Escaping a forest fire

[Watch_Cowspiracy]

How does one go about escaping a forest fire? Do rangers go around all the tiny forest roads with a megaphone on the offchance there's someone camped there? What sort of early warning could you have? It seems like these things can spring up pretty quickly without warning.

 

[Minivanmotoman]

Where there's smoke, there's fire.
Lightening is one major cause.
Be aware and alert. Communicate or seek info.

The responsibility is always on you to determine the safety of your situation, not wait for a warning.

There is a memorial in Prescott of a dozen experienced Hot Shots firefighters who didn't make it out alive.

Be aware, stay alive, listen to radio reports, know the roads around your Geographic location and the wind directions. Be smart, be cautious.

Why take a chance? If a dry area or nearby fires, move to safer distance.

I believe there are govt links for fires that you can verify if you have cell signal. Others have posted them here before.

 

[Watch_Cowspiracy]

Are there any places out west that aren't at risk for fire though?

 

[Minivanmotoman]

Wherever there's been rain.
Changes from year to year.
Wherever there's no forest.

Just listen to the news, will tell you where not to go, talk to locals, rangers, etc.

The whole West isn't on fire. Even people were saying that places were closed were still open but under threat of closure due to dry conditions.
Of the gazillion acres of forest out West, most is not on fire.

 

[QinReno]

I've been keeping alive a thread on fires in CA, but there are also links to the entire west.
https://vanlivingforum.com/showthread.php?tid=31954

Even with daily watching of the links, amazingly last week I went down to the southern Sierra and a fire had sprung up in an area I passed by on the way (Sonora Hwy 108), and I didn't even know about the most recent fire. Too much smoke from 4 other CA fires. Some fires like the Mendocino complex near Clear Lake have blown up to 10,000 or 20,000 acres in a single night, and it's now over 360,000 acres. Wind and fire creates a vortex effect.

The only thing I could recommend, besides checking the links, is to not go far back into places where there is only "one" access road in and out. Unfortunately, many Natl Forest accesses are that way, especially on the "western" side of the Sierra. You can drive for 20 or 30 miles up some windy narrow access road, which would be totally impossible to get out in case of a fire.

 

[ChezCheese:-)]

CreativityRV has a good video on fire safety which is worth a watch:

 

[Bobflhtc]

Earlier this year I was camped outside Williams Arizona and there was a fire about 40 miles north of me. I was pleasantly surprised when Facebook sent me an alert about the fire. Still you have to assume responsibility for your own safety. I'm currently camped outside Leavenworth Washington in a NF campground and it seems the smoke has cleared for now

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

How does one go about escaping a forest fire? Do rangers go around all the tiny forest roads with a megaphone on the offchance there's someone camped there? What sort of early warning could you have? It seems like these things can spring up pretty quickly without warning.

Points for an excellent question!

1. Situational awareness:  always know what is happening around you.  Each National Forest will have a web site that issues watches and warnings, and give status of known forest fires.
2. Always let some responsible person know where you are.  I let my sister know every night at 9:00 PM that I am OK and give GPS coordinates on a google map of where I am.
3. Have a way of communicating in case of emergency.  I carry an inReach personal emergency beacon that can communicate with SAR anywhere I can see the sky, no cell signal needed.
4. Carry insurance for emergency rescue.  Helicopter rescue can be expensive. 

Forest service personal and other authorities are way to busy during an active fire to be wandering around on the off chance of finding someone.

 

[highdesertranger]

this is one of those areas were you must take personal responsibility.

1. the most important is to know where you are
2. know the ways in and out and if your vehicle can make it out a different way then you came in.
3. know where the fire is and what direction it's moving.
4. this is obvious but stay out of the path of the fire.
5. talk to the locals to get their take.
6. the land managers will do their best to clear areas that need to be cleared. but don't rely on this, again personal responsibility.

highdesertranger

 

[Canine]

If you and the fire are wearing boots, put your sneakers on instead so you can outrun the fire.

 

[Dingfelder]

We have fires, often all summer long, here in the Oregon and throughout vast swaths of California and Washington state.

It's in all the local newspapers and TV channels. Scan them. There is often a fire authority you can phone to find info. Around here I think it's 476-FIRE.

And of course, watch the skies! There's usually little problem knowing when a fire has become a big one because smoke is thick in one direction -- first obvious clue -- and then spread out everywhere, which takes so long and so much fire to do that you know by then it's the real deal in a big way.

Also, drop in to a 7-11 or local grocery or liquor store or two and just talk to people. Their lives are invested in their communities and it's rare that you won't find people who can tell you a good bit about what's going on locally.

Around here, authorities close down many roads and only let residents in so that looters don't swarm the houses of people evacuating. You'll find them at key intersections and forks in the road. We get firemen and even the national guard all over the place.

 

[Watch_Cowspiracy]

Thanks folks. I was camping in the Sierras a week ago and a fire sprang up a quarter mile from my camp. Fortunately fire crews got to it fast, but if they hadn't, I could have been toast.

 

[QinReno]

Always have a backup plan for everything ... plus a secondary escape route.

 

[Canine]

Just think about all those people living in sticks and bricks that couldn't move from the fire. At least we can move. In Montana the flooding was so bad one guy had his entire house slough off into the water. Insurance didn't cover it. His house and his land have been reduced to silt and debris. We are in much better position to protect ourselves; furthermore, we can provide help for those who suddenly become homeless.

Instead of clamoring for help and being part of the problem, we can be one heck of an asset for those unfortunate souls who suddenly find themselves in need.

 

[Canine]

This fire happened near where I live. It has text and/or the video is 1:37:

http://www.krtv.com/story/38913645/...owe-ridge-fire-in-glacier-national-park-video

Everything was fine until lightning hit. This isn't fear mongering; this is a rare, albeit, scary experience.

 

[highdesertranger]

actually lighting is by far the most common way wildfires start.

in 2008 a series of dry thunderstorms came through northern and central California. over the weekend of June 20-21 there were over 25,000 lighting strikes that ignited over 2,000 wild fires.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_California_wildfires

scary stuff. highdesertranger

 

[Canine]

I meant getting caught in a fire when there is no current fire nearby is pretty rare not the lightning strikes causing fires. I got to see one start about 300 yards away when I was about 11 years old. It was kind of intense. Mom, my sister, and me were watching the hail and severe rain when "BOOM" the top of a tree exploded and the windows shook in their frames. The sawmill crew came down into the neighbor's yard, fell the tree, and put out the fire. Was cool to watch my dad do that.

 

[Moxadox]

Here is a link where you can check to see if there are fires in the area where you are or want to go https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/.

I check it daily. I use it to guide decision-making re: do I stay or do I bail? Do I go here, or is there a fire that I need to avoid?

The Dire Wolfess

 

[crofter]

Thanks for the link. So east of Colorado is good, but the western half is sketchy. Some of the air quality downwind of those is pretty bad too.  ~crofter

 

[QinReno]

Thanks for the link. So east of Colorado is good, but the western half is sketchy. Some of the air quality downwind of those is pretty bad too.  ~crofter

You can actually see where the smoke is going in the satellite views here. Press "MODIS" and select "state" and "Bands 1-4-3". 
https://fsapps.nwcg.gov/
https://fsapps.nwcg.gov/afm/imagery.php?op=fire&fireID=co-000

Smoke is  the grey whispy stuff. Somedays difficult to distinquish due to all the (white) clouds, but very obvious in the images frrom Idaho/Washington.
https://fsapps.nwcg.gov/afm/data/im...35215917-2018235220534_250m_id-mt-000_143.jpg