.

Depends on the type of fire your talking about. If it is a forest fire, RUN, if its a brush fire and you have a water pump and large body of water, you can create an umbrella fire system. An umbrella water spray is where you've set up sprayers up wind of your main property to prevent spark or flame from settling on your building. Depending on the strategic value of your buildings, you may have to sacrifice a few to save the main. You might need to decide what is of most value, your barn and equipment or your house depending on how much water you have and the extent of fire fighting equipment you have. 😐

There are a few common sense things you can do to give your home a fighting chance.
I think the most important is to create a 30 to 100 foot safety zone around the house...basically, remove flammables from this zone.
Fuels such as gas, propane, etc, should be stored in a metal shed away from the house. Also, keep a 10 foot safety zone around this shed as well as propane tanks etc.

Stack firewood outside this zone and if possible, uphill from the house.
Clear tree branches 10 to 15 feet from the ground and keep dead limbs trimmed.
Mow the grass regularly and keep debris such as dead leaves and dry grass clipping cleared away.
When building, use fire resistant materials, metal roofing comes to mind first and brick or stone siding materials also. This will greatly reduce the risk of stray sparks igniting your home.

Many of us heat at least in part with wood. Keep your chimney clean and install a spark screen. Make sure your stove ashes are dead out before tossing them, if in doubt, soak them in water for a day or two before you empty the ash can. Be absolutely sure that no tree branches are overhanging the roof, especially within 10 feet of the chimney.

Excellent Denob! I was thinking about new Preppers who are just learning to heat their homes with wood - THEY can be the hazard to themselves if they don't know proper wood heat management.
So here's a little Wood Heat Primer:
As you mentioned, a clean chimney is a MUST - sweep it every fall (you can purchase the appropriate size chimney brush and rods at your local hardware store). Also, the chimney must be in excellent condition. Burn 'seasoned' firewood - that is, wood that has been cut and split, then had one year to sit before burning in your wood stove. If you buy firewood, you will see that the end of the piece of wood is cracked, so it is dry/seasoned. Also, hardwood (maple, ash) is better than softwood (pine) as you get more heat (BTu's) and less creosote (the black 'sticky' stuff that clings to the inside of your chimney and can cause a chimney fire).
When starting a fire in your woodstove, you'll be using some kindling (small pieces of dry wood - pine and poplar are good for this) with lots of air space in between them, then abit bigger pieces of wood on top - open up your dampers/air intake all the way (I also use a little piece of 'Firestarter' that I buy from the Dollarama - which is just compressed sawdust). Don't leave the room because it will burn hot for 5-8 minutes. Then you'll want to add another piece or 2 of larger wood. Let it catch and burn hot for about 5-10 minutes, then turn your air intake way, way down to burn it slow.
NOW you understand WHY you need a clean chimney: HOT burn at first and then SLOW burn for the day (which creates more creosote).
I love heating with wood! I hope this is helpful. 😀

I also will assume that we are talking a bush/forest fire situation for my advice also.

Ranger2012; That was the best advice - It is also the advice I give to others. RUN. After 30 plus years involved with the RFS in a fire-prone area of NSW in the Land-Down-Under there isn't much I haven't seen in regards to Bush Fires. Many people make the mistake of staying to fight a fire , only to realise they should have left, at this point in time it's a safe bet that it's TOO LATE.

Denob Also sound advice. Common sense during Fire situations are at times the same as oil and water they don't mix, the only thing I would add is a "Green Belt" around your house, this is merely a maintained area of grass you keep watered and as green and lush as possible. This is usually in that 30 foot to a 100 foot safety zone Denob was referring to.

PrepHer You complete the 'trifecta' for good advice; The chimney are is often an area of neglect, down under we can get a product called 'Soot-it' which is a little paper sachet of a chemical which you throw into a lit firebox and the chemical reaction then occurs which removes build up in the chimney - I was dubious about this until my mother ( who is still highly independent one now in her early 90's) told me about it and it appears to have worked for her now over the past few years. The other thing that I'd like to add to PrepHers comments are DON'T leave your fire starting gear around for children to access and don't leave the fire unattended at the starting stage with children around.

Here are some other points to consider; Is the dwelling on a hillside with prevailing winds - don't really matter as a fire makes its own wind. If it is on a hill/mountainside - my advice is forget it pack up and go as soon as the risk factor is evaluated as heading your way - preferably, you would go before this stage.

Your best bet to save the house would be a sprinkler system (externally fitted on roof/walls) which have inter-lockocking sprays. Have a very good fire-break devoid of ANY GROWTH, and if GUTTERS are attached to the roof - ensure they are cleaned prior and during the height of a fire season. This is mere speculation as to the construction, and property location.

Insure your property adequately, if you have access to a good continual water supply and a good fire pump you can buy a 'Fire-Retardant Foam and dispenser' that you attach to your fire pump system and does increase your chances.

Pay special extra attention to the gutters - this is how the fire takes hold in a lot of situation - if you can block the outlet - fill them with water.

A lot of this depends on wether you have time to implement these actions at the time a fire posses a threat - often you don't.

You should have more than one evac route as fires are a law unto themselves. You should be gone before you need to consider which route is safest.

Sorry for butting in but after seeing damn near everything a fire can do - it has left me with an extremely healthy respect of fighting bush/forest fires.
I could go on all day but the main message I want to add is "DON'T put your self in the position of Í should of gone earlier". Property and 'Things' are replaceable - PEOPLE ARE NOT.

Hope all these posts have been a help because I think they have just about covered all points of consideration.

Hey FNQ'er you sound just like my dad 😆

He was a captain in RFS for as long as I can remember and we grew up bordering a National Park...we got the full drill from him...ah you bring back fond memories 😀

I had to do a bush fire report for our subdivision recently and my thoughts were put to the test last Wednesday when a neighbour burned off, hmmm well from the look of it, flicked in a few matches and drove away leaving us to defend against the fire that got out of control.
But on a good note the APZ (asset protection zone) was adequate that is the open and maintained paddock and green zone kept the fire away from the Building Envelope. All bush is up slope of buildings, which is soooo important.

Government regulations are a massive problem with bush fires as was evident in VIC...."No you are not allowed to clear, burn, cut down trees etc"...."Ooops we blew that and the state burned down"...."Clear away everything that can possible burn, cut down all the trees, and back burn everything in site"

It was better when common sense prevailed and before the paperwork, environmentalist junkies took over the RFS 😈

I had forgotten about the fire retardant, That was one of the things that they use when I got volunteered to fight a fire in N. Ontario way back when. There is a nack to properly mix this stuff, But again any one who can get some FAN nozzles, this would reduce your Fire risk. This only will work if you have a high volume of water, and a very reliable, water delivery system. There is a fire system that will divert the water to the wind side of your property. But as Denob stated, this will only work for those that has done proper fire break maintenance. If there is a forest fire storm, then all bets are off.

Hey FNQ'er you sound just like my dad 😆

He was a captain in RFS for as long as I can remember and we grew up bordering a National Park...we got the full drill from him...ah you bring back fond memories 😀

I had to do a bush fire report for our subdivision recently and my thoughts were put to the test last Wednesday when a neighbour burned off, hmmm well from the look of it, flicked in a few matches and drove away leaving us to defend against the fire that got out of control.
But on a good note the APZ (asset protection zone) was adequate that is the open and maintained paddock and green zone kept the fire away from the Building Envelope. All bush is up slope of buildings, which is soooo important.

Government regulations are a massive problem with bush fires as was evident in VIC...."No you are not allowed to clear, burn, cut down trees etc"...."Ooops we blew that and the state burned down"...."Clear away everything that can possible burn, cut down all the trees, and back burn everything in site"

It was better when common sense prevailed and before the paperwork, environmentalist junkies took over the RFS 😈

Thanks for the compliment - I think - suddenly feel like a tribal elder. ...- LOL-... .

I totally agree with that last statement of yours.
I also noticed that there were many ideas and operational procedures - created in the safe and secure area of an air-conditioned office ( but with a big chance of a serious paper cut each day) by many 'experts' with shiny back-sides.

Some of the regulations were bordering out and out stupidity (never seen a regulation covering stupidity though).

But your right, nearly every state has experienced some totally ridiculous law, by-law that hinders or outright prevents us from putting in sensible fire protection policies for our own properties. Those same people have overlooked the fact that, the Australian bush, over the evolutionary period is designed to burn as a method of rejuvenation and reproduction (some native plants/trees need a bushfire to open the seed pods for seeds to grow).

Then there is the battle with those miserable insurance companies that consider it, 'a to be too painful an exercise to pay up for fire and flood insurance', as seen recently in our media outlets.

Sorry this may be just the ranting of a 'senior - thanks for that one Cares ...-LOL-... , geriatric old fella'.

Ava good-un!

Thanks for the compliment - I think - suddenly feel like a tribal elder. ...- LOL-... .

Sorry this may be just the ranting of a 'senior - thanks for that one Cares ...-LOL-... , geriatric old fella'.

Ava good-un!

Definitly a compliment....he was a gentleman and scholar both and you sound the same 😀