As wildfire storms continue to devastate landscapes across the country with increasing speed and intensity, Thomas Troop Emonds, a former U.S. Marine,Smokejumper, and founder of Dragonslayers, is calling for urgent attention from policymakers, landowners, and emergency agencies to adopt a revolutionary mitigation strategy. His blueprint method and accompanying fire tools are reshaping how America can survive the unstoppable force of climate-driven wildfire storms.
Our traditional methods of wildfire suppression are not helping,” says Emonds.
“We can’t stop a killer firestorm. But we can prepare for it, manipulate its energy,
and survive it.”
At the heart of Emonds’ wildfire survival system is its one-of-a-kind methodology,
a structured, field-tested mitigation strategy that combines combat tactics,
smokejumper experience, and hands-on training. Unlike outdated ‘defensible
space’ approaches that leave critical ground fuels in place, Emonds’ model
transforms properties into Black Space, pre-burned zones that disrupt firestorm
mechanics and prevent ignition.
This approach was inspired in part by a historic escape fire technique popularized
by Wagner Dodge, an early firefighter who survived a deadly blaze by burning the
ground around himself. Emonds, however, has expanded this fluke of survival into
a comprehensive methodology. “We’re not just teaching fire safety. We’re training
people to manipulate firestorms too strong to fight,” explains the founder.
The core of the method involves three circular control lines called the Dragon
Rings, installed around a home or town. These circles use wind direction and burn
strategy to create fire barriers that consume surrounding fuels under controlled
conditions, leaving nothing behind to feed the approaching wildfire.
Diagram Depicting Dragonslayers Universal Blueprint
The Dragon Wizz Wheel, a compact training device by Emonds, makes the
technique accessible even for first-timers. The handheld wheel features a house,
wind directional arrow, and fire placement guides. Users align the device with
actual wind direction to precisely determine where to place the fire so it burns into
the Dragon Rings. Combined with live-fire training using paper homes and
high-fuel straw bales, users quickly gain confidence and competence.
Beyond strategy, Dragonslayers also manufactures hand tools that make
conventional firefighting equipment obsolete. The universal handle supports
interchangeable tool heads. This includes a magnum pulaski (axe/grub hoe), an
advanced shovel, and the Dragon Swatter (strap swatter for grassland burns). These
tools are battle-tested. They are built to last, with heads that can be re-bladed up to
five times—a cost-effective, eco-friendly improvement over outdated tools.
Dragonslayers Tools
Most homes destroyed in wildfires aren’t located in dense forests but in areas with
reasonable defensible space, often surrounded by grass and light fuels. In those
cases, even moderate wind can carry flames across the ground and directly to
structures. “People are pruning their trees and clearing brush, but they forget that
grass is the deadliest fuel on Earth,” Emonds says. “It burns fast, it spreads embers,
and it kills people.”
Dragonslayers’ method directly addresses these vulnerabilities, creating safe,
systematic firebreaks and fuel conversions designed to absorb an approaching
firestorm’s energy.
Emonds has already trained agencies and firefighters abroad. His current facility, a
modest metal warehouse in Nehalem, Oregon, produces tools for global customers,
but Emonds says the growing demand for Dragonslayers’ tools and training far
exceeds his ability to meet it. That is why he is now calling on policymakers,
agencies, and landowners to fund the expansion of training programs and tool
manufacturing so the system can be deployed nationwide. “We’ve already lost too
many lives,” Emonds concludes. “We need to train people to survive fires too big
to fight.”
