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🔥 Wildfire: Defending Your Place With No Grid

How a household in the Illinois Valley can get its people, house, animals and land through a wildfire when no engine, air tanker, alert or phone is coming: reading the danger, hardening and clearing with hand tools, water without the grid, hand line, deciding ahead whether to stay or go, the fire's arrival, and the years after. The basics (5-ft and 30-ft rules, vent mesh, evacuation levels, a cleaner-air room) are in the Illinois Valley guide ("Wildfire"), Home Defense ("Fire as a threat to your home") and the Shelter guide ("Earthquake and wildfire hardening"). Most books are in Southern-Oregon\Wildfire: the federal firefighters' Incident Response Pocket Guide (IRPG), fire-behavior guide (PMS 437) and tactics guide (PMS 465); the Australian Country Fire Authority's (CFA) plan for staying to defend a house, adapted here because it assumes phone apps and daily ratings; Cohen's Forest Service research on how homes ignite; the State Fire Marshal (OSFM); and OSU Extension. FEMA P-737 is in Southern-Oregon\Shelter-Building\Wildfire-Quake-Hardening, Fire Weather (AH 360) in Southern-Oregon\Navigation-Weather\Weather, and the thinning and slash bulletins in Southern-Oregon\Firewood\Woodlot.

The short version

🌡️ Reading fire danger with no forecast

With no Red Flag Warnings, add wind, fuel dryness and smoke to the daily log in the Navigation & Weather guide (rule of thumb). The region's fire season "usually runs from June through September" (AH 360, p. 211), but "September bears the greatest impact of easterly winds" (PMS 465, p. 227); the 2020 fires burned in September.

Watch Danger rises when
Humidity Lowest about the hottest hour, rising slowly overnight (AH 360, p. 50). At 15–30%: "Very high ignition, rapid buildup, extensive spotting and crowning"; under 15%: "critical fire conditions" (IRPG, p. 65).
How dry it feels "snap of sticks, crackle of litter, pop vs crumble of leaves, dust in duff"; cured grass, snags, slash, crowns closer than 20 ft (IRPG, p. 52).
Wind Over 10 mph (IRPG, p. 50). No gauge: 8–12 mph, small twigs in constant motion; 13–18, dust raised on the road; 19–24, "Branchlets are broken from trees" (p. 59; Beaufort scale).
Unstable air Gusty wind, dust devils, very clear air, smoke rising straight up; steady wind and low haze mean stable air (AH 360, p. 71; IRPG, p. 50).
Time of day The "critical burn period" is 2 to 5 p.m. (IRPG, p. 19). At night slope winds turn downhill at 2–5 mph (PMS 437, p. 37), but fires in the mid-slope thermal belt stay active (Navigation & Weather guide; IRPG, p. 51).
Slope and aspect Fire runs uphill and up-canyon; saddles "are one of the most hazardous locations for homes" (FEMA P-737, pp. 17–18). Southwest slopes have the driest afternoon fuels (AH 360, p. 199). Over 20% slope (20 ft rise in 100 ft) or 10 mph wind, safety zones may need "more than double" (IRPG, p. 21); the saying that fire doubles its speed for every 10° of slope has no book behind it (rule of thumb).

Two drawings: wind pouring through a low saddle between two hills, and wind rushing up a narrow canyon and out its sides Wind, and fire with it, funnels through saddles and up canyons, the worst places for a house (FEMA P-737, p. 18).

East wind: the night is not safe

"East wind in fire control means an exceptionally dry wind from an easterly quadrant that may blow continuously for 24 to 48 hours or longer. East wind often reaches maximum strength during night and early morning hours. Surface wind of 60 mph is not uncommon", with humidity "extremely low around the clock" (PMS 465, p. 227; Foehn wind). When fire turns wind-driven, "This change can occur quickly" (p. 262). The 2020 numbers and warning signs are in Navigation & Weather ("Illinois Valley weather through the year"). On an east-wind day (rule of thumb): a lookout awake all night; the car fueled, packed and facing out; tanks full; protective clothes laid out; no saw, mower, grinder or fire of any kind; a leaving time agreed with the neighbors.

