songbird wrote:
David Hare-Scott wrote:
songbird wrote:
...
do people have underground fire cellars?
it seems that it would be hard to know where
to head for if you are surrounded by fast
moving fires.


I haven't heard of one being purpose built. I have one by accident
as my house is built on a suspended concrete slab over brick
foundations.




The point about knowing what to do in a fast moving situation is
important. We are encouraged to identify escape routes, to plan
ahead, prepare the ground and house and to make your decisions in
advance not in a panic at the end. You want to avoid making a last
minute choice to flee and getting burned in your car or staying to
defend the indefensible. OTOH some houses are saved by defenders
who put out small fires which would otherwise take hold. Not a fun
choice.

that all makes sense.

and yes, not fun. i'm sure a lot can be
helped by designing structures with metal,
brick, concrete, etc.

Sure that's possible but not affordable in most cases. Along my street many
houses are 100+ years old, typically timber-frame weatherboard, corrugated
iron roofs and timber floors on brick piers. Not a very defensible house as
there are so many ways for the fire to get into the structure and once its
in, the house will be gone in minutes. People in rural communities cannot
afford to knock down and re-build.

For new houses the regulations are much more stringent about where you can
build and the price of steel is now not much more than wood and (most)
people are seeing the sense in sacrificing some amenity in outlook for
safety. There are still those who want to build in forests so they can hug
the trees :-)



David