Surviving A Forest Fire

Smoke inhalation, flash burns, smoke blindness, dead air and dehydration can be dangerous if you are caught in a forest fire. If one is not careful, they might end up losing their life. If caught in such a situation, you will need to first determine the direction of the wind since the wind will move the fire to a direction where it will move the fastest. This will enable you to get away from the fire as fast as possible. You will have to run away from the fire to save your life. If you have your smartphone with you, use a GPS map to move towards where there will be no barriers like rivers as you run away from the fire. You will also need to cool yourself if you reach a water source. You will have to create a fire camp to prevent the fire from reaching you, if there is no any other option. Please leave any unnecessary luggage as you move forward.

 

The first rule is to stay away. That means leave the area; don't wait around to see how things get worse. If you can’t follow, life might become a literal Hell on earth. Fortunately, there are ways to survive Hell on earth — but only if you do everything exactly right. Wildfires are so powerful, unpredictable and destructive, that even well equipped and trained professional fire fighters die when their luck runs out and they become trapped by an onrushing blaze that overruns their position.

Before leaving home, watch the news, listen to the radio, and check with the Forest Service (or other administrative agency) about the fire hazard. If possible, stay out of areas that are presenting a high fire hazard. Don't forget to maintain a situational awareness. At all times, be aware of what's going on around you. Plan escape routes and safe zones where you could take shelter if a fire came roaring through the area. Safe zones include rivers, lakes (get in the water), or large level spots out in the open away from combustible material. Heat rises, so the safest zones are those that are downhill of the fire.
If you are trapped above a fire, get out as fast as you can. Don’t try to save any of your gear. Gear is expendable, lives are not. Look for an ready escape route that leads downhill, but do not follow canyons, chutes or draws, as these act as chimneys that funnel deadly heat up the hill towards you.​

If the flames are upon you, lay on low ground. Breathe inside your clothing next to your body to protect your respiratory tract so you don’t inhale hot gasses. If you can find an area that has already burned over, leaving no residual fuel to reignite, that might be a safe place. But the ambient temperature of the scorched earth, rocks and timber will feel like an oven. Watch overhead to avoid snags and standing dead trees that might fall on you. If you are above the fire, but close enough to a ridge to scramble over before the fire reaches you, you might find safety on the lee side of the mountain. Although a fire will race uphill, it will makes slower progress downhill on the other side of the ridge.

 

Forest fires travel at a faster rate than most people reckon with. One should be very careful during the dry season. My take is that when it comes to forest fires a person is is their own worst enemy. Some people carelessly throw cigarette stubs and used match sticks when they are still glowing. In this case, chances of survival are drastically reduced since the person is at the epicentre of the fire. A good precaution to survive is to make a clearing of all vegetation around your encampment save for the big trees so that if the situation turns hopeless, you can stand in the centre and then if you have water and twigs, you can put out any opportunistie flames that leap into the clearing.

 

I remember in our elementary class, we were thought how to handle smoke when there is fire. Get a wet towel and use it to cover your face so you wouldn't inhale the smoke. Our teacher emphasized that inhaling lots of smoke can kill you because the smoke can deprive your lungs with the needed oxygen. And lack of oxygen can make you dizzy or maybe you will lose your consciousness.

In a forest fire, the first impulse is to get away from the heat of the fire for it will burn you. When in a comfortable distance, you have to chart the direction where you can permanently and safely get away from the fire because a forest fire is too quick that in a matter of seconds the fire is already upon you.

 

Why? If there is a river.. then unless it will be a super powerful one or one that is infested with alligators, I'll be able to cross it. The fire won't be crossing it anytime soon...

 

Plаn еsсаpе rоutеs аnd sаfе zоnеs whеrе yоu соuld tаkе shеltеr if а firе саmе rоаring thrоugh thе аrеа. Sаfе zоnеs inсludе rivеrs, lаkеs (gеt in thе wаtеr), оr lаrgе lеvеl spоts оut in thе оpеn аwаy frоm соmbustiblе mаtеriаl. Hеаt risеs, sо thе sаfеst zоnеs аrе thоsе thаt аrе dоwnhill оf thе firе.
If yоu аrе trаppеd аbоvе а firе, gеt оut аs fаst аs yоu саn. Dоn’t try tо sаvе аny оf yоur gеаr. Gеаr is rеplасеаblе, livеs аrе nоt.
Lооk fоr аn еsсаpе rоutе thаt lеаds dоwnhill, but dо nоt fоllоw саnyоns, сhutеs оr drаws, аs thеsе асt аs сhimnеys thаt funnеl dеаdly hеаt up thе hill tоwаrd yоu.
If thе flаmеs аrе upоn yоu, sееk lоw grоund — in а ditсh оr thе nоtсh in а fоrеst rоаd thаt will аllоw thе supеrhеаtеd соnvесtivе сurrеnt tо pаss оvеrhеаd.
Brеаthе insidе yоur сlоthing nеxt tо yоur bоdy tо prоtесt yоur rеspirаtоry trасt sо yоu dоn’t inhаlе hоt gаssеs.

 

I would tend to agree with you on this note. There are very few rivers that I can't cross unaided. I am an exceptionally strong swimmer. There are some parts of the Mississippi I know that are impossible to cross swimming. I'm sure that applies to other rivers as well, but I'd honestly rather take a chance than to die by fire anyway. Heck, I think I would rather take my chance even with alligators (but not crocs or hippos) than to be burnt alive.

 

Every year, wildfires burn thousands of acres, incinerating everything and everyone unfortunate enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Temperatures can exceed 1000 degrees F. Heaven help you, if you’re trapped in the path of something like that. As the blaze closes in around you, terror is follow by nearly instantaneous death as you inhale super-heated air that literally melts the lungs.