Your Survival Guy

Preparing your investments and family for when disaster strikes.

Disclosure

  • Home
  • Your Survival
    • Special Report: FOOD SHORTAGE: Crazed Hoarding Is Not Preparing
    • Your Survival Guy’s Super States
      • 2023
      • 2022
      • 2021
    • Constitutional Carry
    • EMP Threat
    • Tucker Explains
    • Newport Gas Outage
    • Water
      • Emergency Water Storage
      • Let There Be Water
    • Get Your Gun and Your Training Now
    • Satellite Phones
    • Navy SEAL Survival Kit
  • Your Money
    • Coronavirus Infects Stock Market
    • Looking for a Better America
    • You Invest, They Win
    • Where to Keep Your Cash
    • Paris
    • How to Buy a Boat
    • Dead or Alive? The Future of Long-Term Investing
    • Is Vanguard too Big?
    • Cryptocosm and Life After Google
    • The Last Intelligence Report
    • The Truth Behind the S&P 500
    • RAGE Gauge
    • How Many “Retirees” Will Keep Working?
    • Your Retirement Life
    • You’ll Love This if You’re Dreaming of an Active Retirement Life
  • Weapons
    • Self Defense
    • Every Family Should Own at Least One Shotgun: Here Are Three
  • About Me
    • Your Survival Guy: “Life on Main Street Hasn’t Been This Hard in a While”
    • Preparing for Times Like These
    • My Videos/Pics
    • Music
      • RIP Neil Peart: You Will Always Be Remembered as a “Modern-Day Warrior”
    • Your Survival Guy: Make Your Bed and The Hero Code
  • You
    • Our Cabin on Kodiak, Alaska
    • If You Are in Pain, this May Help. It Helped Me.
    • How to Save for a Grandchild
    • FIRE! Financial Independence, Retire Early
    • Compound Interest
    • Arithmetic of Portfolio Losses
    • Maximum Portfolio Withdrawal Rate
    • An Efficient Frontier
    • Retirement Compounders
    • Counterbalanced Total Returns
  • Survive & Thrive
    • March 2023: How Long Have You Been in the Investment Business?
    • February 2023: 4 Life Changing Words: “You Should Try This”
    • January 2023: Stacking Wood and Compounding Money
    • December 2022: Your Survival Guy Prefers Bombardier’s Global Express 7500
    • November 2022: Arriving in Style at Le Bristol Hotel, Paris
    • October 2022: Sink Your Teeth into These Bond Yields
    • September 2022: Do You Have the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People?
    • August 2022: “Watch This Boat off Our Stern,” My Dad Said “He’s Coming in HOT”
    • July 2022: MONEY TALKS: Your Survival Guy’s Best Service in Paris
    • June 2022: “I’ve Been with Richard Young for Over 30 Years Now”
    • May 2022: Survive “If You Fail to Plan, You Plan to Fail”
    • April 2022: Dream On! Fishing the Double Down in Key West
    • March 2022: Your Survival Guy Hears the Craziest Investing Stories
    • February 2022: Your Survival Guy’s 2022 Super States
    • January 2022: The Least Affordable Housing Market in the U.S.
    • December 2021: Listen Your Survival Guy is not “Mr. Peanut”
    • November 2021: Joe Biden is Weaponizing Your 401(k) Against You
    • October 2021: Time to Get Your Lazy Cash Off the Couch
    • September 2021: What’s Your Survival Guy Investing in Right Now?
    • August 2021: To Where Will You Flee?
    • July 2021: This Bubble’s Popped Baby
    • June 2021: Your Survival Guy’s Summer Job, Inflation & You
    • May 2021: You’re Telling Me Friends Ask You This Question
    • April 2021: Is There One Best Place in America for ‘Liberty Retirees?’
    • March 2021: America’s Growth Corridors
    • February 2021: Troops in D.C. & Your Authoritarian Virtual Panopticon
    • January 2021: Are You Ready for The Great Reset?
    • December 2020: Disaster Prep in Our Newport Bunker and Your Survival
    • November 2020: Election 2020 Edition: Stock Market is Predicting a Trump Win
    • October 2020: You Invest They Win, AGAIN
    • September 2020: Proud to be an American: Pro-Trump Parade Turns Rhode Island Red
    • August 2020: The Clock is Ticking: You Must Protect Your Family
    • July 2020: What Will Her Life Be Like Now?
    • June 2020: Your Survival Guy’s Home (and Money) Protection Plan
    • May 2020: Future Look at Covid-20, or the Next Deadly Virus
    • April 2020: Only Trump Saw the Risk in America’s Relationship with China
    • March 2020: Coronavirus Infects Stock Market
    • February 2020: Escape the City: Live Small, Cheap, and Safe in America
    • January 2020: Is Your Cash Safe? Probably not This Safe
    • December 2019
    • November 2019
    • October 2019
    • September 2019
    • August 2019
    • July 2019
    • June 2019
    • May 2019
    • April 2019
    • March 2019
    • February 2019
    • January 2019
    • December 2018
    • November 2018
    • October 2018
    • September 2018
    • August 2018
    • July 2018
    • June 2018
    • May 2018
    • April 2018
    • March 2018
    • February 2018
    • Welcome

