I believe it was David Holmgren, of permaculture fame and whom you’ve quoted at length, who suggested that individuals should design their homes for the “catastrophe” appropriate to where they live. We live in a temperate rainforest that burns every so often, so step one is to build our homes to withstand wildfire. That’s not easy, but what comes to mind would be a partially underground, passive-solar heated hobbit-house with living roof and any exposed surfaces non-flammable. A home of this nature would also stand up well to earthquake and high winds, two other likely emergency scenarios for this region.

Next, have insurance. I’m aghast at the amount of money that insurance companies drain from small rural communities like ours; maybe our communities will be able to self-insure someday (a future post topic). But insurance itself is a good idea because we have to face the reality of losing our homes. Honest home/fire insurance could make a huge difference in getting one’s life back together.

The other night at a community dinner I sat next to a long-time Texadan and volunteer firefighter, and we were discussing the recent fire. He mentioned that the fire retardant dropped by air tankers is extremely gelatinous and slippery. “You can’t even walk on it after the planes have dumped or you’ll fall down,” he said. So I wonder if individual homeowners could spray this stuff on their own houses just before evacuating in the face of a wildfire. I’ve not researched this idea so I don’t know if the potential environmental damage would be worth losing your home, but I plan to explore this approach further.

Finally, what can you do if a wildfire is bearing down on your defenseless home and you’re preparing to leave? 1) Make a large turnaround spot for the fire crews in the area, because they might park their vehicles in your driveway and use your house as a key staging area to fight the fire. Your place would then have more chance of being saved than an inaccessible neighbour’s place. I’ve seen this happen. 2) Adopt a non-materialistic attitude about life. So what if you lose your home? Life goes on.

I still don’t know what the Texada Emergency Preparedness Plan says about wildfire. But I agree with Ryan Thoms, our regional emergency coordinator, who told the Texada Chamber of Commerce last Friday night that no government can really protect us from such events. We’ve got to take personal responsibility for our own well-being in emergencies, and then reach out to help others as best we can.

–Tom

I’m curious to hear your thoughts.