Read Part 1 of our feature STAY OR GO? Two views of the firey debate

3. Stay but shelter in a safety-pod

In 2006, Managing director of Archicentre, Robert Caulfield, called for Victorian houses to install bushfire safety 'pods' to provide a fire-proof shed capable of surviving serious firestorms.

Mr Caulfield tells Sunrise that while there is still no local manufacturer for the pods, such safe-rooms are common in tornado-prone regions of the USA.

Dave Gatley/FEMA Photo
Workers in Sioux City, Iowa, construct a tornado shelter with cement-filled foam walls.

He remains baffled that the option is still not available in Australia with the strong belief the pods could have saved lives in Kinglake or Marysville.

"Architects designing houses in cyclone areas already use elements of safety pods, and they could also be used to protect against bushfires."

	quote
	"Then there's the radiant heat so you just have to build something stronger." Robert Caulfield, Archicentre

The current concept is to prepare your house, install pump-driven sprinklers... This can only protect you for a short time. From eyewitness reports in Marysville, (Victoria) the wind was such that huge trees were flattened, it was up to 150km/hr winds. Then there's the radiant heat so you just have to build something stronger.

He says the pods would follow the same architectural rule that there is a 'one hour rating' between walls. This means no fire can get through a wall for a full sixty minutes. 

Mr Caulfield says the pods can be made from many reinforced, non-flammable materials including concrete blocks, masonry products, even lightweight non-combustible polystyrene. It could even be constructed by a handyman, he says.  "If someone gets onto this, they could potentially be bought using materials sold at your local Bunnings."

The pod design is thought to be safer than underground shelters or bunkers that could become a trap if a door is blocked by falling trees or debris. 

"And these pods could also work as a room during the year, fitting up to three families."

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What do you think? Should safety-pods be sold in Australia? Tell us below...

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The NSW Rural Fire service tells Sunrise that all states follow Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council (AFAC) national standards in relation to preparing your property for fires and the decision to stay and defend or leave your home early.

Final questions remain: 

Can staying save your house? The (AFAC) conducts research into issues like The influence of human behaviour on house loss, finding from four major fires that homeowners have an average 5.8 times greater risk of being destroyed if no one is present. There is much more research on the issue at your state's fire service website, however fire officials admit the research to come after these fires will replace most prior thinking on the topic. 

- Is there a political firestorm to come? Politically, the stay-or-go issue may still blow up either before or during the Royal Commission. Mr Brumby, whose behaviour will be scrutinised during the Commission, appears to be bunkering down already in defense of his warnings to threatened residents. 

"If you thought back to last Friday, we all gave warnings. I gave warnings," he said.

"I remember it was the first 10 minutes of my press conference on Friday about what an horrendous day Saturday would be and why people should take all the precautions, and if they're staying home, put their fire plan in place.

More info

Planning for bushfire protection NSW Rural Fire Service

UPDATED: All Bushfire hotlines and donation details

Stay or go safety message stays in place - Yahoo! NEWS

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