Bowman, D.M.J.S.; McCormack, P.C. Arrested Policy Development of Private Fire Shelters (Fire Bunkers) Is A Barrier to Adaptation to the Australian Bushfire Crisis. Fire 2023, 6, 298, doi:10.3390/fire6080298.
Bowman, D.M.J.S.; McCormack, P.C. Arrested Policy Development of Private Fire Shelters (Fire Bunkers) Is A Barrier to Adaptation to the Australian Bushfire Crisis. Fire 2023, 6, 298, doi:10.3390/fire6080298.
Bowman, D.M.J.S.; McCormack, P.C. Arrested Policy Development of Private Fire Shelters (Fire Bunkers) Is A Barrier to Adaptation to the Australian Bushfire Crisis. Fire 2023, 6, 298, doi:10.3390/fire6080298.
Bowman, D.M.J.S.; McCormack, P.C. Arrested Policy Development of Private Fire Shelters (Fire Bunkers) Is A Barrier to Adaptation to the Australian Bushfire Crisis. Fire 2023, 6, 298, doi:10.3390/fire6080298.
Abstract
The Victorian Government Inquiry into wildfires that killed 173 people in 2009 has driven an Australian policy shift from self-evacuation or staying and defending a well-prepared property (‘go or stay’) to self-evacuation under catastrophic fire weather (‘leave early’). The Inquiry also led to the establishment of national ‘performance standards’ for Private Fire Shelters (PFS, that also known as bunkers). Nonetheless, incorporation of PFS into national bushfire policy remains embryonic with only Victoria having streamlined accreditation and planning approval processes. Arguments against PFS include potentially engendering complacency about preparing dwellings to survive fire and encourage risky behavior in response to a fire threat. Counteracting these arguments is research that shows that residents without PFS have low engagement with bushfire preparation and typically delay evacuation. In any case, because wildfire is unpredictable it is accepted that self-evacuation plans must have fallback positions that include sheltering ‘in place’ from the bushfire, making properly used and well maintained PFS an important element of bushfire safety. A less discussed barrier to PFS uptake outside Victoria appears to hinge on a lack of clarity about obligations for their design, certification, and consistency with planning approvals. The escalating Australian fire crisis demands much greater research and development in legal frameworks, policy and planning processes for PFS, as well as design and construction standards.
Keywords
Building codes; climate change; extreme wildfires; evacuation; fire disasters; land use planning; law and policy reform; risk
Subject
Environmental and Earth Sciences, Environmental Science
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
