Thread: Fire Fighting System.

Hi Peoples,

It's been a long time since I posted here. Hope I'm in the right forum. Anyway, I'll try to keep this interesting, and if at first it seems like I'm offtrack ... well, gotta work my way into the story with an intro.

I live in a remote place. A bush fire area.

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(Actually, I've forgotten how to do all this, so this post is a bit of a test. It appears to be working.)

Greg

I've lived here for quite a while, about 12 years. I'm retired now and luvin it. We had a bushfire here in 2018. I was totally unprepared. Not even a garden hose to reach the edges. No plan, nothing. But I survived it.

After that, immediately after that, I swore a long and solemn oath that I would develop a plan and gather myself the necessary equipment all in one place or die in the attempt. But of course, the rains came, and for the last five years or so, they've continued, and of course, I did nothing, not a thing. The Lantana, Black Acacia, and the native grasses didn't do nothing. They have grown like Jack's beanstalk and hemmed me in. It was only recently that I noticed just how large the fuel load is growing and building all around me.

It scared me. I have to burn off 180 degrees on the slope coming up from the ravine. That means I need a Fire Permit ... and that means I need a plan, and that means I need equipment.

My plan is a very simple one because I've only got a little brain.

PLAN A.

1.. Get fit, and don't run around gasping and wheezing like you did last time. (I have since done this, got fit, and even given up the smokes.)
2 .. Burn off all the lower slope.
3 .. Build a Fire Fighting system that has everything you need in one place.


Once the fire is upon is on you, you barely get a moment to even get a drink of water, let alone gather your equipment together. I've found that the 2 most important things in fighting a bush fire is drinking water and your fire Hoe.

So, anyway, this thread is about building the fire fighting system. Photos aren't terrific, mostly just iPhone. Hope you enjoy.

Greg

Awsome. Keen to see your ideas. I think living through a bushfire changes the way you look at the land and your home for sure.

While bushfire are apart of the Aussie landscape, we are certainly paying for our mismanagement of the land over the last 200 years!

Simon

Sent from a galaxy far far away

Maybe start with a bit more clearing and a couple of big water tanks?

I put in a 22 tonne tank solely for fire use when I built the place years ago. At that same time I bought a Honda GX200 and a 50 metre fire hose reel. But none of this has ever been utilised or even put together. The Honda and the fire reel have been sitting on a shelf in the workshop (read Sea Container) for 10 years, gathering dust. The Honda had never had fuel or oil put in it. It still turned over and I rung Honda, what should I do after 10 years idle. They said, "Put oil in it, and start it". This worked third pull on the rope ... heheee.

So, out of scrap metal, and no plan, just build it as you go, I started.

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oooops ... can't seem to upload images. might have to reduce their size

Might work this time.

OK, working. BTW my workshop is the open doors of a sea container. My welder is a lttle Fronius, Makita angle grinder and and I have a Sentinel Welding helmet.

A piece of cattle rail, some rusty (internal) plumbing pipe and a piece of box tubing make the main frame. (I did say I building it from scrap)

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To the frame I attached the engine mount (made from wood to reduce vibration)


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If i lived there i would give some serious consideration to creating a hidey hole by into digging into that hill behind the house, sprinklers on and around the house and fingers crossed. For weeding ect I had an old d4 cat that still had a bit of life in it, you can push up windrows running up the hill and torch them when the weather is on your side.

I made all the little clips and hooks so that I could 'coat-hangar' the equipment onto the frame.

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All I have to do now is assemble all the equipment.

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Nice work!

Grahame

I was going to suggest a diesel pump if money is no object. However if buying a petrol then I would not touch anything BUT Honda. Super reliable. Usually if they don't start second pull then there's something wrong.

Stale fuel is their biggest downfall. Drain fuel and the end of every bushfire season and pull the starter cord until the engine is in compression. This makes sure both valves are seated and protected from oxidation and fuel/oil deposits. Seems overly fussy but this pump forms part of your critical infrastructure.

