Whenever there is a nuclear disaster firestorms inevitably result within an area of five miles of the original blast. Many of these fires would be caused by the blast of radiation from the fireball.  There would be other effects from the blast that could cause fires as well. Furnaces and stoves would explode.  Anything combustible would become part of the blast within seconds.

One way to protect fire from spreading in your home might be to whitewash the insides of window panes and around door frames. This can help prevent heat radiation from entering the home and setting drapes and other flammable materials.  Sometimes heat radiation will simply charr a building and not burn it if it is whitewashed with a thick coating of slaked lime.  If kept damp smearing a home’s walls with mud might also prevent it from burning down.

If you are inside a home made expedient shelter then you might want to keep extra cloths and plastic canopies on hand. These are easily blown away by hot blasting winds and may need to be replaced.

One real threat to survivors is forest and brush fires.  More than being burned carbon monoxide and toxic smoke are a real threat. If large scale fires are burning near your shelter you could be in trouble. Carbon monoxide inhalation can cause death if only eight parts are in the air. It can cause headache, dizziness and nausea within 45 minutes and fatality within two hours.

Aside from carbon monoxide there can also be many other types of poisons in the air from industrial processes that could also kill when inhaled.

The problem is likely to be the smoke coming off burned rubble. In a zone of total destruction many residential and industrial buildings will be totally destroyed.

Whether you are in a basement shelter or in an expedient shelter you are well advised to stay in the shelter if you know there is a fire outside.  Taking just a few simple breaths of toxin-infused air from outside can kill you if there are fires raging in the rubble outside.

It is also worth it to carefully consider where your intake vents are in the basement.  Many hard core survivalists recommend an expedient hole-in-the-ground style shelter simply because shelters in basements are attached to houses that are full of combustible, toxic materials. When they burn the smoke is simply vented downstairs into your shelter where it kills you and your family.

During a nuclear attack a radio may be necessary for you to keep in touch with military announcements but the challenge is to keep it operating.  However being in contact with news about where the fall-out area is, where attacks of happen and food and disaster relief measures could greatly increase your chances of survival.

Radio contact can be maintained if you remember to bring all hand cranked and portable radios with you. Make sure that you buy radios with metal parts as ones that are plastic are more subject to damage from electromagnetic impacts.

It also is helpful to use radios with short-loop antennas that are built in. Any other type of antenna can be subjected to damaging surges of current.  This is also why it is important to keep all radios that do have antennas in a mode where their extendable antennas are as short as possible.  Do not try to get better reception by attaching it to any type of metal like a pipe or metal pole.  Damage from electromagnetic pulses after a nuclear explosion can suddenly wreck the diodes and transistors in a radio for weeks to come after the initial impact.

Shield the radio best you can but not with metal, wire, ducts or any of the metals commonly found in basements and other shelters. This can encourage a power surge to deliver a fatal surge of current to your radio.

When it is not in use disconnect the radio antenna. If you r car radio is working get rid of the antenna on the hood and remove outside rear view mirrors. That is because the metal of an outside mirror is a grounding point for destructive energy.

Park your car as near to your shelter as practical, so that after fallout has decayed sufficiently you may be able to use the car radio to get distant stations that are still broadcasting.

Radios can also be hurt by moisture. Keep it sealed in a plastic container that is further sealed in a plastic bag to prevent it from moisture.

You should conserve your power whenever possible because after an attack you may not be able to get a replacement for many months. If you are listening be sure to do so at the lowest volume setting possible because the battery life of transistor radios can be doubled this way.  Use the radio as little as possible and be aware that the electromagnetic pulses could affect its efficiency for a while.