Smoke columns, spotting and flame length

Flame length Fire What hand tools can do (IRPG, p. 66)
Under 1 ft Smoldering "Handline holds"
1–4 ft Creeping, 2–5 chains an hour Attack the head or flanks; a hand line "should hold"
4–8 ft Running, 6–20 chains an hour "Too intense for direct attack with handtools"
8–11 ft Torching and spotting Work at the head is "ineffective"
Over 11 ft Crown fire to extreme Over 25 ft: "Escape to safety should be considered"

A chain is 66 ft. The county expects flames under 8 ft on the Rogue and Illinois valley floors and over 11 ft in the southern mountains (County plan, p. 71), so a household with hand tools works the flanks and the slow back edge, never the head (rule of thumb).

📚 Go deeper: IRPG, pp. 50–54 — "Look Up, Down, and Around": weather, terrain, fuel and smoke signs; AH 360, pp. 121–125 — slope and valley winds through the day.

🏠 How houses catch fire

Three ways: embers land on something that burns; a surface fire creeps to the walls or roof; or radiant heat from burning plants or buildings nearby. "Most commonly, homes are lost in wildfires when they come into contact with embers or low-intensity surface fires — not from a giant wall of flames" (OSU EM 9247, p. 2).

The zones around the house

From the house Goal What to do
0–5 ft Nothing that burns Gravel, rock, pavers or bare soil; no plants, bark or wood chips; nothing against the walls (OSFM, p. 7; PNW 590, p. 7; EC 1574, p. 4)
5–30 ft Lean, clean and green Tree tops 15–20 ft apart; prune 6–10 ft up, keeping half the crown; no woodpile (EM 9247, pp. 4–5; OSFM, p. 13)
30–100 ft (200 on steep slopes) Fire stays on the ground Grass under 4 in, 10 ft between crowns, no ladder fuels, no snags (OSFM, pp. 14–16; EM 9184, p. 11)
Beyond 100 ft A slower, cooler fire Thin over the years; a few snags per acre for wildlife (EM 9184, pp. 11–12)

The books number their zones differently, so this table uses feet (the zones). Clearing need "only occur within a few tens of meters from a home" (Cohen, p. 4): finish the inner zones first (rule of thumb).

The zones around a house, seen from above: 0–5 ft bare, 5–30 ft lean and clean, 30–100 ft thinned The zones in the table above, seen from above (a diagram drawn for this guide).

🔨 Hardening the house with what you have

Vents, gutters and woodpiles are in the Shelter guide; windows, fences, gates and the driveway in Home Defense. The order:

  1. Roof first. Clean it and the gutters spring and fall, and in summer under madrones, which drop leaves then (EM 9184, p. 9); debris gathers in valleys and where roof meets wall (P-737, p. 25). Untreated wood shakes are unrated and "not desirable" (BCD, p. 3): keep hand-split shakes for sheds, and salvage metal roofing from buildings you won't defend (rule of thumb).
  2. Vents: 1/8-inch metal mesh over the old 1/4–1/2 in screen, which "may be plastic" (OSFM, p. 8). This follows current Oregon advice over FEMA's 2008 "maximum opening of 1/4 inch" (P-737, p. 40). 1/16 in clogs, and clogged debris can make embers; keep cardboard away from vents (BCD, p. 5).
  3. Vent covers. Ready, Set, Go! says cover attic and ground vents with "pre-cut plywood" (p. 9); FEMA advises against it because people fall (P-737, p. 42). So cut and label covers now; always fit the ground and crawlspace vents; gable vents only from a tied-off ladder with time to spare (rule of thumb).
  4. Gaps and gutters. Caulk gaps; open eaves trap heat (BCD, p. 6). Seal pipe and wire holes with mortar (P-737, p. 72; lime mortar: Masonry & Roads). Vinyl gutters "can fail under radiant heat" (EM 9247, p. 3): use metal.
  5. Windows and walls. "Metal blinds are best to protect the interior from radiant heat" (Ready, Set, Go!, p. 6). Rotting siding lets embers catch (OSFM, p. 9); siding down to the ground lets fire into the wall (BCD, p. 4). Nothing stored under an open foundation, and no lattice (P-737, pp. 57–58).
  6. Decks. Clear on, around and under; 1/8-in metal mesh under deck openings (OSFM, p. 10). Furniture and "even welcome mats" catch embers (EM 9247, p. 4).
  7. Woodpile and lumber 30 ft away (OSFM, p. 13; ODF's handout says 20, every other source 30), level with or uphill of the house: "Embers that settle into your wood pile will slowly build a fire" (Ready, Set, Go!, p. 7).
  8. Propane and fuel. Clear 10 ft around a fixed tank, which will "vent when overheated" and isn't "typically at risk of exploding"; BBQ cylinders 30 ft away (OSFM, p. 12). Fuel, including the fire pump's gas, 30 ft from the house and "away from downhill slopes" (P-737, p. 73).
  9. Outbuildings 50 ft from the house (P-737, p. 23); "Wet hay can start fires through spontaneous combustion" (4-H Horse, p. 61). Well power supplies "are vulnerable during a wildfire" (P-737, p. 72): clear around the pump house, panels and tank (rule of thumb).

