I Wonder If

I find this whole topic very interesting. Seems to me we are all seriously under educated in this. In a country like ours this ability - surviving bushfires - should be taught from the earliest age.

First we'd need some skill in assessing danger, I would think. And that would include an assessment of the heat likely to be experienced, the smoke, the length of time.

Surely there's some places with virtually NIL danger?

And others with what we might call 100% danger or NIL safety factor?

And all grades between.

So I think a basic Australian skill should be to be able to assess the fire danger of any particular area, building, home, whatever.

And along with that would come an assessment of the appropriate safe shelter for those circumstances.

Seems to me without this assessment procedure all safety shelter provisions, debates, laws, regulations, are putting the cart before the horse.

It could well be, in many instances, that the simplest protection is to change the house, the area, from high danger to low danger.

After all this discussion and after the terrible, terrible tragedies I must confess that - even though I spent most of my life in the country one way or another - I am still unable to assess relative fire danger between different home, different locations and still wouldn'tt know how to fireproof a home to suit all those different locations.

I wouldn't be much help to you if a fire was coming and you asked me to help.

But I should know. We all should.

What happens? Burning sparks lodge in the eaves? Or the fierce heat just makes wooden walls start to burn? Or is it curtains that burn?

It'd be different things in different places.

How much danger to a house standing in the centre of 5acres of brown grass?

I saw countrymen on television apparently with homes standing in the centre of bare paddocks and the treeline a long way away - hundred yards at least - and they were fearful of surviving and talking of moving out and leaving it to the fire.

It's all a mystery to me and I don't think it should be.

regards,

ab :)