Into the bunker mentality

By Casey Neill
BLACK Saturday bushfire survivor Andrew Berry says sprinklers and a concrete fire shelter saved his family’s lives.
Mr Berry has since helped fire experts design Firesafe Shelters and personally recommends the ‘wombat’ underground fire shelter.
“When your home is on fire you want somewhere to go,” he said.
“If you get caught out, you have peace of mind because you’ve got emergency shelter.”
“You have the ability to survive the worst possible scenario.”
Experts use reinforced concrete to construct the bunker and fit a fire-proof door with vision panel to keep an eye on the danger.
They include a first aid kit, fire blanket, battery-free torch, fire extinguisher and a tank of compressed air and comfortably house six to eight people.
The ferocious Black Saturday fire front flattened Mr Berry’s Kinglake home.
“You can survive the worst possible scenario if you are prepared,” he said. “We had a full-on sprinkler system covering the entire exterior of our home, going flat out, but it still caught on fire and we were in it.”
“Thankfully we had an emergency fire shelter to go to. They work.”
Mr Berry said preparation was the key to surviving a bushfire.
“There are a few things you can do on the day, like filling up the gutters with water, sweeping up leaves, hosing down walls and roofs,” he said.
“But in bushfire prone areas, all new homes rebuilt and existing homes should have a sprinkler system fitted.” “This is wildfire safety 101. Combine this with a fire survival shelter and you are giving yourself a 99 per cent chance of surviving the worst possible fire situation and saving your home.”
Residents under direct bushfire threat should turn off and purge gas lines, close all windows, curtains, shutters and doors and fill as many containers as possible with water.
A sprinkler system with a diesel-fuelled pump and metal pipework should create a flood of water over the entire house and fire shelter as the fire front nears.
Dense smoke, darkness and the fire’s roar are a warning to get inside a shelter as soon as possible.
“The ideal situation is that when you hear the fire front roar you have the sprinkler system going flat out and you and your family are safely tucked away in the fire shelter, all you have to do is shut the door,” Mr Berry said.
The shelter will protect a family for up to 30 minutes while the fire front passes through.
“Stay inside your shelter while you can see full orange through your vision panel,” Mr Berry said.
“When not orange, you can slowly open door and hopefully your home is still standing.”
Readers can call Andrew Berry on 0400 635 500 for more information about Firesafe Shelters.