📚 Go deeper: Oregon Home Hardening Guide, pp. 3–10 — roofs, vents, siding, decks and glass; FEMA P-737, pp. 25–65 — each part of the house, with drawings.

🪓 Clearing around the house with hand tools

Work from the house outward (rule of thumb). The books differ on trees; this guide uses:

Brush and ladder fuels. Small trees and brush under big ones are "ladder" fuels that carry a ground fire into the crowns (EC 1573, p. 2). Space shrubs 2–3 times their height apart (EM 9184, p. 16), none over one metre (about 3 ft) by a window (CFA, p. 4). Worst burners: Scotch broom, gorse, blackberry, juniper, many manzanitas and ceanothus (EM 9184, p. 15).

Side view, two panels. Left: tall grass, brush and branches down to the ground let fire climb into touching tree crowns. Right: trees limbed 6–10 ft up, no brush under them, crowns 10 ft or more apart, grass under 4 in Take out the brush and low limbs that let fire climb, and space the crowns (a diagram drawn for this guide).

Grass under 4 in within 100 ft (OSFM, p. 16). Dry grass makes flames "three times the height of the grass": cut it green, before fire season; in season mow only early in the morning (EM 9184, p. 9).

Slash with no chipper. Lop and scatter it 12–18 in deep at most; it only moves the fuel, dry slash takes "a decade or more" to rot, and never "within 100 feet of the home" (EC 1574, p. 2). Hand-pile pieces under 6 in across (p. 3) and burn them in winter (see "Burning on purpose").

Animals mow too. Cattle keep grass down; goats and sheep browse brush but need fencing, water and predator control (EM 9184, p. 14). Keep it up: without upkeep the benefit is "lost" in 5 to 10 years (p. 3); work the 30–100 ft zone in sections, all of it every 5–8 years (p. 5). Brush the driveway back 10 ft: "If firefighters can't see down your driveway, they will not enter" (p. 7).

Which work in which season

Season Work Source
Winter (wet) Thin, prune conifers, trim brush, pile slash; burn piles on wet, calm days EM 9184, p. 7; EC 1574, p. 4
Spring Mesh, gutters, roof, deck; debris out to 100 ft; mow while green; firewood to 30 ft; prune hardwoods OSFM, p. 20; EM 9184, pp. 7–9
Summer (fire season) Keep roof, gutters, deck and the 5-ft strip clean; saws and mowers at dawn or not at all OSFM, p. 21; EM 9247, p. 6
Fall (after real rain) Trim within 5 ft, limb up, clear understory, brush back the driveway OSFM, p. 21

💧 Water with no power

"Loss of power will prevent ... electric pumps from working" (CFA, p. 8), so plan water that needs no grid. And "Never rely on water for firefighter safety" (IRPG, p. 31): water is not your escape plan.

What How much Source
To defend a house 10,000 litres (about 2,640 gal) or more, with gear that works if the power goes out CFA, p. 3
Reserve you never touch 100 gal IRPG, p. 31
Filling 100 ft of hose ¾-in 2 gal; 1-in 4 gal IRPG, p. 104
Forestry nozzle, 3/16-in tip 7 gal a minute at 50 psi IRPG, p. 104
A fire hose 50–125 gal a minute P-737, p. 67
Water extinguisher 2.5 gal, reaching 30–40 ft CERT, p. 170

At 7 gal a minute, 2,640 gallons lasts about 6 hours; a fire hose empties it in 20–50 minutes (arithmetic). Use small nozzles, short bursts and dirt, and save water for embers.

