Wildfire Temporary Refuge Area - description and practice

  • Temporary refuge areas (TRA) assist firefighters from radiant heat when the flame front has caught up to emergency workers. When lookouts, anchors, communications and escape routes have failed and safety zone is too far away a TRA might still save the team.

    A temporary refuge area is used as a last-resort survival option when sudden changes in fire behavior prevent firefighters from reaching a planned escape route or safety zone. Unlike an ideal safety zone—which is an area clear of flammable materials where you can survive the passing fire without a fire shelter—a temporary refuge provides emergency shelter to shield you from radiant heat.

    Here are the primary options and characteristics for a temporary refuge:

    • Structures: If you must use a building, prepare it rapidly by clearing away outside combustibles, closing all windows and heavy drapes, and bringing charged hoses and fire extinguishers inside. Once inside, stay on the main floor and keep away from windows, basements, and upper floors. Exit after flame front with half mask respirator and fight spot fires with hand tools, water fire ex. or hoses.
    • Vehicles and Equipment: Fire engines, dozers, and water tenders can serve as emergency heat barriers. Keep engine running in vehicle and facing downwind when the flame front reaches the vehicle back into the black.
    • Pre-Mapped Urban Clearings: In the wildland-urban interface, large paved or cleared areas like football fields, baseball diamonds, or big box store parking lots can serve as excellent temporary refuges.
Consider
    • add fire shelters, half mask respirators and bunker gear with items above and you may survive a flame front long enough to get into the black (spent fuel)
    • being down wind with a barrier to radiate heat like a fence can help if there is no combustibles below and your in a ditch

    See also:
    S-215: Fire Operations in the Wildland/Urban Interface
    • A required training course for the Wildland Fire Qualification System and NFPA 1051.
      5
    • The objective is for firefighters to operate safely and effectively during an wildfire asset interface or urban conflagration incident using situation awareness, structure triage, pre-planning, and unique tactics.
    • Wildfire community interface includes firefighter safety in fast moving large scale wildfire where businesses, structures and infrastructure are threatened
    • urban conflagration includes pre-incident planning, structure triage, and tactical operations in a wind driven fire like Maui or Valparaiso


Location: 2967 12-SE Rd, Othello, WA 99344, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tactics For Wildfire Community Interface or Urban Conflagration

Image
  Structure Protection Strategy  in the wildfire community interface are 1)  defensive  (taking action before the fire front like wetting or removing fuel), 2)  offensive  (attacking the fire directly before or after it reaches structures) , or 3) a  combination  of both. Ultimately, the most effective form of structure protection is to suppress the wildfire first using conventional wildland tactics like line construction, enveloping, and firing out. Structural Protection Unit - SPU c/w sprinklers, pumps and portable water tanks  can be Type 1,2, or 3 (as seen in photo) Specific Tactical Actions  Based on the structural triage categories we discussed earlier, firefighters deploy specific tactics depending on whether a home is defensible: For Non-Defensible Structures (No Safety Zone): Check and Go (Rescue Drive-by):  A rapid evaluation to check for occupants and assist in evacuations when extreme fire behavior or lack of time makes ...
Read more
Image
 Risk management in the wildland/urban interface (WUI)—the area where human development meets or intermixes with wildland fuels—requires a unique approach that bridges the gap between traditional urban (structural) and wildland firefighting. Because firefighters are traditionally trained to handle either structural fires or wildland fires, risk management in the WUI relies on  cross-training  personnel to understand both environments, ensuring they can safely suppress fires involving both buildings and vegetation and often on a lager size or complexity.  Example:  - do structural city fire crews know visibility limitations of heavy equipment or helicopter safety  - do wildfire forestry crews know power line or hazmat hazards Risk management in an urban conflagration or wildfire asset interface create transformational activities that are not always routine involving specialized tactics: Comprehensive Hazard Assessments:  Risk management in the WUI relie...
Read more