Bushfires cost a lot. Every year people lose their lives and their homes in bushfires and domestic house fires. Imagine if your home burned down and you lost everything you owned. If you are lucky enough to have insurance, no amount of money will cover for the loss of items with emotional value, and even at its best rebuilding your home and life is an arduous task. In a bushfire, your local fire authorities have two priorities: to ensure your and your family’s safety, and to stop the progression of the fire. If your home happens to be in the way of the fire, they may or may not be able to protect it. There simply is no guarantee. You must take action well before a fire starts.

Properly preparing your property against bushfire damage will not guarantee its protection, but it will improve the chances of your home withstanding the wrath of the fire considerably.

Currently there are no state or federal laws covering how existing homes located in bushfire risk areas should be prepared against a bushfire attack. This is really where the responsibility of preparation comes down to those of us that live in bushfire areas. Bushfireinfo.com seeks to provide you with practical help and advice on the measures that you can practically take to protect both your home and your family. From this point on there really is only one element left to ensure that you are as prepared as you can be against bushfire attack – YOU!

Throughout Australia the legal requirements on fire retarding your home only relate to the construction of new homes and buildings, or renovations of homes located in designated bushfire risk areas. Unfortunately the legislation merely sets requirements: the laws do not address the practical issues on how the requirements can be met. Until now it has been difficult to come by tangible information on what it is that you can actually and practically do to protect your home and to satisfy the legal requirements. That’s what this site is for!

Underground Fire Shelters are Safer

One of the most important decisions that you’ll have to make is where to install the Fire Shelter on your property. The important things to consider are; making sure it is away from buildings or structures that may potentially collapse over the exit making it hazardous to get out, and do you have an underground fire shelter?

If possible you want to install your Fire Shelter as near to the house as you can, yet keeping it far enough away to prevent any debris falling on top, this also includes keeping away from large trees where possible, and if not, clearing or trimming trees.

Underground is the best place for your Fire Shelter! A properly built and installed underground Fire Shelter is an excellent way to improve your chances for survival from extreme radiant heat. Underground Fire Shelters are built with the utmost of care and with long term multi-hazard protection in mind no matter what scenario one would be preparing for. Modern heavy duty steel reinforced underground Fire Shelters such as Fire Proof Shelters are air tight, water tight and smoke proof.

As more information about the bushfires became available so too did amazing stories of survival, including people who had taken refuge in some sort of bunker. Professor Keith Crews of the University of Technology in Sydney believes that concrete underground Fire Shelters could help save lives. Professor Crews says they would need to be around 500mm underground, because above ground even reinforced concrete would be likely to explode in the ferocity of fires recently experienced on Black Saturday.

In an underground Fire Shelter the earth would act as an insulator from the heat, and there’s no fuel for the fire. Professor Crews says that underground Fire Shelters could be the answer to protecting people from fires like those Victoria has just witnessed. “You would need something that is essentially underground because of the insulating quality of the earth,” he said. “Obviously you would need something over the top of that that’s quite well protected.

Underground Fire Shelters can be Top or Side Entry!

Underground fire shelters that are designed and supplied by Fire Proof Shelters come in both Top and Side entry to cater for everyone and their individual preferences!

“The next issue that I think you would have to consider is oxygen or air because when you get a fire storm like that it’s got a tendency to suck up all the air that’s there.” Professor Crews says the earth would act as a natural insulator from the heat of the fire and the underground Fire Shelter would not need to be too deep. “The earth is a great insulator. Obviously you would have to give consideration to groundwater and all those issues, but I would assume that something like two to 2.5 metres, so essentially it was like a basement,” he said.

Underground Fire Shelters could be the answer to protecting people from fires because of the insulating qualities for the earth. The earth is an excellent dielectric and setting the Fire Shelter at least 300-900mm underground offers multiple times the insulation factor and fire rating of the Concrete structure.

Most bush fires sustain their maximum radiant heat for less than 30 -40 minutes providing the fire bunker is placed away form heavy growth. This means that the Fire Shelters cannot heat up excessively and you have plenty of air. The earth would act as a natural insulator from the heat of the fire and the underground Fire Shelter would not need to be too deep. Underground Fire Shelters are designed and engineered to save you and your families life in the event of a bush fire.

Fire Proof Shelters are the Answer!

The reinforced concrete tanks have been developed over the last 22 years and represent the highest of build quality and structural integrity. Underground Fire Proof Shelters are a purpose built Bush Fire Shelter that is professionally constructed from ultra high-grade high-density reinforced concrete employing components that are fully fire rated to 3 hours.

“Our commitment is to giving every country household the opportunity to have a safe haven for the family”States Craig Morrison from Fire Proof Shelters.

You will be ensured an extraordinarily effective safeguard against the radiant heat of bushfires, because underground Fire Shelters – is the best installation!

Here are some essential items you should look at having as part of your bush fire plans and fire preparedness, along with the most essential safety item, a Fire Shelter or Fire Bunker.

• Smoke-filtering mask: Ideally, you should have a smoke-filtering respiratory mask available. Other than that, a non-synthetic scarf, large handkerchief or a nappy will do. Masks that will filter smoke are rated as “P2″. Asphyxiation is a major hazard in fire environment and should not be taken lightly. A simple cloth in front your nose is better than nothing, but far from effective against smoke particles. There are a few new products available on the market that combine head, eye and respiratory protection for up to 15 minutes. While not long, the masks are handy as they require no maintenance when not used and fit in a small space.
• A pure wool fire blanket, or textured fibreglass blanket which should be large enough to cover you completely when crouched or lying down.
• Water in containers for damping your nose cover and for drinking. A small spray bottle is a handy way to wet nose covers or sparks without wasting water.
• A bottle of artificial tears or gel to prevent your eyes from drying out. All required prescription medication if needed
• A tube or zink cream or reflective skin cream to protect the forehead and nose.
• A small first aid kit.
• Spare keys to house, car, shed and other important places.
• Special items like baby formula, nappies, bottles, powdered milk, contact lenses, spare set of eyeglasses, etc. as required.
• A credit card and/or some cash.
• Additionally it is a good idea to include some basic emergency tools: A good flashlight with plenty of extra batteries, a battery-powered radio or small two-way radio may prove valuable.