Fire
Shelter Deployment:
Avoid the Flames
Page 5 of 6
What if the burnover happens so fast that I cannot get to a clear area?
If you follow safe firefighting tactics, you should not end up in a situation where you have to deploy your shelter. If you must deploy and there is time, clear away any fuels to mineral soil. Otherwise, you will have to make the best of your situation. Remember, deploy as far as you can from fuel concentrations, trees, and brush. Do not deploy in tall grass. Look for the sparsest fuels you can find (Figure 9).
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Figure 9: If no area is available that is free of fuels, fire shelters are more likely to be effective in areas with sparse fuels than in areas with heavy fuels. |
If I am in a shelter and flames
contact it, what should I do?
DO NOT PANIC. Rely
on your training. Keep your face in the dirt. You must protect your lungs
and airway from the hot gases.
If you find that you must move to lessen the impact of flames or intense heat on your shelter, keep your nose and mouth close to the ground. Air on the ground is much cooler than air even inches above the ground. Scoot along the ground, but DO NOT RISE UP OFF THE GROUND. One breath of hot air can kill you.
Even if fire is inside the shelter, the shelter provides your best chance of survival. You may be burned. Be prepared to steel yourself against the pain. Conditions outside the shelter will be much worse than they are inside. Firefighters who have panicked and left the shelter have died.
One survivor of an entrapment received serious burns while he was in his fire shelter. He felt certain he was dying and thought his legs were burning off. He stayed on the ground and endured the pain. In the end, he completely recovered from his burns. He credited the shelter with saving his life.
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