Storing it

Getting it there

⛏️ Hand tools and firebreaks

Pulaski: ax plus grub hoe, "about 5½ pounds"; short, shallow swings, the hoe landing on its corner; goggles; "Never sharpen the top of the hoe" (MTDC, p. 25). McLeod: rake plus hoe, "inefficient in rocky or unusually brushy areas" (p. 26). Fire shovel: scrapes "down to mineral soil" (p. 29). Carry tools "at your side and downhill, with blades forward"; "Never throw a tool" (p. 11). Saws in fire season: Firewood guide ("Bucking and limbing").

A Pulaski (ax blade on one side, grub hoe on the other), a close-up of its head, and the hoe striking the ground on its corner Grub with short, shallow strokes and let the hoe land on its corner (MTDC, p. 25).

Building a hand line

A hand line (fireline) is a strip cleared of fuel and scraped to bare mineral soil (Firebreak).

  1. Anchor it to something that won't burn: road, creek, rock, plowed field or burned ground (IRPG, p. 23). Building "without safe anchor point" is one of the 18 Watch Out Situations (p. 140).
  2. Width: "one and one half times as wide as the dominate fuel is high", 1–3 ft of it scraped to mineral soil, on the side away from the fire; in timber, 20–30 ft cleared with a 3–4 ft scrape (PMS 465, p. 42). Brush 6 ft tall needs a 9-ft line (arithmetic).
  3. Down to mineral soil, or fire creeps through roots; unburned material goes outside the line, burning material into the burn (p. 37). Limb the trees on both sides: heat crosses a narrow line without flames touching (pp. 40–41).
  4. Below a fire on a slope, dig a "cup trench" to catch rolling logs and cones (p. 38); above it, the steeper the slope, the wider the line (p. 17).
  5. Short and straight, tied to roads, rock and creeks; on a ridge, on top or just over (IRPG, p. 101). Never build line downhill toward a fire, mid-slope above it, or with unburned fuel between you and it (p. 20).

A fire line: a wide strip cleared of brush and trees, with the outer 1–3 ft scraped to bare soil Clear a strip, then scrape the side away from the fire down to bare soil (PMS 465, p. 42).

A cup trench dug along the downhill side of a fire line, catching burning logs that roll down A cup trench below a fire on a slope catches burning logs and cones (PMS 465, p. 38).

The burning edge itself is the "Safest place to work; firefighters can usually escape into the burned area" (IRPG, p. 99). "Most firelines will be unsuccessful in stopping a crown fire" (PMS 465, p. 42).

How fast can you build line?

Fuel 20-person crew, chains an hour (SDTDC, p. 10) Per person, feet an hour (arithmetic)
Short grass 9.5 about 30
Chaparral, brush, timber litter 6.8–7 about 22

Those are trained crews, measured over a whole shift. The older PMS 465 gives 1–2 chains (66–132 ft) per person-hour in our forests (p. 228); plan on the measured rates. Three adults might build 70 ft an hour in brush (arithmetic), while fire there spreads 2–10 chains (130–660 ft) an hour (same page). You can't out-dig a fire on the day: build breaks in the wet season, and on the day use tools on spot fires, the 5-ft strip and the burned edge (rule of thumb).

Small fires, spot fires and wet sacks

Burning out: mostly don't

Burning out is "setting fire inside the fireline to consume fuel between the fireline and the edge of the fire", so crews "keep one foot in the black"; backfiring sets fire well ahead of the main fire, a riskier method (PMS 465, pp. 112–113). Firing needs lookouts, escape routes, anchor points and "Adequate resources ... for both firing and holding" (IRPG, p. 26). Household rule (rule of thumb): never backfire. Burn out only a narrow strip of grass or litter off a finished, anchored line, with the wind carrying it away from the line, someone holding the line with water and tools, and a lookout. If unsure, don't.

