Prairie Fire Storms

Currently the heartland is having a Fire weather warning. The air is primed for wildfires.

What you should do before a prairie fire.

First you should have a emergency evacuation plan. Your plan should include

• 72 hour kit or bag.
• A list of phone numbers
• 2 ways to escape each room of your home
• at least 2 ways to escape your neighborhood
• A place to stay away from the fire area
• and preps to transport pets and or livestock

Make sure you have all ID and other important paperwork with you, documentation for your animals, and back up discs for your computers.

During the fire, if you feel that you are in danger, LEAVE.

If caught in your vehicle;

• Stay in your car, don’t run on foot.
• roll up all windows and shut the vents
• keep lights on and drive slowly though smoke, however you shouldn’t drive through very heavy smoke
• you might have to wait out a fire storm in the car until it passes, this will cause your car to stall and not restart. Make sure your 72 hour kit has plenty of water, temperatures inside the car will increase.

If you are caught outside and a fire storm is headed toward you, lay down in the road cut or ditch, belly side down, up hill facing and cover your face. Breath through your shirt. If hiking, find a depression in the earth and lay there. Stay put until the fire passes.

After the fire

• do not cross any official barriers
• watch for flare ups
• burnt poles can fall, watch for them

• Check for structural damage of your home before entering it
• check for embers, in and around your home for several days following a fire
• Check for any gas leaks.

WildfireZone.org has an interactive program to help homeowners learn about reducing the risk of wildfire.

If interested in learning more about weather preps, you can find information here; It’s a Disaster; the book.