Semi rural living - Fire safety & water provision best practices

[Tangoddess]

Hello,

Me again. So, now that our household is growing and our land is clear we need to start thinking about fire safety and safety in general.

We live on a residential farm in North Houston, Texas, proximal to other similar properties. But it would take 20 mins for a fire truck to get to our home, and there are no fire hydrants on the street.

We do have some diesel containers and gasoline containers in our garage so that creates a permanent fire hazard. And of course our neighbors may have more hazardous substances or quantities of gas and diesel.

We do have some store bought ABC category fire extinguishers and smoke alarms at home.

We are planning to build a lake on our property within the next year or so....

What are some of your tips to prevent a fire and Lord forbid if there is one, to have a water source for the fire trucks to use?

To add, how important is it to have a knox box on our gate for the fire department to access and open our gate to the property? The door may take a while to break down

Any and all recommendations are very welcome.

Thank you

 

[rustyshakelford]

Hello,

Me again. So, now that our household is growing and our land is clear we need to start thinking about fire safety and safety in general.

We live on a residential farm in North Houston, Texas, proximal to other similar properties. But it would take 20 mins for a fire truck to get to our home, and there are no fire hydrants on the street.

We do have some diesel containers and gasoline containers in our garage so that creates a permanent fire hazard. And of course our neighbors may have more hazardous substances or quantities of gas and diesel.

We do have some store bought ABC category fire extinguishers and smoke alarms at home.

We are planning to build a lake on our property within the next year or so....

What are some of your tips to prevent a fire and Lord forbid if there is one, to have a water source for the fire trucks to use?

To add, how important is it to have a knox box on our gate for the fire department to access and open our gate to the property? The door may take a while to break down

Any and all recommendations are very welcome.

Thank you

Depending on your budget I’d suggest having a residential sprinkler system installed. Oasis fire protection is a company for example. As for the Knox box, get with the county fire Marshall so you can get it keyed correctly. Hopefully it’ll never be used but they are very useful and would be nice if they were mandatory.

If you have a pond a dry hydrant would be useful for drafting but a turbo draft site would also be handy

Brett

 

[Gary Fowler]

Do not depend on a fire dept to save your house. In my experience, even if you are next door to the volunteer fire dept like my friend was, by the time they get to your house, even if you have fire hydrant at your front door, all the FD is going to do is keep anything else from catching fire. Your house is going to be totaled.

Best spend your money on a good insurance policy. Make sure that it will cover removal of the remains of your home if a fire does happen. It is quite costly to demo and haul off the remains of a burned house.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

Are we talking about a fire that starts IN the house? Or a fire that spreads to your place from outside your boarders?

For inside, your best bet is make sure everything is to code, electrical, etc. Have smoke detectors, maybe some heat detectors in the attic space, and a couple fire extinguishers to help you get out. Fire extinguishers are NOT for fighting fires. They are to handle a small problem like a waste paper basket, or skillet on the stove. Anything bigger, and just collect all the people and animals and get out. A sprinkler system will help, but the water damage from that will still likely "destroy" the inside of the house. Sprinklers are there to save people, not structures. And you have to have a water source for the sprinkler system, which is sounds like you do not.

Most of the time, the ONLY time a FD crew will enter a structure fire, is if there are still people trapped inside. If they are sure the structure is empty, they will just "monitor" the fire to keep it from spreading to the next house/structure/property. They are not going to risk their lives to save your house. That is what insurance is for.

Brush fires. Keep your property cleared from piles of brush, tall grass, dead trees, limbs, old pallets, undergrowth beneath your trees, etc. Create a barrier zone (normally called a "fire break") around your house and out buildings that is clear of all these "fuels". In summer, or other high risk times, also keep any portion of your property bordered by a road or highway mowed down very short of grass or brush. People driving by like to throw all manner of garbage, including burning cigarette butts, from their vehicles as they go past your place. Again, reduce the quantity of fuel source available to start or feed a brush fire.

 

[PILOON]

A lot said is very true but I'll add, Have your chimney swept regularly, like annually at least.

Next door neighbor (we are rural) had the chimney catch fire and even though the trucks made it in 20 mins the house will be declared total I think.

The dept cut his hydro so all the plumbing will be scrapped, water damage is extensive as is smoke damage.
Water got between the siding and structure and the siding bulges out. The all wood ceilings and BC fir exposed trusses are charred and some partially burned thru.
Now also not being heated I'd suspect the foundation will have suffered as well.

Adding insult to injury he might even lose his 'acquired rights' and no be able to rebuild.
(Bylaws specify you need 75 ft frontage on the municipal road which he has 0 ft)

 

[rustyshakelford]

Are we talking about a fire that starts IN the house? Or a fire that spreads to your place from outside your boarders?

