Wildfires are a big concern right now, with fires currently burning in 19 states. Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming are being hit the hardest right now. Hundreds of families are now having to evacuate as the fires loom dangerously close to their homes.
This is what a wildfire looks like from the center – taken by real civilians trying to escape.
At least a dozen families lost their homes and residents are assessing livestock losses from a wind-driven grass fire that burned nearly 16 square miles in central Wyoming.
The fire started Saturday in a composting area at a regional landfill near Casper. Winds gusting up to 50 mph on Sunday pushed the blaze to the east, forcing evacuations in the Evansville area.
No injuries have been reported, said Natrona County Fire Marshal Bob Fawcett. He did not know the total number of buildings lost.
In light of the current wildfire danger, we want to bring you some essential wildfire safety tips.
1. Build A Bug-Out Bag
Quiz children every six months so they remember what to do, where to go, and whom to call in an emergency.
3. Create A Fire Resistant Homestead
There are many things you can do to protect your homestead from fire. First, always make sure you practice basic fire safety. Keep your smoke detectors in working order, don’t leave candles or stoves burning unattended, keep heat sources away from flammable materials. However, there are things you can do to prevent your house from catching fire from the outside as well.
The main thing is to keep dry, flammable materials, such as leaves, dry grass, and fire wood, away from your house.
Remove flammable materials (firewood stacks, propane tanks) within 30 feet of your home’s foundation and outbuildings, including garages and sheds. If it can catch fire, don’t let it touch your house, deck or porch.
Wildfire can spread to tree tops. Prune trees so the lowest branches are 6 to 10 feet from the ground.
Keep your lawn hydrated and maintained. If it is brown, cut it down to reduce fire intensity. Dry grass and shrubs are fuel for wildfire.
If you have a larger property, you can also create firebreaks with water features such as ponds and streams.
For more wildfire safety tips, check out this article from our sister site SurvivalLife.com.
Do you have any wildfire safety tips? Share them with us in the comments!
Here is the second part of the video above from above:
Video description reads:
Everything has been such a whirlwind this last week that we had forgotten that my wife took video as well, she is directly behind me while driving through the fire. She was driving a convertible (top up), so there was real concern that her roof would catch on fire, but luckily it did not. Note that several times during the video the smoke becomes so thick that she loses sight of my taillights, and I was losing sight of her headlights. Terrifying.
My mother lost her home in this fire, if you can help, anything is appreciated: http://www.gofundme.com/andersonsprings
