Depending on where you live brush fires can be a random or frequent occurrence but no matter where you live all of our homes are at risk of some type of external fire hazard.
There are many things that you can do to reduce the possibility of damage to your home and allow yourself the ability to escape such fires but you must have a full understanding of what to do when you are in this type of situation or you may react wrong when moments are precious.
Planning before something happens is your best bet for safety. Contact your local fire department and ask questions. They may even do a home and property evaluation for free.
The First Thing To Do In A Fire
The first thing you should do when you see fire is call for help. Many fire departments have people that stay at the station around the clock to respond quickly but most areas depend on volunteers that must be notified and then report to the station before they can gear up and even begin their route to your location.
For this reason the first thing you must do is call for help.
The 911 service should be your first call but you should also have local direct numbers to your police and fire department programmed into your home and cellphones.
Don’t worry about calling them in if it turns out that your neighbors bbq was loaded up with chips to smoke half a cow and there really wasn’t a fire it is more important to make the call then to wait… simply tell the operator that you can not directly see the fire and they will send a police officer or fire marshal out before the truck is deployed … they know how to handle it.
The Second Thing To Do In A Fire
The second thing you should do is assess the danger to you and your home and begin to prepare to leave your neighborhood for a safe location.
This will depend on many factors such as the direction of the wind and the burnable materials, grass, trees, brush, homes between you and the fire and the size of the fire.
If you can see the fire then you are too close.
Even a small fire can spread in just a few minutes. If the fire is within a mile you should gather your family and animals near the front door of your home or the safest exit to your vehicle.
Make sure you have your cellphone and money and or credit card then exit your home and drive everyone to a local mall or other large parking lot.
DRIVE SLOWLY fire can not out run a vehicle in most situations. Also be careful of approaching Fire trucks and Responders in their personal cars.
Never Drive Up Hill and Never drive in the direction of the fire.
If you have a Truck or SUV now is the time to depend on it and you can in this emergency cross people’s property if necessary to find the fastest shortest direct path to a major road leading away from the fire.
Trying to fight the fire yourself while others depend on you for their safety is not reasonable. Doing so will likely place everyone in danger including fire fighters who may end up having to save you.
If possible place a note on your door saying that the home is empty to notify fire fighter to not risk their lives in an empty home looking for you.
What to do next
After you have made sure that you and your family are safe you want to contact any immediate family that may be at work or away and notify them of the fire and that you are safe.
Turn on the local news or drive to your local police station or fire department to get an update on what is happening.
Only after you know the fire is out should you return to your home.
Final Note
You should contact your local fire marshal for information on how you should clear brush and debris on your property to reduce the possibility of damage and danger.
Some local governments even pay you to make changes to your landscape.
Know where your local fire hydrants are located and make sure that they are unobstructed at all times of the year.
Remember there is no shame in putting distance between you and danger in this situation. People die every day from fires and the best way to make sure you are not one of them is to get out of its path if you are not trained or able to put it out yourself.