🚪 Stay or go: decide before fire season

"Do not wait to be advised to leave" (Ready, Set, Go!, p. 10). Alerts failed in 2020 (What to Expect guide); now there are none. Stay only if every answer is yes (CFA, p. 3):

Places you can't defend: "narrow canyon bottoms, mid-slope with fire below, and narrow ridges near chimneys and saddles" (IRPG, p. 28). Worst-weather days: "Do not plan to defend on CATASTROPHIC days" (CFA, p. 3). With no ratings, call it catastrophic when an east wind breaks twigs from trees and humidity is under 15%, or leaves crumble to dust (rule of thumb, from CFA, p. 2 and IRPG, pp. 59–65); then leave "The night before" or "Early in the morning" (CFA, p. 11).

Triggers: write them down

A trigger is something you can see that means "go now". Leaving early "does not mean waiting for a warning or a siren" (CFA, p. 11); firefighters "Set trigger point for safe retreat" (IRPG, p. 30). Examples (rule of thumb): a worst-weather day; a smoke column building over a named ridge upwind; ash or embers falling; fire crossing a named road or creek (time your escape against its spread, IRPG, p. 21); any one adult saying "go".

LCES for a household

Firefighters' LCES "must be established and known to ALL firefighters BEFORE it is needed" (IRPG, p. 21):

Firefighters' rule (same page) At home (rule of thumb)
Lookouts "good vantage points"; "Knowledge of trigger points" Someone on a high point with binoculars, day and night on east-wind days, taking turns
Communications "Sound alarm early, not late" Whistle and bell codes (Signals guide); walkie-talkies (Radio guide)
Escape routes "More than one"; "Avoid steep, uphill escape routes"; "Timed considering slowest person"; "Marked for day or night" Two roads out, driven at night; a printed map (Ready, Set, Go!, p. 8); car facing out (CFA, p. 7)
Safety zones "Back into clean burn"; rock, water, meadows, roads; bigger if upslope, downwind or near heavy fuel A plowed or grazed-down field, irrigated pasture, gravel lot or big pond, sized below

Safety zones: how big

"Separation distance between the firefighter and the flames should be at least four times the maximum continuous flame height" (IRPG, p. 22):

Flame height Distance to the flames Area
10 ft 40 ft 1/10 acre
20 ft 80 ft ½ acre
50 ft 200 ft 3 acres
100 ft 400 ft 12 acres

That counts radiant heat only, on flat ground with no wind, for a three-person crew, and is "Not intended for structure protection" (same page). With wind over 10 mph or slope over 20%, it may need "more than double" (p. 21).

Side view: flames of height H on the left, a person in a bare safety zone on the right, with four lengths of H marked on the ground between them Measure from the flames to where you stand: at least four times the flame height (a diagram drawn for this guide).

Getting out and last resort

🔥 When the fire comes

Hours before the front

  1. Protective clothing on: "always first thing to do" (CFA, p. 8). Anyone not defending leaves now.
  2. Fill the bath, buckets and tanks; roll out hoses; set up and test pumps and backpack sprayers (CFA, p. 7).
  3. Clear the walls: furniture, doormats and BBQ cylinders away; inside, furniture away from windows (same page); cloth curtains down unless the blinds are metal (Ready, Set, Go!, p. 9).
  4. Close up: windows, doors, vent covers; gas off at the tank (same page); fans off so they can't draw embers in (P-737, pp. 42–43); wet wool blankets or cotton towels around the inside of windows and doors (CFA, p. 8); a ladder under the attic hatch and a flashlight in the attic (p. 7).
  5. Wet the house: fill the gutters, "Hose down the side of the house facing the fire", sprinklers on when embers appear; "Patrol for embers ... You may need to do this for several hours"; "Drink lots of cool water" (CFA, p. 8).

As the front passes: shelter inside

"As the fire front approaches it will become extremely hot outside. You will be unable to survive out in the open" (CFA, p. 9). Bring plastic hoses and fittings in, and go inside when "The skin on your ears and hands will alert you" (same page). Then:

"If it's hot inside the house, it is four to five times hotter outside" (Ready, Set, Go!, p. 9). The flames pass quickly: about a minute in one spot for a crown fire (Cohen, p. 3).

