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Off-the-grid fire fighting
Frank S:
You were extremely lucky today.
Burning in a 55 gal drum can be a recipe for disaster if you don't have a cover on it to keep the hot embers from escaping.
Our old burn barrel had a hinged mesh cover, and even with that some of the smaller hottest embers could be ejected in the right conditions. remember an ember can be carried for 100's of feet even with NO WIND.
A hinged 1" mesh expanded metal cover will stop most things even if an aerosol can happens to be in the works but to be safe a 1/2" rabbit wire dome about 6 ft in diameter about 3 ft above the barrel with sides that extends well below the rim line will stop almost everything else. mounting the dome on some metal "T" posts will server as structure. adding a couple of hinges so you can lift it from 1 side makes it easy to access the burn barrel. the ground around the barrel should be barren with no vegetation for several feet
gww:
He probly doesn't have any vegitation around the barrel now ;D.
gww
Frank S:
From the time my cousins & I were tall enough to see over the dash and reach the pedals of a 36 Chevy pickup it was our job to load 55 gallons of home brew Napalm, to fill a WWII flame thrower then ride the fence rows and burn tumble weeds on the range land Gramps had leased .
Gramps would tell the neighboring ranchers & farmers when it was time to burn and they had better have their side plowed or ready
I've seen tumble weeds along a fence row as high as 10 or 15 ft
We could always count on feasting on weed cooked rabbits the days we burned.
madlabs:
Always have one of these suckers handy:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McLeod_(tool)
Most versatile fire tool ever made, plus you'll use it for all sorts of other stuff too. Great for grass fires. Just remember to fight from the black!
Jonathan
OperaHouse:
We have "good insurance". My wife had a nagging cough and being out of town we had to find someplace to go. Didn't want the cost of an emergency room so looked at the dock in the box places. Researched the internet and consumer reports. It said the supermarket (yea groceries) nurse practiconer visit would cost about $100, urgent care with a doctor would be $150. Wife chose the later. Found one connected with a hospital and asked what their charges would be. Sh said just a $40 copay with our insurance, at home it would be a $20 copay with our doctor. Seemed reasonable. Ten minutes with the doctor., They never could get her blood pressure, two machines that never worked properly and the doctor wrote the prescription wrong, but it was over. Then we got the bill, over $1300 and after insurance our cost was $400. Should have gone to the ER and had a real doctor. Healthcare is a sham. They play with the billing codes to turn everything into a major crisis.
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