Originally Posted by dalhousie (Post 7269731)

Thee velocity of these fires was staggering, and has brought back vividly, the horror of the Ash Wednesday fires. And watching the poor victims on television has been heart wrenching, and quite terrifying.

The CFA has for a number of years made fire fighting experts available in our community to give talks and advice on how to survive a bushfire. Preparing the property, what to do before and when the fire front approaches, and what to do after the front passes and this advice has been invaluable. The CFA offers a crucial amount of advice, information and assistance to people living in high risk areas, but this is not always taken up by the public. We have attended many pre-fire season information sessions and in all cases less that ten people have turned up to the meetings and this is in a town of 900 permanent residents, with a very large weekend population, and where the Ash Wednesday fires went raging through in ’83.

If there is a fire in our area, we will stay; it would be suicidal to try and travel into a town 20 minutes drive away through a heavily forested area. We consider we have made a good effort to protect our lives and property to the best of our ability, We know we cannot expect any immediate assistance from the CFA, as they will have their hands filled protecting the township. However we feel safer on our property – with the measures we have taken – than we would in the township and would definitely resist being forced to leave

Our fire bunker cost us around $2000. It was dug into clay and it’s unlined. After 18 months the walls are still damp. We worked with an experienced “bunker” builder and the costs were as follows:

Bunker Builders wages (one week) $1400.00
Cost of digging the hole by a backhoe operator approximately $500.00.
Scoria for the spoon drain around the perimeter of the roof cost $20.00.
We cut down a large tree from the property for the roof beams.
We already had roofing iron spare on the site and we used the soil from the excavation for the final roof covering. We used an ordinary heavy duty door covered with corrugated iron as an entrance door. As the door was underground it did not need to be fireproof. My husband worked for a week with the bunker builder and probably another week or so after that putting in the door and the steps (cut into the clay) down to the bunker entrance. The bunker is 3.5m x 4m and 2.6m deep. The roof is about a metre below the level of the driveway so actually the bunker is 3.6m into the ground.

There is plenty of air in this bunker for a few hours, you only need to be in a bunker for 15 or so minutes, under “normal circumstances” (if you could call a bushfire normal) But with a fire the ferocity of this recent one it may be longer. One thing you have to be aware of in a bunker of this type is, when it‘s not in use always leave the door open. This allows the air to circulate. Iron is used as part of the construction and it can rust and of course the rust will use up the oxygen in the enclosed space.

I don’t really know what the price would be if you had it professionally built, but ours is fine. It’s deep and cool and I feel safe with it.

dalhousie

Originally Posted by Evelin (Post 7272455)

Would any of these devices http://www.campist.com/archives/the-...an-design.html have helped, eg fireproof tent, fireblankets etc if used in the house behind a brick wall?

Originally Posted by fraser (Post 7272389)

Scum yes! Shoot to kill though, you have to be joking right?

Originally Posted by Pollyana (Post 7270746)

Lists available through this website.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/victoria/


I think it was PP who asked if I had any updates - I'm in the UK at the moment, through I'm watching both our Qld floods, and the horrific situation in Victoria as and when I can.
I have a horrible feeling of helplessness at the moment - being an emergency services worked, but knowing I'm so far away I can't do anything to help -bit like a form a survivor guilt I suppose. Qld refused to let me cancel my leave because of the on-going flood response, but now I feel more helpless than ever.

Originally Posted by jimmyd4006 (Post 7273035)

You really have a beautiful soul Polly.
On the subject of sprinklers , spoke to a friend of mine who works for Vic government, and in some of the circumstances the fires were so intense that the water from the sprinklers just evaporated well before it could do any good. Just shows how horrific the heat must have been. It is so hard to imagine what all these poor people went through.

Originally Posted by DunRoaminTheUK (Post 7273542)

Apparently, the animal-toll has been put at over 1 million animals dead by an expert. How very sad for them too.

Apparently, the arsonists are still lighting new fires. Could this be work of an organised group / person?

Originally Posted by moneypen20 (Post 7273553)

No, just sick bastards who want their 15 minutes of fame :curse:

Originally Posted by DunRoaminTheUK (Post 7273557)

They must be mentally ill though? Surely?

Originally Posted by moneypen20 (Post 7273578)

I think so. And I've said it before but I think that when any of these people are brought to court for their actions, their defence will be 'whilst of unsound mind'. No one in their right mind would do such a thing, would they? :unsure:

Originally Posted by Evelin (Post 7272455)

Would any of these devices http://www.campist.com/archives/the-...an-design.html have helped, eg fireproof tent, fireblankets etc if used in the house behind a brick wall?