Plan "B"

ghrit, Nice, I get it.
It's not about being prepared for fires...
Plan A has been compromised for whatever reason. Maybe your at work or away when something bad goes down, by the time you get home you've been burned or looted. Or it's not safe to go there.

Maybe you wake up at 0:dark30, homeland security already in the hallway. Your out the window in nuthing but your skivvies.
For whatever reason you find yourself no more prepared than the kid flipping burgers at McD's and spent all his money on oversize jeans and speakers for his lowered honda.

Hmmm his jeans prolly would fit me well and that wing could be used as a shelter. Having a cache in other places is a good idea so your not using wits alone.

 

I find I am still working on plan "A"....
"anything, anywhere, and at anytime"...
Gets pretty intense when you try to consider all of the IF's, ands, or buts!

 

Taking a different approach to this and suggesting that Plan "B" for fires, be that you install a fire suppression system. Not a cheap undertaking though.

If you are on a budget. Get to know a plumber, so you can pay him on the side to install your fire sprinkler system. However, not all plumbers have the knowledge of properly installing these.

Since you will be upsizing the water main to your residence, you might as well go for broke and install a 2" line to the house so you can have at least one 1 1/2" fire hose cabinet.

Who cares where those shoes are now, they are soaking wet.

 

I didn't see any mention of having a generator in your original posting. However, we are prepped for TEOTWAWKI and I can't imagine that a generator would not have been included in the master plan so we could have water and electricity.

Fire suppression is possible for well dwellers also but it comes with a price.

Basically, you need at least one 300 gal. pressure vessel, some pressure pumps and a generator. Obviously, it is a little more complicated than that, as there is more piping and valves, space needed for installation and some electrical involved.

There are companies out there that manufacture well water fire suppression system. They are a little more complicated than a traditional system but it looks like it could be plagerized. Obviously, the packaged system would be the easiest route.

300 gals. does not seem like much water. To put it into perspective, sprinkler heads usually flow at 10-25 GPM, residential heads being the lower end of the scale. If you have 300 gals. of water storage and the head is flowing at 10 GPM that is 30 mins. of full flow coming out one head for 30 mins. Statistically, most residential fires are extinguished with only one head going off.

Sorry for the sales pitch on fire safety. It's just that since my move to a smaller company out of the big city of Portland 4 yrs. ago, I'm doing more than just plumbing these days.

If you ever get a chance to see one of those Fire Sprinkler Demonstration Trailers, check it out they are used to promote the fire sprinkler industry. It's a trailer with a plexiglass divider and they set fire in a wastebasket under a curtain hanging on the window. You would be surprised to see how fast the fire grows and how long it burns before setting off the sprinkler head. A lot of folks right before it goes off are getting ready to get up and leave.

As far as those shoes go. If you are living in a similiar environment as myself, you'd ditch those shoes and get some comfortable boots with a Gore-Tex liner.

I trust my feet daily with Danner Rainforest boots. I can wear them all day at work or hike in the woods without any problems of fatigue or aching on my feet, most comfortable boots I've ever worn.

 

I bought the pipe, fittings and even got the high and low temp sprinkler heads here for only $6.50 each....
Problem:Water pressure!
It was my understanding I'd need a certain amount of pressure for the heads to operate effectively, if at all.....(65psi +)???
Our water pressure was dropped by the park, as the pipes are all pvc and kept breaking...we are now around 30-35 psi!
I did a complete system for a 12 x 60 mobile home with 6 sprinkler heads, valves and all fittings and pipe for less than $200.00.
Little did I know it was all for naught!

 

We are a little of topic but I'll reply to your water pressure inquiry.

Just because you have 30-35 psi doesn't mean the sprinkler heads won't have enough water if ever tripped.

What you need is enough water flow at the furthest head, pressure is only one of the factors in the design and calculations of the system. You can engineer a system that would work at 30-35 psi but this can dramatically increase the pipe size needed to have the proper amount of water flow, not water pressure.

Water flow= GPM (gallons per minute)

 

Now I have to come to realize why so many commercial type of fire suppression systems have pumps and most have reserve tanks for the initail water supply needs!
I have large fire extinguishers in all rooms including the bath, and beside them are flashlights of the large 6 volt type (they are almost worthless, as the batteries just don't last!) I am considering replacing all flashlights with the rechargeable types that keep ready on the wall mounts....

I have had 3 kitchen fires, 2 destroyed the electric stoves and 1 set the floor on fire....
So far, I have managed to not lose the home, and being a mobile home, that is a plus! A few scorches, replacing stoves, and repainting the ceiling has not been cheap, but easier than replacing everything I had in the home and the home itself.
Fire extinguishers are the first line of defense in any home......(IMHO)
Smoke alarms save lives, and they DO work!
We had a refrigerator catch fire in the middle of the night, and we caught it in time to save everything!

From my experience, it takes a mobile home 3 minutes to be destroyed beyond salvage...
I also discovered that 1 building can generate enough heat from a fire to burn 2 more at a distance of 20 feet.

An amazing find....
A single wooden fence stopped the flames from spreading from one structure to another, as it charred in a very short period of being exposed to flames (5-6 feet away) and held the flames at bay, protecting a structure 10 feet from the initial fire.
The fence was 6 foot and made of cedar, but turning it into charcoal, it then acted as a buffer, and kept people asleep in their home, safe from the fire next door!
Weird or what?
I have seen about 12 mobile home fires and what happens....the speed is astonishing, the aluminum metal runs off it like silver water.....The heat is unbelievable.

 

I was under the impression that the sides were as thick as the ends? They stack them up on the tops of ships coming over from?? China?

 

In answer to the first question:

Easy idea for a backup BOB and only fits in a few pockets:
CASH, GOLD, GUN.

You'll be surprised how far a wad of cash and/or gold will get you. Backed up with some firepower of course to keep everyone honest.