of flammable materials.

* Remove portions of any tree extending within 10 feet of the flue opening of any stove or chimney.

* Maintain a screen constructed of non-flammable material over the flue opening of every chimney or stovepipe. Mesh openings of the screen should not exceed 1/2 inch.

* Landscape vegetation should be spaced so that fire can not be carried to the structure or surrounding vegetation.

* Remove branches from trees to height of 15 feet.

* A fuel break should be maintained around all structures.

* Dispose of stove or fireplace ashes and charcoal briquettes only after soaking them in a metal pail of water.

* Store gasoline in an approved safety can away from occupied buildings.

* Propane tanks should be far enough away from buildings for valves to be shut off in case of fire. Keep the area clear of flammable vegetation.

* All combustibles such as firewood, picnic tables, boats, etc. should be kept away from structures.

* Garden hoses should be connected to an outlet.

* Addressing should be indicated at all intersections and on structures.

* All roads and driveways should be at least 16 feet in width.

* Have fire tools handy, such as a ladder long enough to reach the roof, a shovel, rake and bucket for water.

* Each home should have at least two different entrance and exit routes.

THIS HOUSE IS PROPERLY ISOLATED FROM BURNABLE SURROUNDINGS

See also: What To Do While Awaiting the Fire Department

We can not emphasize enough the importance of driveway width and signage. In addition the entry to the driveway should be sufficiently wide as to permit ready entry by large fire trucks. Many homes are relatively near a water source. Why make fire fighters carry close to 100 kilos of pump and hardware down a narrow drive and then down a slope to get water? It should come by the quicker means of riding in the truck. Time is of the essence!

Canadian Forest Service:  Forest Fire In Canada
Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources: Media Guide To Forest Fires  

            For information about currently active forest fires in the United States:
          U.S. National Interagency Fire Center:  Currently Burning Forest Fires In The U.S.