Category: Fire Prevention/Fighting

The Home Foundry, Metal Casting – Part 4, by Dan in Oklahoma

Safety, Aluminum Sources, Melting, and Pouring We are now at the most exciting and most dangerous part of the aluminum casting process. You will be working with fire, an extremely hot fire, fed with forced air. But the biggest hazard lies in a possible spill of molten metal. Before I even start the fire I wear tall, heavy leather boots, this is no place for sandals, or plastic tennis shoes. I also wear a pair of welders suede leather leggings, and a welders suede leather apron. It is wise to wear long pants and long sleeve shirts. This is a …


The Home Foundry, Metal Casting – Part 3, by Dan in Oklahoma

Forge Fuel & Homemade Charcoal The aluminum melting forge is fueled by hardwood charcoal. To begin making charcoal you are going to need 2 steel barrels. One standard size 55 gallon drum will serve as your outer barrel, the second barrel is a little more difficult to acquire. The inner barrel or actual charcoal out gassing barrel needs to be small enough to fit inside the 55 gallon barrel. The smaller barrel also must have a lid that can be locked in place during the cooking and removed later to extract the charcoal. I was fortunate enough to find Military …


Four Letters Re: Survival Fire Safety

Sir, Mr. F. has written a very good article on a subject often neglected by many. As a fire service professional working for one of the largest municipal agencies in the country, I must warn against the use of candles whenever possible. Paranoid? Not after seeing burned up children, loss of property, etc. If you must, please place them well away from any combustible materials, and never carry one when lit. – SplitHoof. JWR Replies: I generally discourage the use of candles, but if and when they are used, my advice is to: 1.) Never let them burn unattended, and …


Survival Fire Safety, by Mr. F.

In our preparations, we’ve all made an in depth survival plan.  We have stocks of food items and a means to hunt or grow more.  We know where we’ll get water and how to treat it and have solutions for cooking, heating and lighting.  Perhaps some will operate gasoline or propane-run electric generators and some may distill alcohol or use wood gasification for fuel.  We also have adequate supplies of medications, vitamins and first-aid items.  We’ve thought of everything, planned for any contingency.  Right? What about Fire Safety?  Our plans mostly or entirely rely on fire for cooking, heating and …


Three Letters Re: Lessons Learned From an Ice Storm

Dear Editor: With regards to the battery powered carbon monoxide (CO) detector, I just want to second that. When my family went through the Nov. 2007 ice storm that took out the power to half of Oklahoma, we were running off our generator for two days. The first night I put it outside, but close to the house to help shelter it from winds. Our CO detector went off in the middle of the night. We ended up having the fire department come out and check things. It was determined that the CO came in through either the dryer vent, …


Lessons Learned From an Ice Storm, by G. in the Zarks

While watching the local weather over the last few days, it has become apparent that a winter storm is heading for our part of the world, bringing with it the distinct possibility of not just snow, but significant amounts of ice. As I pondered this, it brought to mind our recent experiences with ice storms over the last few years, most notably in January 2007. I thought some of our “lessons learned” were worth sharing with others. We had been blessed with several years of reasonably mild winters leading up to the 2007 storm. Unfortunately, the good times often seem …


Letter Re: Building a Supply of Long-Burning Candles

Dear James, I recently was walking through Ikea with my wife here in Minneapolis and came upon a candle sale. They are currently having a sale on red 8 inch, Unscented Christmas candles rated at 70 hours for 99 cents. I promptly filled the cart with 40 or about 2,800 hours worth of candlelight for 39 dollars. Not wanting to recommend anything I had not already tried I promptly lit one to see how long it would last and right now it is still burning on hour 85 – will probably be done between 90 and 100 hours. Thought your …


Letter Re: Which Items Need a “Cool Dry Place”, and Which Don’t?

