Fire Shelters Australia

The use of fire shelters is certainly not a new idea. As Australia was developed, forestry was a major industry which employed many people who lived with their families scattered through out the forests. Back then, Fire shelters Australia comprised a major component of their fire safety plans. These shelters were located near townships or timber mills and their location was known to all the people of the district. Over time these shelters fell into disrepair or were removed by government as the focus of bush fire survival centered on preparing individual properties to cope with fire attack.

There are many types of fire shelters nowadays in Australia. These shelters vary widely in both price and sophistication, ranging from a hole in the ground lined with timber or sandbags, converted shipping containers to purpose built shelters constructed from reinforced concrete and fire rated steel. In the past it was commonly held that a shelter was only required during the initial passing of the fire front, a period of about fifteen minutes during which the radiant heat reached it’s peak. Experts studying the effects of Black Saturday however estimate that in some areas this radiant heat effect would have remained fatal for up to two hours. Bearing this in mind anyone considering purchasing a shelter should be certain that their shelter can withstand prolonged exposure to intense heat and also provide an adequate supply of clean air. Some shelters come with air tanks while others use an air filtering system but any using oxygen tanks should probably be avoided as oxygen is highly explosive when exposed to flame. For many people the choice of shelter will depend on a number of factors, these being cost, level of threat and the number of people who might use it. The cost of the shelter might be defrayed amongst a number of neighbors which would allow for a more sophisticated unit.

One of the most frequently asked for measures is the establishment of both community and private fire shelters. Like the cyclone cellars that many Americans living on the Great Plains have in their homes, a lot of Australians who live in homes bordering the bush are now looking at building fire bunkers to protect their loved ones. There are both pros and cons to building fire shelters and any body thinking of doing so would be wise to do plenty of research before going ahead.

The Federal MP representing some of the bushfire-affected areas says the Victorian Government had a plan to put fire shelters in schools 20 years ago, but only one was ever built. The Liberal Member for McEwan, Fran Bailey, says each school needs to have a fire shelter to protect students and residents during future blazes. "Back in 1988, I have discovered, that the Victorian Education Department had a plan to build 72 of ... what I call a community and school safe shelter," she said. "Only one has ever been built. We've got to do better than that." Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says the Government will examine the issue. Ms Bailey also asked the Government to ensure the state governments and local councils reduce the fuel load in the bush. Ms Bailey told Mr. Rudd he should put conditions on the millions of dollars that goes to the state and local governments for roads. "I'm going to suggest here today that we tie that funding to fuel reduction programs because unless we do something, nothing will be done," she said. Mr. Rudd told Ms Bailey that he will work with her on all the issues she raised.

Fire shelter makes use of a variety of innovative and proven fire engineering techniques and methods to provide a unique design unlike anything currently available on the market. The shell is constructed from 150mm thick, steel reinforced, fire retardant light concrete and consists of a flexible, modular design that is prefabricated using pod mass production and quality control. It is highly recommended that the Fire shelter be completely buried underground so as to make use of the insulating properties of the earth. However, due to some site conditions we realise that this is not always possible and we have therefore designed the Fire shelter to also be able to be partially buried or set into an embankment with some surfaces exposed. A series of two fire doors is used to separate the entrance/storage area from the shelters main interior to provide a fail safe, and to create an air lock which protects against the infiltration of radiant heat through the first steel fire door. This is an extremely important design feature, as some of the most severe burns to Black Saturday fire survivors were caused by radiant heat.