Wildfire survival bunker - photo

A makeshift bunker supposedly used to survive an Australian wildfire. I'm sure survival is dependent on many factors, but how viable is this type of solution? Techniques include combinations of a sheet of metal, some wool blankets, breathing through a wet cloth, digging a shallow grave and lying in it, etc. Wildland firefighters have portable fire shelters, but their effectiveness is limited.

https://diqn32j8nouaz.cloudfront.net...val_bunker.jpg


More: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ing-blaze.html

Previously:

https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...010#post115171
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...137#post149640
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...531#post151338
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...752#post148116
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...845#post148466
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...268#post146114
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...242#post146039
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...594#post143253
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...3122#post98114

That worked for the folks who used it. Some people use concrete water tanks.
If you live in a bushfire prone area and don’t have a good shelter, then sooner or later you’ll be a dead fool.

The killers are smoke inhalation (particulate matter, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide), heat, and being crushed by failing trees or structures.

This looks like a basement, so I'm not sure how survivable it would be with the house burning above it?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Elizabeth Greene

The killers are smoke inhalation (particulate matter, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide), heat, and being crushed by failing trees or structures.

This looks like a basement, so I'm not sure how survivable it would be with the house burning above it?

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Very few houses in Oz have basements. And the people who used that shelter survived. It was in the news last summer.

"The killers are smoke inhalation (particulate matter, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide), heat, and being crushed by failing trees or structures."

I agree with this statement. At this moment, I'm breathing moderately bad air from California fires and can see ashes everywhere and having mild difficulty breathing even though I'm miles from the fires. Heat is bad but the lack of oxygen is the major factor. Poisoned air will override all.
But that shelter could help in some situations; better than nothing.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by EnginePaul

"The killers are smoke inhalation (particulate matter, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide), heat, and being crushed by failing trees or structures."

I agree with this statement. At this moment, I'm breathing moderately bad air from California fires and can see ashes everywhere and having mild difficulty breathing even though I'm miles from the fires. Heat is bad but the lack of oxygen is the major factor. Poisoned air will override all.
But that shelter could help in some situations; better than nothing.

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Paul, have you got a wet towel over your mouth/nose?