Napa Valley couple create fireproof bunker after blaze killed neighbor

A Napa Valley couple whose neighbors died trying to escape a deadly wildfire has helped create a fireproof backyard bunker capable of withstanding temperatures up to 2,000 degrees.

The shelter, dubbed “Fort,” was inspired by the horrifying night the Atlas Fire tore through Napa County in October 2017, leaving a trail of destruction that burned more than 51,000 acres, destroyed 783 structures and claimed six lives.

Linda Cantey, an aerospace engineer and consultant, said she and her husband were asleep when the blaze swept their neighborhood.

“We were sound asleep when that thing came ripping through our neighborhood,” Cantey told the BBC.

With the sound on her cellphone off, the couple didn’t wake up until someone called their home phone. By then, the canyon was already engulfed in flames.

“By the time somebody called our home phone and woke us up… the entire canyon was full of flames, and we could see across the canyon that every single house over there was already on fire,” she recalled.

The couple escaped, but one elderly pair on their street did not. According to Cantey, the couple had been ready to leave but lost power and didn’t know another way to open their garage door after the outage.

The tragedy stayed with her.

After the fire, Cantey joined local fire-safety advisory boards and approached a mining company she consults for that specializes in underground refuge chambers. She wanted to know whether similar technology could be adapted to help people trapped by wildfires.

The result was Fort, an above-ground refuge that resembles a backyard shed but is built with fire-resistant materials and doors. The structure can accommodate up to eight people and their valuables while providing breathable air for up to 4 hours.

“If it wasn’t for Linda, we wouldn’t have built this, I don’t think,” Josh Behling, president of Wildfire Safety Systems and one of the refuge’s inventors, told the outlet.

The bunkers start at $60,000 and are intended as a last resort rather than an alternative to evacuation. To prove confidence in the product, Cantey and Fort’s CEO even volunteered to sit inside during live-fire testing while firefighters stood by.

Fort is one of several businesses attempting to address the growing wildfire threat.

Among them is HiberTec Homes, a company developing hydraulic houses that can disappear underground within minutes. Founder Holden Forrest said he came up with the idea after the Woolsey Fire destroyed roughly 1,200 homes near Malibu.

He first sketched the concept on the back of his 9-year-old daughter’s homework and expected an architect to “laugh me out of the room.” Instead, the idea evolved into a patented system. The company estimates a 1,000-square-foot home would cost about $1.2 million, with the first units expected by 2030.

Demand is also growing for more traditional fire-mitigation efforts. Colorado entrepreneur Kimberly Jones has expanded her goat-grazing operation from 25 animals to 250, using them to clear vegetation that can fuel wildfires.

“They’re afraid,” Jones said of homeowners seeking the service. “They’re really afraid.”

One wildfire last year stopped about 100 yards from a property her goats had cleared just 17 days earlier, added Jones.

For Cantey, helping create Fort has become part of the healing process after witnessing the devastation left behind by the Atlas Fire.

“It’s therapy for all of us, because what we’ve witnessed, and what we’ve experienced, we wouldn’t want anybody else to go through,” she said.

“But it’s going to keep happening.”

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