For inside, your best bet is make sure everything is to code, electrical, etc. Have smoke detectors, maybe some heat detectors in the attic space, and a couple fire extinguishers to help you get out. Fire extinguishers are NOT for fighting fires. They are to handle a small problem like a waste paper basket, or skillet on the stove. Anything bigger, and just collect all the people and animals and get out. A sprinkler system will help, but the water damage from that will still likely "destroy" the inside of the house. Sprinklers are there to save people, not structures. And you have to have a water source for the sprinkler system, which is sounds like you do not.

Most of the time, the ONLY time a FD crew will enter a structure fire, is if there are still people trapped inside. If they are sure the structure is empty, they will just "monitor" the fire to keep it from spreading to the next house/structure/property. They are not going to risk their lives to save your house. That is what insurance is for.

Brush fires. Keep your property cleared from piles of brush, tall grass, dead trees, limbs, old pallets, undergrowth beneath your trees, etc. Create a barrier zone (normally called a "fire break") around your house and out buildings that is clear of all these "fuels". In summer, or other high risk times, also keep any portion of your property bordered by a road or highway mowed down very short of grass or brush. People driving by like to throw all manner of garbage, including burning cigarette butts, from their vehicles as they go past your place. Again, reduce the quantity of fuel source available to start or feed a brush fire.

They won’t sit back and watch a fire that is small burn the house down. A fireman’s job is to protect life and property. They aren’t going to burn their gear up for an empty building but if they can fascilitate an offensive attack than they generally will. Especially in the Houston area of depts which Cleveland is in. The sprinklers can help keep a fire in check. There will be water damage but that’s much better than fire especially since it’s fresh water. There main focus is buying time for the occupants to escape.

As for a water system. They don’t require a tremendous amount of water since they are residential systems and not designed to flow several heads at a time. A well can keep up with it generally if it has power and city water is a no brainer. Materials is approx $1 per sq ft then installation last time I checked.

Brett

 

[truckdiagnostics]

Do not depend on a fire dept to save your house. In my experience, even if you are next door to the volunteer fire dept like my friend was, by the time they get to your house, even if you have fire hydrant at your front door, all the FD is going to do is keep anything else from catching fire. Your house is going to be totaled.

Best spend your money on a good insurance policy. Make sure that it will cover removal of the remains of your home if a fire does happen. It is quite costly to demo and haul off the remains of a burned house.

What he said. Call your insurance agent and do what makes sense from lowering your policy stand point. Then take pictures and document what you do own. Then have a good get out of dodge plan. Of course do what you need to do to lower risk. Like putting fuel in building off in the corner of your lot!

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Residential sprinklers /fire suppression systems have really come down in cost. Well worth it even for the insurance standpoint. I have 2 - two thousand gallon tanks of water for "stand by" fire suppression and FD use. I have a gas powered water pump and 100' of 1 1/2" fire hose / nozzle. We have a full time paid FD, about 6 miles away, but I guarantee by the time I would call 911, they get dispatched, and the crews respond and arrive on scene, the structure could be fully involved. Sprinkler systems have it out before you even get off the phone. Also works when no one is home.

 

[BHD]

a pool or lake that can be accessed, I have a 9000 gallon tank on my property, if full that may only last a few mins in a fire pumper,
but the biggest problem is water availability for fighting fire in a rural area. If the department uses foam it can stretch a water supply greatly,

I have found 2.5 gallon air pressurized extinguishers far superior than the ABC units, I have the foaming nozzle on the extinguishers, and even adding some dawn dish soap will do wonders, to the effectiveness of the extinguishers, look up cold fire and watch there videos,

but the fact is fire prevention is your best bet,
spread out the buildings,
store the flammables in a separate shed away from other buildings,
keep grass cut low,
and any piles of flammable materials, away from other buildings,
use fire resistant materials for siding of buildings
read up on fire mitigation,

adding a residential sprinkler (even with limited water supply can stop a fire before it gets out of control) , biggest problem with a residential sprinkler is agan water supply, most wells are under 15 gallons a min, that will not run a lot of heads if needed. having a water supply that with an auxiliary pump could help a lot.

 

[Ken45101]

Most of the time, the ONLY time a FD crew will enter a structure fire, is if there are still people trapped inside. If they are sure the structure is empty, they will just "monitor" the fire to keep it from spreading to the next house/structure/property. They are not going to risk their lives to save your house. That is what insurance is for.

OMG! Totally incorrect! I have been inside many burning houses, putting out fires, when we knew there was no one inside. Only when collapse became a high risk were the firefighters pulled out and it became a "defensive" situation. (I was a volunteer firefighter for 14 years and responded to over 1200 fire runs. Only a few times did we fight the fire from outside and those were after we were unable to stop it with an interior attack.)

As for providing a water source for the fire department, TALK TO THE FIRE CHIEF! While ponds and FD connections are nice, the FD is accustomed to providing their own water and may very well ignore private sources. The first rural department I served on was so used to operating off of their tanker that they only used hydrants to refill the tanker after the fire was out!