Would you attempt to flee wildfires in your 5 ton?

[US6x4]

I've been trying to game this out in my mind since this year's fire season began and I'm not sure if I would. Historically wild fires have come to within 1/2 mile from my house. Since my wife and I can only drive 2 rigs total, I was going over which vehicles to pack up and take, which vehicles to relocate to grassy parks or parking lots and which ones to leave behind to burn. The scenario in my mind is 1-3 hrs evac notice and a hectic traffic situation.

At first I was thinking the M813 was the ultimate escape rig that could carry our stuff and push cars out of the way, offroad if needed, and offer a place to live for a few days. But comparing the speed of fires around here to the speed of 5 tons and seeing that the turn radius wouldn't let me "easily" take alternate routes I started to have doubts.

My other option is my '75 highboy with 40 gallon tank & 10 mpg has the same range as the M813 but is more nimble and its 428 Cobra Jet is way faster.

Has anyone else considered their options for their situation?

 

[dmetalmiki]

Terrible time. We wish you all well and safe.
This, The Rescue', Is NO problem.
As it would be ( Or is, ) an emergency,
Invest in 'A' Bars for flat towing,
You can ( And I Could and Would With my kit, definately ), then pull as many as you like, SLOWLY (Loaded with Effects, and pets!)
(Thus). Save something, Anything, Everything.
To the nearest 'PLACE OF SAFETY'.
We are wishing that it will not come to this for you.
Good luck.
Very best wishes.

 

[dmetalmiki]

Addendum.
Use Anything to effect a safe revovery, 2nd drivers, ( Steersmen ), CHAINS, Ropes, What you will and would in an emergency.

 

[Ajax MD]

@US6x4 This is a tough question and Lord knows I wouldn't want you to rely on MY advice.

I agree that the M813 would allow you to push things out of your path and allow you to escape the pavement if the fire forced you to. You're also right that a fire could outpace the truck. Basically this means that you need to evacuate sooner. You might need to make your own decision to evac before local government issues an evac order.

The other question is- Do you think you'll be hemmed up in evacuating traffic? If so, the truck's speed is moot.

If range is a concern, you might load extra fuel cans onboard. Diesel is stable, especially without oxygen if the fuel can is full. In bootcamp, we flung lit matches into an open diesel tank and it wouldn't light. It took prolonged contact with direct flame to get it to light off. This was in our fire fighting trainer.

Think ahead, be safe.

 

[US6x4]

Evacuating traffic would be a real wild card - could be jam packed or could be wide open. One thing going for me is that my house is between a river and a 4-lane highway so i have a wet line and a dry line on either side but I live in a valley surrounded by fairly steep hills. If i had to really leave like to the next town those hills would be 25-30 mph in the 5 ton and these fires can move at 40+ mph around here so they could overtake the truck if i ran out of luck...

 

[Nomadic]

Carry extra fuel.

 

[topo]

If I have to flee it won't be in one of my vehicles I'm taking what ever the people next door have that is full of gas escape vehicles always get trashed .

 

[Jon Giovani]

I would not use any of my 900 series trucks to escape, I equip them with water tanks and gas powered water pumps and defend my property.
I'm in the northern rockies, ex military and firefighter.
Stand your ground and defend..

Sent from my SM-T817V using Tapatalk

 

[simp5782]

I would not use any of my 900 series trucks to escape, I equip them with water tanks and gas powered water pumps and defend my property.
I'm in the northern rockies, ex military and firefighter.
Stand your ground and defend..

Sent from my SM-T817V using Tapatalk

You wouldn't do much unless you had 5 or 6 m969 or m970s to support them. They just can't hold enough Water on their own.

The configuration of a m978 HEMTT tanker with a m915 converted dolly coupled to a m970 would be a good combination being that combined its 7500 gal in one load.