Can people in california build fire shelters in their back yard, like people used to build bomb

[applegrove]

shelters or tornado shelters? Is that what Governor Jerry Brown was talking about? Underground and air locked I assume.

[Small-Axe]

1. I guess, if one has the room, a spare $40,000 or so...

and air to breathe.

Otherwise, it really isn't a feasible solution

[brush]

2. I guess it's theoretically possible, but I don't think those bomb shelters from...

back in the day would've worked against the heat blast of nuclear weapons.

Any fire shelters would have to been extensively tested so people don't get roasted from these fires that are melting cars.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. Problems: constructing a shelter that would not only be structurally heat-proof but

would not allow the interior to become too hot for survival; and it would also need an air supply because the fire sucks up all the O2. You would need an 02 supply that would be completely protected so it wouldn't feed the fire.

[Blue_true]

9. Probably cheaper and potentially more effective to provide people with civil alert radios

and position maps so that they can be informed where their house is relative to the fire, that will make evac safer for people since they won't drive into a far.

It would help if people would evac earlier. But in some places people exist who think that they need to sit with a gun to protect their property, they sit until the fire is on them and they have no escape route left.

[marylandblue]

4. The most effective thing to do would be to issue fire blankets like the firefighters use

But even those won't protect against a really hot fire.

[MissB]

5. I think those are good to about 500 degrees.

Iirc, the Camp Fire burned at 1000+.

Not nearly as bad as the Peshtigo Fire that burned at about 2000 degrees (1871, Wisconsin.)

[marylandblue]

11. Yes, I know, but I think better ones could be developed.

There hasn't been a lot of support for it because it's really a last resort anyway, but I wonder if the Camp Fire will change the thinking.

[Downtown Hound]

8. These types of forest fires can reach well over 1000 degrees

Fire blankets and protective clothing are only good to 500 degrees. They're more for getting close to fires rather than being directly in them. The type of fire that destroyed Paradise would melt through a fire blanket like it was a marshmallow.

[marylandblue]

12. I think better ones could be developed. Hasn't been a big priority.

But there are other materials that can withstand higher temperatures.

[Downtown Hound]

6. Theoretically yes, but there are problems

Number one, you have to make it deep enough to escape the heat. Forest fires can get really really hot. Like really hot. So you'd have to dig pretty far down. But an even bigger problem is oxygen. They have a tendency to suck all the air out of a place, and then the smoke afterwards can make ventilation for air a problem. So you'd have to bring your own air down in the shelter in the form of tanks, and you'd have to have enough of it to at least last you for a few days, and you'd have to have it far enough down to where it wasn't affected by the fire or a vacuum.

And then, you have another problem. Earthquakes. Most of California doesn't have basements, not only because of earthquakes but also because the ground is full of water. It would be a very expensive thing to build.

Bottom line, yes it's possible. But very expensive and time consuming. My wife has family that were in Paradise. They made it out alive, lost their home, and had to drive through burning cars and forests to do it, but they survived. They have a friend however, who had a bunker in his backyard. However, it was just a basic bunker in the ground. No oxygen supply, no protection from heat, nothing. He ran into it when the fire hit. He is currently one of the more than 600 people missing, and the thinking is that they will not find him alive.

[applegrove]

10. How that is so sad. Vibes to your wife's family who lost their home

and all those victims. Let us hope the list of the missing is much smaller than it is now and that most of the people are found in shelters.

[BigmanPigman]

7. I heard him too, but I don't know what he meant.

I googled Paradise and found that fires are common there like elsewhere in the state.

"In June 2008, a wildfire, named the "Humboldt Fire" for its point of origin, swept over 22,800 acres (9,200 ha) of land between Chico and Paradise. As many as 9300 people were forced to evacuate southwestern Paradise until the fire could be brought under control.[14]
In July 2008, a fire called the Camp Fire burned on the northern side of Paradise in the canyon where the Feather River is located. Again, thousands were evacuated from their homes, but the fire failed to cross the river.[15] It was part of a larger complex of fires called the Butte Lightning Complex or BTU Complex,[16] which also included the Belden and Pit fires.[17] The fire was, of course, a separate fire from the 2018 fire of the same name." from wikipedia.

I remember Malibu also had a fire that burned to the ocean in 2007, just like this year. That one was also caused by utility companies...
"The fire began on Oct. 21, 2007, when three power poles alongside Malibu Canyon Road snapped during high Santa Ana winds and ignited nearby brush. The fire burned 3,836 acres, destroyed 36 vehicles and 14 structures, damaged 19 others and injured three firefighters."
http://www.malibutimes.com/news/article_e115f3aa-02e3-11e2-811c-0019bb2963f4.html

Brown and Newsom will be meeting with the fake prez when he comes. I guess he will hand them a rake for better "management" of fires since it is not related to climate change and wasn't caused by state utility companies who now say they can't afford the costs of the fines for their part/responsibility in fires.

[enough]

13. Yes. Very rich people could do this, and as usual, they would be subsidized. NT