Right after: ember patrol

"Exercise extreme caution before deciding to go outside", then "Actively patrol your property for embers for hours after the fire has passed" (CFA, p. 10): roof lines and gutters, garden beds and mulch, outdoor furniture, woodpiles, doormats, decks, sheds, window ledges and door sills, under the house, inside the roof and under the floorboards (same page), and the attic (Ready, Set, Go!, p. 9). "Water down the outside of the house, including the roof" (CFA, p. 10); stay clear of "the structural collapse zone" (IRPG, p. 31). Duff, stumps and log piles smolder for days: patrol day and night for at least 3 days, then daily for 2 weeks and after every dry, windy day (rule of thumb).

😷 Smoke, heat and people

Protective clothing (CFA, p. 7): a wide-brimmed hat, smoke goggles, a P2 (N95-type) mask, a long-sleeved collared shirt and long pants of cotton or another natural fibre, "Tough leather garden gloves – not rubber or synthetic", sturdy boots, wool or cotton socks. Many synthetics "can melt or catch fire" (AFH 10-644, p. 177). If your clothes catch fire, "do not run ... Lie down and roll" (Scout Handbook 1911, p. 284).

A bandana is not a mask. "Cloth face coverings, bandanas (damp or dry), handkerchiefs ... should not be relied on" (EPA Smoke Guide, p. 78). CFA lists a cotton scarf as an option (p. 7); this guide follows the EPA: cotton shields skin from embers, not lungs. Use an N95 or P100 marked "NIOSH", two head straps, no ear loops; a beard breaks the seal; replace it when breathing gets hard; it raises heat-illness risk (EPA Protect Your Lungs, pp. 1–2). For ages 2 to 7 an N95 rarely fits (EPA Smoke Guide, p. 77): children leave early.

Smoke and carbon monoxide bring "headaches and visual impairment, then impaired decision-making, and possible death"; rotate people out, and don't sleep where "smoke can concentrate at night" (IRPG, p. 44). With no power for a filter fan, open windows at night to cool off even if some smoke comes in, then close them and the curtains by day (EPA Smoke Guide, p. 49); night inversions can hold smoke here, so look first.

Heat and burns. Drink "lots of cool water often even if you don't feel thirsty" (CFA, p. 9). Care: Field Care ("Heat and cold in the Valley"; "Burns"); exhaustion: Home Defense ("Stress, fatigue and judgment").

🐐 Animals and livestock

Leave early, in daylight, to places agreed ahead (PNW 783, pp. 7–8). "Never leave pets behind"; keep them "indoors or leashed" (ODA, p. 2). Horses: Horse guide ("Local dangers"); poultry and rabbits: Chickens and Rabbits; goats: Goats.

If they must stay (PNW 783, p. 8): a pasture "light on fuel", such as one "heavily grazed", or a ploughed paddock (CFA, p. 4); "remove rugs and halters" (p. 7); "Leave gates open"; feed and water for "seven to 10 days"; irrigation on; electricity and propane off; "disked, plowed or scraped ground" around the barn; dry bedding wetted or removed.

A burning barn (4-H Horse, p. 61): "Never lock stall doors". Blindfold a horse that won't lead with a wet cloth. "Do not turn a horse loose, because it might run back into the barn." "Do not risk your own life".

After: burned animals may hide pain; badly burned ones may need to be put down (PNW 783, pp. 8–9). Burns "may worsen for up to six (6) weeks"; froth from nose or mouth means fluid in the lungs (ODA, pp. 1–2).

🌲 After the fire

Hot ground, stump holes and mop-up

Burned trees

Two drawings of a dead tree's fall zone: on flat ground a circle 1 to 1.5 times the tree's height all around; on a slope the zone stretches farther downhill where the tree can slide or roll Keep out of a dead tree's fall zone, and stay farther away below it on a slope (FS-1273, p. 36).

Ash, ruins and wells

Debris flows and erosion

A debris flow is a fast mudflow of soil, rock, trees and ash. On burned land one can start "after only a few minutes of heavy rainfall—about half an inch an hour or more", "days to years after a fire", travel many miles, and hit places "that were neither burned nor received any rain" (USGS, p. 1; Debris flow). USGS (same page): "LEAVE BEFORE A STORM ARRIVES. IF YOU WAIT, YOU ARE TOO LATE"; if you can't, "GET TO HIGH GROUND" (upstairs, the roof, uphill, a tree); listen for "cracking, breaking, roaring, or a fast-moving freight train". With no forecast, people below a burned slope go when the first hard rain of the season starts (rule of thumb).

