Hmmm. I used to be a government-sponsored arsonist...er, I mean hotshot...so this topic is very near and dear to my heart.

Let's just say that fire effects and fire behavior gets very complicated very quickly.

One of the standard fire orders is to "base all actions on current and expected behavior of the fire." This invokes the fire behavior triangle: fuels-weather-topography. I can tell you all sorts of things about each of those legs - the problem is that unless you see these things in the field (and more importantly, how they interrelate) it doesn't mean a whole lot.

Having said that, I HIGHLY recommend the workbook for "S-290 Intermediate Wildland Fire Behavior" - it's full of basic principles and data that the prudent survivor can apply qualitatively. I'm sure there's a copy online somewhere; I don't feel like looking for it right now.

Some basic guidelines:

Avoidance. Our crew was enroute to a fire outside Sedona when we ran across a tourist "bus." (One of the pink ones if you're familiar with that part of the world.) They thought they were fine because the fire was "over there" - what they didn't know was that to keep the fire "over there" we were going to start a backfire "right here." Seriously, if there's a fire stay away from it and get out of the area.

If the fire's running at you: Be somewhere that won't burn. Doesn't have to be big - a river, road, unimproved airstrip, pond, talus slope, or a landslide; just be someplace without fuel (even sparse dry grass). People passing out from O2 deprivation and drowning is an "urban" legend. When walking into a fire, every single fire guy is looking for these safety zones that won't burn, and we'd point them out to each other. Just as important, we'd be examining and flagging the escape routes to the safety zones - if you're running for your life it's a lot more convenient to follow a line of flagging (uniquely colored) than it is to stop and break out the compass.

Oh, and unless you really know what you're doing (as in you've been trained and paid to do it), starting a backfire is sketchy at best.

You're in over your head when: flame lengths are over 4.5 feet high. Flames over 4.5 feet high cannot be effectively fought with hand tools; they require water or more fire, and a lot of it.

You've reached your safety zone and fire is going to overtake you: get your face in the dirt. Protect your airway and lungs. This makes the difference between life and death. Do not breathe through a damp bandana or what-have-you; hot water vapor transmits a lot more heat than dry air. The fire shelters wildland guys carry are to serve this function and this function only - to reflect radiant heat and help provide a "breathable" air space. Someone posted that a space blanket might serve as an expedient shelter...haven't tried it, but I wouldn't even bother. If you are in a position where you need to deploy a shelter, a space blanket is not going to help - the turbulence from the fire is going to rip your space blanket away from you (as if it was helping much anyway - it had probably melted over you by that point anyway). Just to dispel some of the myth and legend regarding fire shelters - fire shelters are the ABSOLUTE LAST OPTION. I know very few people who had ever had to deploy a shelter. On the other hand, we had all run for our lives. Running away is a viable and effective option.

For purposes of predicting fire behavior and running away: Fire runs much, much better uphill than down. Run DOWNHILL.

There's undoubtedly more, but nothing coming off the top of my head.

Oh, and a lot of junior colleges have fire programs, of which a wildland fire course or three is part of. The school library may very well have the same training videos the the pros use. If you're curious it's worth checking out.

No.

Excellent post, thanks.

Thank you, Yelp. Very informative.

"is this the best we can put together?"

Yes. That's why they tell people to evacuate. Limited options, at best.

with all of my wilderness travel by canoe it would be not problem to get out into a large body of water.even in a small lake you could always move to the far shore and get into the water to avoid falling ash.the only problem i had was being downwind of a large distant fire and having the smoke cut my vision to 50/100 yards and cause some eye irritation.

Pretty discouraging so far.

So now let's say you have 24 hours to prepare to be overrun by a wildfire, what is the best improvised survival shelter you can build?

If you've got 24 hours to prepare, why aren't you leaving?

Unless you can build a fireproof shelter within 24 hours, if the fire is big enough it will kill you, or burn you so badly you'll wish it had killed you.

The only other solution would be using a fire shelter and hope it flashes over you.

I had the misfortune of being caught in a flashover fire a number of years ago while photographing a wild fire in Glendale CA, it overtook the truck and crew I was with in a matter of seconds, we are all extremely lucky to be alive, the truck saved our lives.

You don't want to put yourself or your loved ones in that position, there is virtually nothing that an individual can do to survive direct contact with a wildfire except be very, very lucky.

[quote=JohnE]If you've got 24 hours to prepare, why aren't you leaving?

Unless you can build a fireproof shelter within 24 hours, if the fire is big enough it will kill you, or burn you so badly you'll wish it had killed you.[quote]

For educational purposes the scenario is that you cannot escape. The question becomes, how can you build a fireproof shelter?

The only way around it would be to find a deep enough cave or I suppose one could dig a deep hole if you had a shovel. Burying yourself with enough dead air space around you to keep breathing but it would only work on a fast moving fire. If there's little wind and a lot of fuel, like the fires that are burning a few miles from my home at the moment, you're gonna die anyway if not directly from the fire, than from the thermal energy or from lack of oxygen.

Nothing that you will typically find around is gonna be fire-proof enough to save you, certainly nothing that a typical camper would have with them, ie, tents, tarps, etc.