ABC TV’s 7.30 (Monday, Feb 4)  

revealed the dangers of many commercial and home made bushfire shelters and bunkers.

  

To those living in bushfire prone situations who have the $14,000 or so needed to purchase one of these for the dubious safety and potential danger they provide, think of this:

For that sort of money, you could enclose the subfloor, install roll down metal window shutters, and add low-flow roof and wall sprinklers to make them - the three core areas of a house that are vulnerable to bushfire attack (subfloor, windows and roof-ceiling space)  - impervious to ember entry: the proven house igniters. 

With suitable management of garden vegetation, and/or overhead sprinklers thrown in, during a bushfire threat you could achieve comfort, ventilation and safety in your own home, and be far more likely to have a home still standing in which to live afterwards.

Contrary to popular belief (and some official promotional material) research has shown that it is not sheltering in a house during a bushfire that is likely to have fatal consequences. 

It is not knowing how to do so safely. 

The CFA has praised the safety information provided in my recently released Essential Bushfire Safety Tips (CSIRO), endorsing it as ‘… a book that certainly could help save lives’.