Slowing erosion by hand. Severe heat can make the top few inches of soil shed water ("hydrophobic"); treat first where "streams, roads or buildings are directly downslope" (OSU EM 9562, p. 2).

Replanting

🤝 Neighbors: lookouts, signals and shared breaks

"In rural areas, your neighbor can be at your home faster than any emergency response" (EM 9247, p. 2); now they are the only response. "Your Home Ignition Zone overlaps onto adjacent properties" (p. 5), and "your trees may pose a greater risk to your neighbor's home than to your own" (Ready, Set, Go!, p. 4).

🍂 Burning on purpose: wet season only

The books put the fire season at June through September (AH 360, p. 211), but east winds peak in September and fall can stay dry. This library's rule: no open burning June–October, until real rain (rule of thumb). Oregon allowed burning only outside fire season, on burn days, with fines "up to $12,000 per day" (DEQ, p. 1), a permit from ODF and the fire district (EC 1574, p. 4), and liability "if the fire escapes" (p. 3). What not to burn, and the burn barrel: Sanitation ("Burning trash and brush, and ash").

Slash piles (EC 1574, pp. 3–4):

  1. In the open, 10 ft from trees, snags and brush, 100 ft from streams, away from buildings, propane and power lines.
  2. Twigs under ½ in at the bottom, limbs parallel, at least 4 ft wide and 4 ft high; cover it when about 80% built so it will light in the rain.
  3. Burn "during daylight, and when it's wet or rainy with little or no wind", with "a shovel and water nearby".
  4. Check it after: piles "may smolder for days or even weeks, roaring back to life in windy, warm weather, even during dry winter conditions" (p. 3). Stir and drown the last of it; look again after the next dry, windy day (rule of thumb).

"Many wildfires start from escaped burn piles", and broadcast burning around homes is "very risky" (EM 9184, p. 14). Never burn poison oak (p. 25).

Fire in the oak woods. The region's low-elevation oak woodlands are "fire adapted", kept by "Relatively frequent low- to mixed-severity fire"; prescribed burns there go "prior to leaf out in the spring or after leaf fall in the autumn" (KBO oak guide, p. 45). Cultural burning, the way the valley's first peoples tended the land with fire, is covered in "Tending the land with fire" in Skills of the Valley's First Peoples (Cultural burning).

⚠️ Old advice in the library to ignore

Book says Do this instead
Vent mesh "no larger than 6 millimeters or 1/4 inch" (FEMA 2004, p. 126); "maximum opening of 1/4 inch" (P-737, p. 40) 1/8-in metal mesh, current Oregon advice (OSFM, p. 8; BCD, p. 5)
"Create defensible space by thinning trees and brush within 30 feet" (FEMA 2004, p. 126) Out to 100 ft, 200 ft on steep slopes (EM 9247, p. 2)
Lawn sprinklers on the roof and "Wet the roof" ahead of time; "Leave the key in the ignition" (FEMA 2004, p. 127) Save tank water for embers (CFA, p. 8); keys on a hook by the door (rule of thumb)
Fire "hand grenades" of "sugar of lead" (lead acetate), soda-acid extinguishers with sulfuric acid; "use milk" on burning kerosene (Household Discoveries, p. 81) Poison and acid: don't make them. Smother a fuel fire with a lid, dirt or an ABC extinguisher, never water (rule of thumb)
Fireproof coatings of "Asbestos, powdered" (Henley's, p. 345) Never asbestos; use metal, masonry, earth plaster and 1/8-in mesh
A wet "handkerchief ... held over the nostrils" against smoke (Household Discoveries, p. 82) Wet cloth doesn't protect lungs (EPA, p. 78); crawl low and get out; N95 for wildfire smoke
Clear "a circle at least 1 meter in diameter" for a fire (FM 21-76, p. 80); clear under a signal "tree torch" (AFH 10-644, p. 513) No outdoor fires June–October (rule of thumb); otherwise 10 ft cleared, water and a shovel (EC 1574, p. 4)

🖼️ Pictures & diagrams

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