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Off-the-grid fire fighting
waitatian:
Just a note on fossil feuled water pumps.
During the bushfires in Australia a few years ago someone mentioned that the heat from an approaching fire evaporated the fuel supplying the pump motor protecting his house.
Frank S:
There is a lot that could be said about a redwood or Cyprus overhead water tank as a kid all of our water came from a windmill driven pump and was stored in a 10 ft dia. 8 ft tall wooden tank mounted atop of a 20 ft wooden tower our windmill was an aeromotor 602 with an 8 ft fan. every thing to the house and barns was gravity fed.
once we had a fire somehow get started in a corn bin the nearest VFD was 10 miles away wouldn't have mattered if they had been a mile away as we had no telephone. buckets from the cattle trough and a 100 ft 1" hose was all that saved the barn. We were lucky since if the fire had gotten much bigger the hay loft would have caught fire. I don't remember me or any of my cousins being taken behind the wood shed for smoking in the corn bin but I'm sure one of us probably deserved it
sunbelt57:
I have some raw land out in WY in the grasslands. The other day I was burning some sage brush in a 55 gal. steel barrel and walked down into a ravine to get some more that was piled up. By the time I walked back within 100' I could see the grass outside the barrel burning. I started running up to it and by the time I got there, the fire had spread to about a 5 or 6 sqft area. Luckily there was a shovel nearby and I managed to barely be able to stamp it out. As dry and windy as it was, it could have developed into a major grass fire. My cabin would have burned down along with all my stuff and the local ranchers would have been pissed.
Mary B:
Never ever burn if there is wind and it is dry. That is a recipe for disaster. And composting that brush and grass makes more sense. Good addition for the garden.
Mary B:
Have you thought about getting a ham radio license? Would give you communications out of that valley, you are probably line of sight to a 2 meter repeater and possibly even an autopatch to make phone calls via the radio.
--- Quote from: thirteen on March 27, 2014, 08:45:03 PM ---I cannot get insurance on my place I am to isolated. I live back in the sticks. I do like the trees just outside my doors. The brush is close also. If it burns then I'll just build another one. The 4 mile long canyon I am in has steep side mountains. If a fire starts this will go up in about 30 minutes and even if I were to clear things away 300 ft like they want you to my place will still be engulfed. I was also a volunteer firemen for 5 years. they will not even send a firetruck down into this valley it is to steep, no fire crews it is to dangerous and there is only 2 ways out. the same for an ambulance during the winter forget it. Life flight only if you can call. No cell phone reception.
Put your tank under ground if you have cold winters. Put a relay in for remote control to be able to start your pump from 1/2 mile away. No need to run your water out until necessary. Unless you can supply it with water with another pump. A good shelter for it will also help with proper filtering for air. Just a thought 13
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