Concrete Fire Shelters
There are many types of fire shelters nowadays. These shelters vary widely in both price and sophistication, ranging from a hole in the ground lined with timber or sandbags, converted shipping containers to purpose built shelters constructed from reinforced concrete and fire rated steel. In the past it was commonly held that a shelter was only required during the initial passing of the fire front, a period of about fifteen minutes during which the radiant heat reached it's peak. Experts studying the effects of Black Saturday however estimate that in some areas this radiant heat effect would have remained fatal for up to two hours.
Bearing this in mind anyone considering purchasing a Fire Shelters should be certain that their shelter can withstand prolonged exposure to intense heat and also provide an adequate supply of clean air. Some shelters come with air tanks while others use an air filtering system but any using oxygen tanks should probably be avoided as oxygen is highly explosive when exposed to flame. For many people the choice of shelter will depend on a number of factors, these being cost, level of threat and the number of people who might use it. The cost of the shelter might be defrayed amongst a number of neighbors which would allow for a more sophisticated unit.
The Fire Shelters is built from high-density double reinforced concrete, able to withstand a car or truck driving over the top, it is 100 mm thick concrete top and bottom 75 mm sides. It is airtight, has the smoke proof seal and three hour fire rated fire door. Shelter must be installed minimum 300 mm underground for supreme the protection. It uses Australian standards compliant parts. The steps are nonslip. The fire shelter has a large capacity for extended air supply, it is able to comfortably support 4 adults for up to 6 hours of breathable air. Also it has the option for roll cage to go over hatch and prevent debris or branches from lying across the exit.
Bearing this in mind anyone considering purchasing a Fire Shelters should be certain that their shelter can withstand prolonged exposure to intense heat and also provide an adequate supply of clean air. Some shelters come with air tanks while others use an air filtering system but any using oxygen tanks should probably be avoided as oxygen is highly explosive when exposed to flame. For many people the choice of shelter will depend on a number of factors, these being cost, level of threat and the number of people who might use it. The cost of the shelter might be defrayed amongst a number of neighbors which would allow for a more sophisticated unit.
The Fire Shelters is built from high-density double reinforced concrete, able to withstand a car or truck driving over the top, it is 100 mm thick concrete top and bottom 75 mm sides. It is airtight, has the smoke proof seal and three hour fire rated fire door. Shelter must be installed minimum 300 mm underground for supreme the protection. It uses Australian standards compliant parts. The steps are nonslip. The fire shelter has a large capacity for extended air supply, it is able to comfortably support 4 adults for up to 6 hours of breathable air. Also it has the option for roll cage to go over hatch and prevent debris or branches from lying across the exit.
Fire Shelters
Professor Crews says that underground Fire Shelters could be the answer to protecting people from fires like those Victoria has just witnessed. "You would need something that is essentially underground because of the insulating quality of the earth," he said. "Obviously you would need something over the top of that that's quite well protected. "The next issue that I think you would have to consider is oxygen or air because when you get a fire storm like that it's got a tendency to suck up all the air that's there." Professor Crews says the earth would act as a natural insulator from the heat of the fire and the bunker would not need to be too deep. "The earth is a great insulator. Obviously you would have to give consideration to groundwater and all those issues, but I would assume that something like two to 2.5 metres, so essentially it was like a basement," he said.However, experts say with the use of different materials, Fire Shelters would not need to look like bomb shelters. "Concrete would be the first material that most of scientists would use. It would be a combination of concrete and other things," researchers said. "One of the interesting things is that it would be possible in some cases to actually build something underground perhaps in concrete." Professor Ross says the burning properties of timber mean it can actually act as an insulator. "When you get very thick sections of timber they don't burn, they char," he said. "So what happens is that the outer layer starts to burn when it reaches about 1,100 degrees Celsius but then the carbon layer forms and insulating layer and then the char rate progresses at a known rate - usually about 0.6 of a millimetre per minute. "So you could use a combination of materials like that so you could actually take advantage of the insulating value of timber as well as concrete to come up with something that might work well, but might look okay aesthetically."
Professor Ross also believes the design of underground car parks could be enhanced to offer communities a safe place to wait out bushfires in larger groups. He says building concrete Fire Shelters could be something that becomes mandatory in parts of Australia. "Before it becomes a legislative requirement you want to define the performance criteria really carefully so it actually accomplishes what you want," he said. "The best way of doing that would be to engage with a cross-section of design professionals so you could have fire researchers, fire experts, but also building experts that are working together to come up with a solution."
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