That was a pretty spectacular blaze they had going on over at Notre Dame. Of course, when you let your kindling season for around 800 years you should probably expect a rather cheery glow.

You know, back in the 1700’s right up until the late 1800’s a house fire in a large population center could wipe out a huge chunk of the metropolis. We all hear about the Chicago fire but there were quite a few similar conflagrations through history. … The kind that were so dangerous that the people responding would literally dynamite entire rows and blocks of houses to keep it from spreading.

Nowadays you don’t really see those kinds of blazes very much anymore. Sure, industrial fires occur and there’s always that one propane tanker that just has to become a freeze-frame moment on he national news. But residential neighborhoods going up? Seems like it doesn’t happen very much. Wildifres, sure. But someone left-the-stove-on-and-burned-down-twenty-homes doesn’t seem to happen very often at all.

Of course, whether its one house or one hundred, all that really matters is when it’s your house. After the apocalypse you can’t really count on the local fire brigade to show up and you might be on your own.

For a couple years I’ve tinkered with the idea of a small hose bib and coil of flat hose hidden in a strategically located closet in the house to keep the small fires form becoming Big Fires. But, in addition to that I also keep a rather generous amount of fire extinguishers.

But you know what really sets the stage for being prepared against that sorta thing? Prevention. I simply try not to burn down the damn house. Whats that mean? Well, for starters, if I’m not at the house I don’t leave things like crockpots, slow cookers, rice steamers, or other ‘slow cook’ devices running. Thats just asking for trouble. Of course some devices run when Im not around…refrigerator, hot water heater, furnace, etc, but those are kinda designed for unattended operation. (And, nonetheless, I keep an eye on them anyway… keep those things clean from dust and any nearby materials that might wanna go poof.)

And, of course, smoke detectors. And I’m not some idiot who just slaps a 9v into $10 detector, mounts it on the ceiling, and then thinks its a job well done. No no no. You gotta test that mofo. A wooden kitchen match and a stepladder. Every. Smoke. Detector.

Afew years ago someone gifted me a CO detector. These are actually probably even more useful than a smoke detector because while I can get the hint that the sofa is on fire from that bright red glow, I am completely oblivious to the CO building up in the house because the vent to my hot water heater got iced over or something. And, if you’re going to heat with a kerosene heater or other portable device in the winter then you really need a couple of those things.

Sadly, the best laid plans of mice and survivalists often go astray so you gotta have a plan for when things start getting toasty. The most blatantly obvious is have a way to get outta the house. I live on the ground floor, so for me, defenestration is my number one method for heading to safety. But, if you live in a multi-story dwelling….well…might wanna think about how to get out without breaking both legs.

Might also wanna think about the critical stuff to keep in the gun safe. I don’t attach a ny sentimental value to my passport, birth certificate, college papers, or pardon from the governor….but I might like to not have to replace those documents. So, if its something you really don’t wanna replace and might need for running your life….it goes in the gun safe.

Thing is…we know all of this. Am I telling you anything that you don’t already know? Of course not. The big issue is do we act upon what we know? You  know the important docs should stay in the gun safe, right? So why are the sitting in the drawer of your desk? You know you’re supposed to change the smoke detector batts every time we set the cloks back/forward, right? So why is the detector in the laundry room chirping like a lovesick cricket?

Motivation, man. We know what we’re supposed to do, we just don’t do it. And then when we get caught….well, imagine how stupid youre going to feel then. Imagine coming home to this. This is probably one of the biggest reasons I can imagine for having a ‘secondary location’ where I can keep a portion of things like ammo, food, guns, fuel, gear, etc.

Anyway…I was reading an article in the paper today about a local-ish family that lost it all in a house fire and it reminded me of the subject. Oh, and before I forget, while it probably won’t come in handy after the apocalypse, some good fire insurance will be a nice bit of peace of mind the rest of the time.