There’s a category of stories I call “What was that guy thinking?”
Although these cautionary tales mostly recount the misadventures of people who text while driving and go boating without a life jacket, I’m especially dismayed by accounts of someone trying to defend his house from a big wildfire with a garden hose. In that instance, defending the indefensible becomes indefensible.
It’s indefensible because this homegrown firefighter is potentially putting the lives of others at risk. While it might appear that a wildfire is approaching from a certain direction, large wildfires tend to be erratic: They can shoot burning embers from treetops and start secondary fires far from the main conflagration; and a fire can shift suddenly as the wind changes.
Thus a fire can surround a particular location and burn toward its center. A homeowner surrounded by fire needs to be rescued, if possible, by firefighters – who are usually willing to put their own lives at risk to save a potential victim. They could die because he is unwilling to evacuate and abandon his possessions. (This is why firefighters are empowered to issue mandatory evacuation orders.)
However, in defense of the defending homeowner, there is some confusion about just how dangerous big wildfires are. The confusion is generated in part, and inadvertently, by the somewhat misleading concept of “defensible space” surrounding a dwelling. Generally, fire authorities define defensible space as an area extending 100 feet from a dwelling cleared of fuel – flammable debris (including firewood), brush and the lower branches of large trees. Fire studies have established that houses with properly maintained defensible space are easier and safer to save from wildfires than those surrounded by flammable material.
But two critical facts can be obscured by the term “defensible space.” One, in a large fire, such spaces are only marginally defensible, even by professional firefighters. Two, the purpose of defensible space is to save houses, not people. If there is a large fire, people should clear out.
Start planning by thinking about what’s most precious to you. For most of us, of course, that’s our family and pets – and perhaps an extended family that includes neighbors and their pets. Next, list your material possessions in order of importance. Think in terms of what you can carry in a small backpack, because that might be all you can save.
It’s critical to realize that fires often close roads, and you might need to evacuate on foot. Where will you go if the main road to your area is blocked by fire, fallen trees or abandoned cars? Are you capable of getting your family members out on foot? Are you familiar with the street that leads to the next road out or that footpath over the hill? Can you find it in the dark with the electricity out?
Mapping escape routes, assembling a kit of emergency clothes, flashlights and particulate masks and earmarking your essential possessions in advance can save crucial time. Whatever you do, don’t try to wait out a large fire. Leaving sooner rather than later could save your life. Never play with fire at your ecological house.
www.your-ecological-house.com. Philip S. Wenz, who grew up in Durango and Boulder, now lives in Corvallis, Oregon, where he teaches and writes about environmental issues.