Make sure your pump is well protected. This means either by protecting with a colorbond type enclosure or with a sprinkler system. With any firefighting system, the operation of the pump and protecting it is critical. Have a look at where the most likely direction of intense fire will be. Place it on the opposite side of the house to that direction. This will usually the opposing side of the house to the slope you mentioned.

All plumbing above ground should be non combustible, probably gal is the most cost effective.

Polypipe at the appropriate pressure rating if fine but it should be buried 300mm below ground.

Depending on your budget, investigate a roof sprinkler system. Since you have the water storage capacity, it's worth a look. Most of this stuff you can build yourself from stuff at bunnings or other hardware stores.

Bare in mind, once you start creating extra water delivery points you need to keep check of your aggregate water flow and make sure you don't over run your pump capacity.

Also have a reasonable accurate flow rate for different parts so you know how long you can run parts or all of the system for before running out.

Example, if you have a roof and wall sprinkler protection circuit and it uses 150 litres per minute then running it for 10 minutes uses 1500 litres.

Seems obvious but it's important to know during a fire.

Have redundancy where appropriate;

Keep a spare hose or two protected away from the action.

Strategically placed metal buckets of water around the house are also good bang for buck. They cannot fail, have no moving parts and can put out a spot fire.

You have the "luxury" of having experienced a bushfire and survived! Use this experience to your advantage when designing your protection system.

Other parts of the equation that are key to your survivability are the passive elements;

Fuel loadings around your home. Many people think that big trees add to your fuel loading but bushfire intensity relies on fine fuels, 6mm or thinner. Reduce these sufficiently and there won't be the ability to burn larger trees or your home.

Much (but not all) of your attention will be placed on the vegetation and fuel loading leading up that slope towards your home. For every 10 degrees upslope, I bushfire forward rate of spread (FROS) doubles.

This can catch people out especially if the fire is backing down to a valley before heading back up on the opposing side. A 20 degree slope can mean a difference in FROS of 16X and a corresponding increase in intensity.

If this slope is a northerly aspect then even more of your effort is required. Most significant bushfire are fed by northerly winds (followed by a SW wind change in the arvo) so if the slope is a northerly aspect then expect that to be your most likely approach from a fire. Northerly aspects get more sun and typically have drier fuels in summer (fuel moisture content FMC)

Preparing for a bushfire is a tough gig. It's easy to prepare a year after you had one but staying prepared every year after you haven't had a fire 10 years on is the challenge. It's human nature to become complacent. It can be tough spending money on maintaining equipment that seemingly never gets used.

After all that, it's one thing being physically prepared and having a plan to stay and fight. It's another to stick with the plan when things look really bad. Not everyone has the mental capacity to stick to the plan and ignor the fight/flight response. Survival is never guaranteed and many people have lost their lives by having a plan but then being overcome by emotion and fear and getting in their car at the last moment, long after it was safe to make the decision to leave. Dying in their cars.

Prepare well, know your plan, know your equipment, know your limitations and act accordingly.

I could go on but I won't. I feel I know more about this than metalworking.

Some good books to read out there;

Joan Webster's Bushfire Survival Guide.

This may be a little dated. Some of the thinking has changed after the 2009 Black Saturday fires when 173 Victorians died. But it's still worth a read.

Phil Chenney wrote a book (probably several actually) on grass fires.

Phil Chenney was (retired now) a scientist for CSIRO for many years and headed research into bushfires. Look up Project VESDA. If you are interested. Amount other things.

Ok. Ill shut up now!

Simon (camping at Cape Conran)



Sent from a galaxy far far away

Oh as mentioned, for ultimate peace of mind and survivability, a refuge bunker would tick many boxes!

PS. Those firebug drip torches are great for fuel reduction AND for mental relaxation!

Make sure you get the petrol/diesel mix right!

Sent from a galaxy far far away

Oower ... still trying to upload. Will reply soon.

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