This odd tip may save your home in an emergency!
Wrapping buildings with fire blankets or aluminum foil can stop the flames of a wildfire. While it will turn your house into a giant baked potato, it can prevent large burning embers from entering the building through open spaces or gaps in your home. In addition, these blankets can keep homes from making direct contact with flames and prevent them from exploding due to the intense heat.
According to engineering professor Fumiaki Takahashi, two-layer blankets with an aluminum surface can block up to 92% of the convective heat and 96% of the radiation. These layers can protect structures from five to ten minutes. However, the aluminum trick cannot prevent structure-to-structure ignition.
Image credit: Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle