As planned, I picked up my used IBC tote late last week. Happily, I can man-handle it on and off the back of my pickup truck by myself, as I don’t have a tractor or other device with forks to lift it. I had been concerned about this because they weigh 135 pounds. While I wouldn’t want to carry one around, I can shove it along on the ground and yank it up on the truck bed. Of course, getting it down is even easier.
Weight is also a concern when the tote is full. Between the 275 gallons of water and the weight of the tote itself, I’m looking at approximately 2,400 pounds. This exceeds my truck’s carrying capacity, so I won’t be able to load it into the back, fill it with water and drive around like a poor-man’s fire truck. I could fill the tank halfway and use it that way, but that cuts down on my available water.
In a desperate situation, I would fill the IBC tote on the back of my truck and not worry that I was over the vehicle’s carrying capacity. Better to save the house and damage the truck than lose the house. Besides, we’re just going 100 yards, not 100 miles.
My neighbor has forks for his tractor, but I don’t know if they can lift 2,400 pounds. He also has a skid steer which should have more than enough lifting power, but it’s often off at a job site. This means I will have to put the IBC tote in place and leave it there, but more on this later.
Testing Fill Speed
I wanted to rinse out the tote. it was clean and dry when I got it, but it had held a chemical used to produce cosmetics, so I hooked up the pump and got to work filling it from the stream.
First thing I found out is the hose has to be anchored into place. Shoving it inside the IBC tote doesn’t work because the water flow is so forceful when the pump is on the hose rises up and out and shoots water everywhere. I should have realized this beforehand, but instead I spent 12 minutes holding the hose as it filled the tank with creek water.
My plan is to experiment with attaching weights on the end of the hose. I need to find a weight that will fit through the hole on top of the tote and is also heavy enough to keep the hose from flailing about. Failing that, I will buy a 1-inch female NPT fitting, drill a hole in the IBC tote lid, and set it up so I can screw the hose to the lid. If I do this, I’ll have to install some kind of relief valve so the air can vent out as the tank fills.
The second thing I learned is the pump can fill the tote in 12 minutes. That’s about 23 gallons of water a minute. If I assume I can empty the tote in 12 minutes, it doesn’t give me much fire-fighting time. Of course, I filled the tote with an open hose, no nozzle to restrict the flow, so I may get more time when the nozzle is on.
This makes me glad I did not buy a 2-inch pump. It would probably empty the tank in four minutes.
Any way I look at it, I need more totes to effectively fight a wildfire.
Tote Placement
Imagine that my house is a 60×30 rectangle and I have 100 feet of hose. I can place a tote on each of the 60-foot sides and, depending on if it is in the center or on the end, my 100-foot hose can protect two or three sides. Here’s an illustration of where I plan to put the totes:
One reason for their location is they are near my hose bibs, so I can fill the tank with water from our house instead of water from the creek. This will work fine the initial fill, but my garden hose will not add fresh water as fast as the pump draws it out, so it won’t be as much use during a fire. Plus, our water supply is limited by the size of our cistern.
I originally thought I would need two totes, but now I am thinking of getting three. The third one can be stored full, and when it is used up, I can place it in the back of my truck. If there is a lull in the firefighting activity, I can go to the creek and fill it halfway. Then I can drive over to one of the stationary totes and transfer the 140 gallons of the water to it. It will take four round trips and about an hour to refill both the other stationary totes, but it’s the best I can do.
An alternative would be to buy a trailer that can hold two totes, but now we’re talking more money than I had budgeted.
Manpower
As I look at these plans, this attempt to become my own firefighting force will work better with two people. It would be better yet with two pumps and more/longer hoses. I’m going to discuss this with my wife because I think she sees herself bugging out rather than fighting the fire. I may have to call on a friend or two to help. They have to live close enough to get here in time to be of assistance, yet far enough away that their home isn’t threatened.
Last weekend, there were wildfires on Long Island, just outside the Hamptons. Rumor says it is arson, but too soon to tell. Just a reminder to think about prepping for fire, even if you don’t live in California.
