Furniture can encourage house destruction

FUEL REDUCTION IS NOT JUST FOR THE BUSH AND GARDEN.

YOUR FURNISHINGS ARE FUEL, TOO.

Inside your house needs its own hazard reduction.

The reason houses are reduced to a few centimetres of ash during a bushfire is NOT that the ‘sweeping flames’ of the bushfire have ignited the cladding  and moved inwards to consume all. The reason is that some of the contents of the houses have been ignited inside by the bushfire’s wind-blown embers and this internal fire consumed all.

What happens when an unattended spark or ember from bushfire is blown inside a house, is that it smoulders, flares, and fire spreads through furniture and furnishings, clothes and kitchen contents, papers and plastics and fly-sprays and cleaning fluids. If no-one douses those first embers, the fire moves through the house and structure until only ash and twisted metal remain.

Destruction of historic homestead Wolta-Wolta, South Australia

Be aware of which aspect of your house makes it most vulnerable to destruction:

Not the cladding, the contents!

DANGEROUS FURNISHING FABRICS:

Cotton, rayon, linen, and acrylic; the plastic coating of fibreglass fabrics; nylon, terylene, dacron and other synthetics; polyurethane foam padding; synthetic carpets.

PROTECTIVE FURNISHING FABRICS:

Pure, untreated, heavy quality wool; natural leather; good quality vinyl; good quality lino; tiles and slate floors. 

To find more on this topic see:

Essential Bushfire Safety Tips 

www.publish.csiro.au/pid/6969.htm or 

The Complete Bushfire Safety Book www.randomhouse.com.au/books/joan-webster/the-complete-bushfire-safety-book-9781740510349.aspx 

Most libraries have both.

1.3m NSW homes said to be at high-risk

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-30/bushfire-warning3a-13m-nsw-homes-at-27high-risk27/4989136?WT.mc_id=newsmail

Type of furnishings and floor coverings is just one of the little known aspects of a bushfire safety plan that can make a big difference in keeping homes intact during a bushfire.