![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Today Fugly posted about what to do to minimise fire danger at your 'barn'. Here's a couple more pieces of advice from someone who has been there in a bright yellow coat :P
1. fire extinguishers. I can't even begin to tell you how important they are if your horses are indoors, or you have a hay shed or whatever. Get them. Have your local brigade check them for you once a year or so. Refill the foam/dry chemical ones. READ the instructions so you know what to do. ASK your friendly local fire fighter to show you how to use it on a fire pad. AIM AT THE BASE OF THE FIRE!!!!
2. Cotton rugs/sheets. If you are in a fire area and you want to give your horse protection from embers, this is the best thing to put on them. Heavy canvas is good too but then you have the risk of heat stroke etc. Fly masks are BAD; PLASTIC MELTS IN HEAT! Would you want that on your head?
3. Teach your horse to TROT ALONG next to a running person. Just trust me on this one.
4. NEVER EVER smoke around the barn. Just don't. Hay burns like a mother-fucker.
5. Hay will self combust if it gets wet and then dries and stays humid. Bale got wet? Throw it out. Break it apart, spread it around.
6. Are you connected to mains water? Yes? Then get a garden hose and have it connected close to the barn/shed, make sure it is long enough to reach the entire place.
7. Something on fire? First and foremost ALWAYS know your EXACT location. The emergency call taker may not be a local. Know your street number, street name and if possible, your closest cross-street. If the fire is small, aim the extinguisher/water at the BASE of the fire, not on the top or middle. If you can't reach the base but there is a wall or something you can bounce the water/foam off to reach it, do it. Practice. DON'T put yourself in danger any more than you have to. Focus on getting any horses out and away from the site; loose horses/animals + firefighters/fire truck = usually disaster. During Black Saturday a number of horses were hit and killed by fire trucks racing to scenes. Our drivers are HIGHLY skilled but trying to see through thick smoke and handle a VERY heavy truck makes it very hard to miss stuff in the way. That includes you - please stay back. ONE person may approach the fire fighter in a helmet that is a different colour from the rest of the fie fighters/has a red band around it/is wearing a vest with Incident Control or similar on it to give them the word that every one is out and warn of any hazards (barrels of chemicals etc, you'd be amazed what people keep in their sheds).
8. We are there to protect human life before all else. Yes we will save your animals and property if we can, but we will always focus on human life primarily. If you try to act the hero and run into a burning barn, that's minimum 2 fire fighters you have now put in life threatening danger to try and rescue you. Trust me, we will usually end up back at the station or at home bawling our eyes out at the loss of your dog/horse/whatever, but if it means leaving them behind because we have to drag your sorry butt out when we could have been using those extra fire fighters to extinguish the fire, we will. Lashing out at us won't help and will land you a night in the police station. Happens more commonly than you would realise.
Be fire ready. Clear rubbish from around your property. Keep grass short. Clear dead fall. Keep trees near ANY sort of power line trimmed right back.
1. fire extinguishers. I can't even begin to tell you how important they are if your horses are indoors, or you have a hay shed or whatever. Get them. Have your local brigade check them for you once a year or so. Refill the foam/dry chemical ones. READ the instructions so you know what to do. ASK your friendly local fire fighter to show you how to use it on a fire pad. AIM AT THE BASE OF THE FIRE!!!!
2. Cotton rugs/sheets. If you are in a fire area and you want to give your horse protection from embers, this is the best thing to put on them. Heavy canvas is good too but then you have the risk of heat stroke etc. Fly masks are BAD; PLASTIC MELTS IN HEAT! Would you want that on your head?
3. Teach your horse to TROT ALONG next to a running person. Just trust me on this one.
4. NEVER EVER smoke around the barn. Just don't. Hay burns like a mother-fucker.
5. Hay will self combust if it gets wet and then dries and stays humid. Bale got wet? Throw it out. Break it apart, spread it around.
6. Are you connected to mains water? Yes? Then get a garden hose and have it connected close to the barn/shed, make sure it is long enough to reach the entire place.
7. Something on fire? First and foremost ALWAYS know your EXACT location. The emergency call taker may not be a local. Know your street number, street name and if possible, your closest cross-street. If the fire is small, aim the extinguisher/water at the BASE of the fire, not on the top or middle. If you can't reach the base but there is a wall or something you can bounce the water/foam off to reach it, do it. Practice. DON'T put yourself in danger any more than you have to. Focus on getting any horses out and away from the site; loose horses/animals + firefighters/fire truck = usually disaster. During Black Saturday a number of horses were hit and killed by fire trucks racing to scenes. Our drivers are HIGHLY skilled but trying to see through thick smoke and handle a VERY heavy truck makes it very hard to miss stuff in the way. That includes you - please stay back. ONE person may approach the fire fighter in a helmet that is a different colour from the rest of the fie fighters/has a red band around it/is wearing a vest with Incident Control or similar on it to give them the word that every one is out and warn of any hazards (barrels of chemicals etc, you'd be amazed what people keep in their sheds).
8. We are there to protect human life before all else. Yes we will save your animals and property if we can, but we will always focus on human life primarily. If you try to act the hero and run into a burning barn, that's minimum 2 fire fighters you have now put in life threatening danger to try and rescue you. Trust me, we will usually end up back at the station or at home bawling our eyes out at the loss of your dog/horse/whatever, but if it means leaving them behind because we have to drag your sorry butt out when we could have been using those extra fire fighters to extinguish the fire, we will. Lashing out at us won't help and will land you a night in the police station. Happens more commonly than you would realise.
Be fire ready. Clear rubbish from around your property. Keep grass short. Clear dead fall. Keep trees near ANY sort of power line trimmed right back.
