Have the wildfires made you rethink your plans?

matthew.Contributor - September 24, 2020

Hello everyone, long time reader, first time poster.  Let me start by thanking everyone responsible for this invaluable resource.

I, like so many other preppers, have long imagined, and have been actively working towards, a dream of moving out to the forest to create secluded and sustainable compound.  It’s the ultimate prepper dream, one that many have already realized.  But the wild fires of the past few years really have me rethinking this strategedy.  There is no doubt that these fires have been a total SHTF event for many people, and there is a cruel irony imaging it happening to those who moved to remote regions to avoid catastrophy – only to realize they inadvertantly placed themselves right in catastrophy’s way.

I’m curious if people are re-thinking this long held prepper blueprint. It’s not like these fires are going to stop if there is some larger societal breakdown, in fact without active fire-fightening agencies the fires will only be worse and more severe.  I’m also curious to hear from those of you who are currently living in remote locations and wondering if wildfire response has become part of your preperations. 

I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

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It was never a goal of mine, but I think you make a lot of sense about how smart it will be if fires get worse. Prices for land may drop, but it could be a bad idea long term.

 

That’s a good point Essie.  I live in the Paicific Northwest and for many years now very wealthy people have been buying large parcels of land up here and building their doomsday hideouts.  It will be curious to see if there is a mass exodus…

 

I am a good example of as you say it “the ultimate prepper dream”. I used to live in the Denver area and was not a fan of the high population there. I thought that moving to a more remote area would be safer if there was an emergency and I would be out here already instead of having to fighting the traffic of people evacuating out of the city. I now live in the mountains of Colorado and wildfires are our biggest threat. Locals take fire bans seriously and get annoyed when out-of-towners come in and have camp fires or shoot when there is a fire ban. They know of the dangers and how it has affected their lives.

As for fire mitigation, I have yet to work on that aspect of my preps. I do have a large amount of dead grass along with the living grass that would be good to rake up. Clearing dead branches around my yard would also be a good idea. I have heard from other preppers that there is a foam that you can spray on your house that acts as a fire deterrent. I have not tried it or looked into it much but this product might be what they were talking about.

Thanks for your post Matthew. You got me thinking about how I can do better with those preps.

 

Good luck and stay safe, Gideon!  An old friend of mine lives in the foothills above Boulder and lost his home a few years back in the Four Mile Canyon fires.  It’s becoming clear that there really are no safe places anymore, it’s like a “pick your poison” scenario.  

 

Yes, this very thing has been on my mind lately. How to survive the fire season? We had the worst ever season in Oregon, losing many small towns and with a real threat to the Portland area. I have been preparing for earthquakes, never thinking that it could be a fire that takes us out. 

Living in the city is definitely more protective, as that is where the public fire fighting is focused. It would be tricky to defend in the country. You would definitely need to have a “defensible” space. Two remote retreat centers in Oregon and Washington have been able to survive by preparing with Rain Bird sprinklers and training their own fire crews. It’s an important part of your prep to consider. Standing on your roof with a garden hose and no prep is only going to likely get you killed. 

We had our travel trailer (emergency shelter on wheels) packed up and ready to go, and I moved our “go bags” out there. And I started to envision a future living in underground “hobbit homes” with fireproof landscaping and using the trailer to evacuate while the fire moves over it.  Then coming back once it’s passed. We would lose gardens and landscaping, but those can be rebuilt I suppose.