Escaping a fire on a long thin island

Question

You are stranded on a long, thin island entirely covered in dry grass. A fire breaks out at the western end, and a steady west wind drives it eastward towards you. The island is far too narrow to go round the fire, you cannot swim, and there is nowhere bare to stand. You have matches. How do you survive?

Accepted Answer

Light a fire of your own just in front of you. The wind carries it eastward, away from you, burning a strip of grass. Follow it and stand on the freshly burnt ground. When the main fire arrives it has nothing left to burn where you are standing, and it dies out around you. Why it works. Fire needs fuel. The main fire is deadly because it advances into unburnt grass. Your own fire, started downwind of you, consumes the grass ahead of you and leaves a bare, blackened area. Once your fire has moved on (and cooled enough to step onto), you are on ground that cannot burn again. The main fire reach…

Escaping a fire on a long thin island

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