She watched a wildfire destroy her town, so she's building fire-proof bunkers
From Trauma to Technology: Engineer Builds Survival Bunkers After Losing Neighbors in Wildfire
When the Atlas Wildfire tore through her community in Napa, California, in October 2017, Linda Cantey was unaware of the imminent danger. The aerospace engineer and consultant had her mobile phone silenced, leaving her and her husband asleep while the blaze swept through their neighborhood. "We were sound asleep when that thing came ripping through our neighbourhood," Cantey recalled. The situation turned dire when a neighbor’s phone call finally woke them. By then, the canyon was engulfed in flames, and Cantey could see across the valley that every house on the opposite side was already burning.
While Cantey and her husband managed to escape, tragedy struck nearby. An elderly couple on their street had been prepared to leave; they were awake and positioned their car in the garage. However, the power outage disabled the garage door opener, trapping them inside with no way to escape. They were among the six people who perished in the fire, which ultimately consumed over 51,000 acres and destroyed 783 structures.
The memory of that night remains visceral for Cantey, but she has transformed her grief into proactive measures. Beyond serving on local fire safety advisory boards, Cantey leveraged her professional network to address the lack of residential wildfire protection. She approached a mining consultancy she worked for, a firm specializing in underground refuge chambers, and asked if their expertise could be adapted to create safe havens against wildfire flames.
The collaboration resulted in the launch of "Fort," an above-ground refuge unveiled last month. Designed to withstand extreme heat, the shed-like structure features fire-proof doors and materials, capable of sheltering up to eight people along with their valuables for four hours on breathable air.
"If it wasn’t for Linda, we wouldn’t have built this, I don’t think," said Josh Behling, president of Wildfire Safety Systems and a co-inventor of the Fort.
The Fort is part of a growing sector of innovative businesses emerging to combat worsening wildfire risks. These solutions range from high-tech hydraulic homes to eco-friendly grass-clearing goats. According to NASA, extreme wildfire activity has doubled in the last twenty years. Highlighting the urgency, the Sandy Fire in California’s Simi Valley—located roughly 30 miles northwest of Los Angeles—recently forced widespread evacuations and scorched more than 2,000 acres.
However, these protective technologies come at a premium. A herd of goats hired for vegetation management can cost upwards of $3,000 (ÂŁ2,230) per day. The Fort bunker begins at $60,000, while other innovations, such as flame-retardant home wraps and advanced sprinkler systems, also run into the thousands.
Innovation on this front was also highlighted on the reality TV show Shark Tank, where entrepreneurs pitched HiberTec Homes the night before the Fort’s launch. The company proposes hydraulic homes that can submerge underground within minutes. A 1,000-square-foot (93 sq m) HiberTec home is estimated to cost approximately $1.2 million.
Holden Forrest, the founder with a background in real estate and construction, conceived the hydraulic home idea in 2019 following the Woolsey fire, which destroyed 1,200 homes near his Malibu residence. Forrest sketched the initial concept on the back of his nine-year-old daughter’s homework and presented it to an architect, anticipating ridicule. Instead, the feedback sparked a multi-year development process involving engineers and experts to patent the technology.
Despite the innovation, mass deployment is not imminent. Forrest estimates the first hydraulic homes will be available by 2030. In the meantime, Behling noted that Wildfire Safety Systems has two show units of the Fort. The company plans to manufacture refuges at a Utah facility, shipping them within five weeks of an order, with an initial target of 150 orders annually.
Officials emphasize that the Fort is strictly a last resort; no one recommends residents stay put as flames approach. However, Cantey and the Fort team hope that having a "shed that sits in your backyard" can provide a critical lifeline for those unable to evacuate. In a demonstration of their confidence in the product, Cantey and the Fort’s CEO recently volunteered to test the shelter themselves.
Source: BBC News Generated at: 2026-06-03 09:47:19 UTC