Mr. Editor, It seems that when we have to store anything it is always recommended to store in a cool dark area with low humidity. What things can we store in less than favorable spots like attics or outside sheds where the temps and humidity varies greatly? Thanks for all you have done for us. – Bill H. in Delaware JWR Replies: Humidity can be problematic, but some items that can tolerate fairly high temperature inside a shed include salt, ammunition, paper products, and many cleaning supplies and lubricants. (But do your homework on potential leaks and fire danger, especially …


Lessons Leaned from a Wildfire Evacuation, by Daniel in Montana

It was a gorgeous Saturday night, Sept. in Montana’s mountains the weather was hanging onto summer’s 70 degree temperatures, warm and dry. Working all day at the hospital and finishing some of my home preparedness projects gave me a satisfaction and sense of accomplishment. Time to relax, I sat down, put my feet up and was sipping my week’s end treat, a cold beer. I phoned my friend, “Brett” to finalize our plans to butcher a few of his farm animals tomorrow. He was finishing a Bible reading with his boys and was putting them to bed, and would call …


From David in Israel: Off Grid Alternatives to Utility-Supplied Electricity

James One of the most troubling things I see when speaking to people about going off grid is how badly they want to keep all of their electrical appliances and just spend many thousands of dollars on a battery bank more appropriate for a U-boat and solar cells or generators to keep them topped off. Having had a minor role in a micro-satellite system design proposal one thing you learn when confronted by limited power supply is to either economize or do without. The appliances you own for on grid use are not efficient. They are built to be inexpensive …


Fire Suppression for the Present, and for Post-TEOTWAWKI, by Keith H.

In the various TEOTWAWKI scenarios there will probably be no organized fire companies to help out the survivors with timely a fire suppression response. Here are some simple and low cost solutions that individuals can do to suppress and fight fires that are type A fires such as paper, cardboard, wood, cloth, plastics etc. Do not fight other fire types with water . Search engine “fire extinguisher types” to learn more. [JWR Adds: You should keep at least two 10+ pound A-B-C fire extinguishers in your home, for fighting grease, chemical, and electrical fires.] In many homes there is currently …


How to Capitalize on Urine, Car Batteries, Wood Ashes, Bones and Bird Schumer, by Jeff M.

Throughout the last few centuries, mankind has been building and building up, combining raw materials and energy to create… stuff. This stuff is scattered all over urban population centers, and many of it can be used for basic life-sustaining purposes. I thought I’d write in and share some information I’ve gathered over the years in my work and in my hobbies, as it relates to sustaining life if you’re trapped in an urban area. I’m enumerating the primitive uses of some very basic components for those interested, this wasn’t meant as a guide for building any of this stuff, further …


Letter Re: University of California Disaster Preparedness Videos

Jim: While scanning through iTunes U, I found a television (or audio) series from University of California TV on disaster preparedness. They are professionally produced and contain a wealth of information about about emergency response systems are intended to work. Included here are four of the fifteen or so shows that they have put together. The ones I have included are Natural Disasters, Chemical and Biological Agents, Pandemic Influenza and Emerging Infections and Disaster Volunteerism They go over several case studies that happened in California, but talk about organizations generally enough that it is applicable to most areas with advanced …


Letter Re: Wood Stove Selection, Operation, and Safety

James, You’ve had two good letters on woodstoves recently. I’d like to add a few thoughts based of heating and cooking with wood for a couple of decades in the Colorado mountains. I have never been more contented than when there’s a blizzard raging outside and I’m inside next to a nice warm woodstove. That being said, woodstoves and chainsaws account for the vast majority of domestic emergencies in many rural areas and a constant source of amusement for EMTs. As has been written, the importance of a properly installed chimney cannot overemphasized. Do get a quote for a good …


Lessons Learned from Hurricanes Ike, Rita, and Katrina, by TiredTubes

In September, 2008, Hurricane Ike–a Category 4 hurricane–pounded the Gulf Coast of the southern US. Some coastal communities like Crystal Beach no longer really exist. Inland, life was severely disrupted. For those of us on the South Coast hurricanes are a frequent reality. We were quite well prepared, but used the disruptions and dislocations as a test and opportunity to tune up our preparations. 1. Be ready to help others and to accept help We didn’t need much during Ike, but the power went out before a neighbor finished boarding up his house. My 1 KW inverter, hooked up to …