Your Survival Guy Under Fire!: Part I

February 2, 2018 By E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

transformer fire fullDear Friend,

Thank you for subscribing to Your Survival Guy. If you are determined to prepare yourself and your family for the future, perhaps there was a moment in your life when you decided to take action. This was mine.

If you’re looking to be a member of my Survive & Thrive club, click here.

“There’s a fire in your yard!” my neighbor said. “There’s a fire in your yard, call 911!”

The Calm Before the Storm

It was a funny weekend weather-wise. Much of it was spent anticipating the storm that never really came. On Saturday, rather than take our boat out, my daughter and I walked to our slip, made sure the lines were secure, put out an extra bumper and walked home.

On Sunday, the surf was up so my son and I went surfing (I mostly paddled) in a steady offshore wind spraying the tops off the waves at First Beach. For dinner we went down the hill to my in-laws’—Debbie and Dick Young—house for steamers on their patio overlooking the same wave break at First Beach. As the wind picked up and the sun went down, we moved inside for lobsters. Not much of a storm so far.

Monday, Labor Day, was cloudy and windy but certainly not a major storm. Becky and I went out for a walk with our dog, Louis, and as we crossed back over the causeway, connecting Goat Island with Newport, we commented on the gusts pushing us off balance.

Around 2:00pm the gusts picked up and looking out our kitchen window, overlooking our backyard, there were wet leaves and branches strewn about from our black walnut trees. Some powerful 40mph gusts were followed by occasional cracks from breaking branches followed by a bang when hitting the metal gutters, the gas grill, or landing quietly in the yard. Our heavy hockey net in the driveway blew over and smacked against the ground startling Louis.

The Moment it all Changed

And then there was a huge CRACK!

A huge Maple in my neighbor’s yard, behind our house, came crashing down yanking down the power lines connecting our lots.

About those power lines in historic Newport.

Historic being the key word. Imagine an estate being cut up into residential lots, combined with the desire to hide unsightly power lines in backyards—to maintain the aesthetic of tree lined streets—and you get an idea of the power line situation in my neighborhood. It’s a jungle of power lines coursing through and between canopies of old, and sometimes dead, trees.

The felled Maple took out the power lines, destroyed my neighbor’s fence, crushed his shed, his car, and his scooter.

But everyone still had power.

Then, just like that, it all changed with a blink of an eye.

Confusion and Fear

There was a knock on our front door from another neighbor, visibly shaken, who called through the screen door, “Hey! there’s a fire in your yard! There’s a fire in your yard, call 911!”

Louis went nuts because someone was at the door. My daughter freaked out thinking the house was going to catch on fire, I couldn’t see the fire in the backyard and Becky and I were telling each other to call 911.

So much for staying calm. I could barely think. I ran outside and saw the fire.

With my adrenaline pumping, I ran inside to call 911 using our land line and as soon as I dialed, the house went dark. No phone. Becky called using her cell, then I called from outside using mine (note to self: Next time designate one person to call 911). It was chaotic. Becky was in another part of the house trying to calm our daughter and the dog down. I was outside calling 911.

Where Am I?

