Can Safety Pods Protect People from Wildfire?
Architects in Australia are calling for houses to be built with 'safety pods'. These are reinforced rooms within the house that would be used in case of wildland fire to protect the homeowners. This from ABC News Online:
The advisory service to the architecture industry says safety pods should be installed in Victorian houses to protect people from bushfires.Archicentre says safety pods are fully reinforced, fire proof containers, that are built within a house and can normally function as another room.
They are used in the United States to protect people against tornadoes.
I've never heard of this and I'm not sure that it would work. If a wildland fire is going to burn down a house, I certainly wouldn't want to be trapped inside the house regardless of whether I was in a safety pod or not.
Wouldn't it be wiser to build an underground, concrete shelter outside of the house in an area clear of heavy fuels? Then let the wildland fire burn through the area. If the shelter is properly insulated the people inside should be fine. I'm guessing this would be much less expensive too.
Just my thoughts...chime in with your own - leave a comment.
