Shelter solution to future fire storms

FIRE is something Australians have always had to contend with.
Look back over our Australiana novels, such as Hesba Brinsmead’s ‘Long Time Passing’, with the story of fire and how it changed the face of the countryside and the mood of the people.
During those early days before telephones, smooth roads, and motor transport there was fire in the Australian bush.
Also at that time many settlers were not too fussed about putting a match to the bush as a quick way of clearing trees to provide pasture.
I recall during the 1940s when from Catani at night we could see flames along the ranges from Pakenham well up toward Drouin.
I recall being in Trafalgar when the town was ringed by fire and the milk carriers taking truck load after truck load of milk cans filled with water out to men fighting the fires.
And stories of ‘Black Friday’ 13 January 1939, when 71 people died from a fire storm that swept Victoria and possibly burnt more forest and pasture than the ‘Black Saturday’ fires.
More than 1000 homes were burnt and the townships of Narbethong, Noojee, Woods Point, Nayook West, and Hill End were destroyed.
Others such as Yarra Glen and Warrandyte were badly burnt.
Several causes were given for starting the ‘Black Friday’ fires and when put together resulted in the verdict that ‘they were lit by the hand of man’.
Then worst of all for me, ‘Ash Wednesday’ 1983, when I was at Macclesfield and Cockatoo.
Bring on the hottest day in the Australian bush and there is no way a fire will start except from lightning strike and if the lightning is from a wet thunder storm the fire is usually out before it spreads too far.
A dry storm will cause a major bush fire.
But that is nature’s choice and is part of how the Australian bush regenerates because without fire the bush would eventually die.
We need to face the fact that we haven’t learned to live with the bush or in the bush.
For that we have paid a severe mortal price and a heavy material price.
Those who have been aside from the fires and safe I hear expressing doubts in themselves because they cannot give more to help, and there are those grieving for lost friends and for losses their friends have suffered.
This is a tragedy that impacts on the entire community and continuously we are hearing and seeing on radio, television and newspapers the generosity of people so ready to help those who lost all to the fires.
I drove around Narre Warren North last week, to where the fire took hold, and cannot believe how close the township of Harkaway was to being burnt out.
That is the nature of these fires.
They take one and not the other.
They are unpredictable and my view is that more than half were caused by arsonists or carelessness.
No good comes from condemning these people because the condemnation glorifies them in their own minds so we have to stop them.
We like to live in the bush and we plant trees close to our homes, myself included, so we must learn new lessons on how we live in the bush and how better to protect lives and buildings.
The priority should be on protecting lives and that can be done by using fire shelters.
I recall during my childhood having air raid shelters, just in case the enemy bombers got through, and generally everyone believed they would.
In the far north, some did.
We should learn to believe that a fire will come our way some day and we should have somewhere safe to shelter.
Where safer to be than a properly designed underground haven when a fire is just too fierce to cope with?
Fire shelters should be made compulsory for new homes built for living in the bush because similar fires to the two ‘black’ days will recur and if changes are not made the higher bush population will mean more lives lost.