My 911 attempt went to a central call center where they asked me what town I was calling from. Not an easy question to answer calmly and clearly when under pressure, especially with bad cell service (note to self: Next time make sure the Satellite phone is nearby and not in your fishing tackle box in the garage).

Seconds later I heard the sirens. My neighbor (the one who warned us) and I stood in the driveway, as the sirens grew louder, ready to flag the police cruisers down. He yelled to me, “You don’t want to mess around throwing water on an electrical fire.” Then he asked “Did you know those transformers are loaded with oil?” Really?

As the firetrucks rolled in we explained that the downed tree landed on the wires at the back of the lot, that it had pulled the wires at the top of the utility pole, breaking the pole, smashing it and now an ignited transformer to the ground where flames roared from the oil and wind. Once the power lines were dead, the firemen hit the flames with water as the transformer reacted like one of those magic relighting birthday candles, except this wasn’t very funny.

Finally, after the fire was put out a crew from environmental safety cleaned up the oil spill and the electric utility company worked into early Tuesday (around 1am) to restore power.

The fire was out around dinner time so we headed down to my in-laws.

Debriefed by Dick Young

Uh, oh. Time for the debriefing.

As most of you know, Dick Young is more fanatical about survival prep than most. If I’m the survival guy then he’s “The Survival Man”. Lucky me.

His first question was, “How’s the survival guy?”

We sat and talked about what could be done to prep for a similar event in the future. This was serious. What if something like this happened to him?

As Dick rattled off a million questions to me, his power went out. As if on cue. I was saved. Misery loves company.

But, as if on cue, within a few seconds (which felt like minutes) his several thousand watt generator kicked on, powering-up what turned out to be just a brief interruption in my debriefing.

With that in-mind, here’s some areas we covered and some thoughts that came to mind for you.

What Was Learned

Electrical fires from transformers are a huge risk to neighborhoods. Take it from me. If there are some near your house have plenty of fire extinguishers at the ready. Walk your neighborhood to locate transformers. Are there any clear risks to you and your family such as low hanging or dead trees? If there are keep an eye on them or call the electric company to look at them.

Keep your cars full of gas. A few Labor Day’s ago a hurricane hit Newport. It wasn’t bad. But our guests had to stay another night. Keep those gas tanks full.

I’ve told you about my Yeti cooler. Becky and I moved all of our frozen, grass-fed, meats to the Yeti and they were still frozen when I unpacked them this morning.

There is no downside to having plenty of cash on hand. Cash works even without power, unlike ATMs.

Who’s in Charge Here?

One thing Becky and I talked about as a dozen or so firemen, police officers, and utility workers descended upon our property was: “This is no longer our property.” It happens that fast. They were in charge and to put it nicely “we were in the way”. Imagine if this was a city-wide event? First, there’s no way a crew of that size would help us as quickly as they did and second, you better be prepared to lock-up your property. An emergency can quickly turn your property into a public place. There is a fine line between who should be there, on your property, and who should not. When the smoke cleared and the firemen were gone I went to the back fence, climbed up to check the damage and there was a guy standing there. I asked him if he was a friend of my neighbor’s and he said “No” he wasn’t. He said he wanted to check out what happened. He had no right being there. He was trespassing. But the cops were gone. He knew that.

Make sure your weapons are easily accessible. I am partial to my Sig Sauer P226 to help me, as they say, fight my way to my shotguns. Here’s our review of our favorite shotguns.

Make sure you have light. I love my Streamlight 88030 ProTac 1L. It uses a CR123A lithium battery. It’s small and it’s powerful. Put it in your pocket and you’re good to go in the dark. And it won’t break the bank.

I also love my SureFire Minimus variable-output LED headlamp because two hands are better than one. I pack this on our boating trips and ski trips. It’s great for when a transformer catches fire in your backyard, cuts the power to your house, and you want to read in bed to calm your nerves so you can sleep.

Have a go kit. Check out our Navy Seal Kit here.

Buy a handful of Henry Survival Rifles for your family and keep one in your car. For the car, store the loaded clip in a separate place from the rifle.

Have plenty of water in your car. Dick Young has all of the above for his frequent north/south trips between Key West and Newport.

Night Comes Fast

Don’t forget, night comes fast when there’s no power. And, as is often the case, this stuff happens at night. Be ready.

There’s a reason to practice, because as the saying goes, you don’t rise to the occasion, you fall to the level of your training.

Get your gun and Your Training Now (Read Part I, II, III, IV, and V)

Get a dog. Yes, Louis was loud but that’s what you want from your dog when something goes bump in the night.

Last but not least have coffee, Burgundy and toilette paper on hand for obvious reasons.

You never know when a funny weekend weather-wise can turn into a serious situation. And the Burgundy always helps with the debriefing.

I want to help you prepare for the next disaster, whether it’s natural or manmade like a crash in the stock market. Both are real risks today. Getting you and your family prepared for either one is a constant battle—it’s a process. With my weekly email, I want to help you survive and thrive no matter what comes your way.

 

Download this post as a PDF by clicking here.

Originally posted September 7, 2016.

The following two tabs change content below.
  • Bio
  • Latest Posts
My Twitter profileMy Facebook profileMy Instagram profile

E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

E.J. Smith is Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. His focus at all times is on preparing clients and readers for “Times Like These.” E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zildjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart (RIP) of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com To sign up for my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter, click here.
My Twitter profileMy Facebook profileMy Instagram profile

Latest posts by E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy (see all)

  • If You’re a Highly Effective Person, We Should Talk - March 24, 2023
  • What’s Happening to Charles Schwab? - March 24, 2023
  • Prepare for the Predictable - March 24, 2023
  • Is Vanguard Voting Against Your Political Beliefs? - March 23, 2023
  • Call It the Difference between Normal and Crazy - March 23, 2023

If you enjoyed this post, email it to a friend:

  • Email
  • Print
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • WhatsApp

Related Posts

Money 101

Recent Posts

  • If You’re a Highly Effective Person, We Should Talk
  • What’s Happening to Charles Schwab?
  • Prepare for the Predictable
  • Is Vanguard Voting Against Your Political Beliefs?
  • Call It the Difference between Normal and Crazy
  • “I Need Preservation of Principal and Growth”
  • DEMOCRATIC SENATOR: Biden’s ESG Veto “Absolutely Infuriating”
  • Are You Fairly Wealthy? I’m Listening
  • How Long Is Your Water Supply Chain?
  • Your Survival Guy’s BEST Insider’s Guide to Key West

Trending

  • Are You Living Your Best Life?
  • Prepping for the Storm, Hiding in Cozy My Cave
  • Will the Black Swan Usher in Digital Dollars?
  • How the Rich Get Richer: You Invest, They Win
  • March RAGE Gauge: Will the Black Swan Usher in Digital Dollars?
  • New England Is Starving for Energy
  • For Whom Is Your Portfolio Serving?
  • Where Can You Survive a Nuclear Attack in America?
  • ESG: Are Markets Ready for "A Needed Dose of Reality?"
  • Hey, Where’s Everyone Going? Follow the Money Kid

Must Reads

  • Early Advice from Her Dad on Tipping at Charlie Trotter’s
  • Your Survival Guy’s Champagne Taste on a Beer Budget
  • Your Survival Guy’s Fishing Stories: From Key West to Newport
  • The Importance of a Balanced Portfolio
  • When Is the Best Time for You to Do This?
  • 4 Life Changing Words for Your Survival Guy: “You Should Try This”
  • Your Retirement Life: Adventure Awaits
  • How Long Have You Been in the Investment Business?
  • GET PAID: How To Invest in Biden’s Inflationary Market
  • BLOCKBUSTER SPEECH: Congressman Defends the Second Amendment
Only if You’re Serious
Crazed Hoarding Is not Preparing
How to Save Rainwater Effectively
Your Survival Guy in Paris
Your Survival Guy's Fishing Stories
Financial Independence, Retire Early
Money 101
Pandemic Creates Virtual Panopticon
Emergency Water Storage
Find Freedom in America
Second Amendment
How Can You Save Money for Your Grandchild
Great Reset
See Who's Missing the Boat
Richard  Young Reports
How You Can Save Money for Your Grandchild
Why Fidelity is Number One
The Best States for Survival
You Invest, They Win
Escape the City
Why Vanguard is Too Big for YOU
Island Life

Copyright © 2023 | Terms & Conditions

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.