Would your home survive a bushfire?

Following last year’s bushfire season where around 3,000 homes were destroyed, it is not surprising that attention in Australia has turned to the importance of designing and constructing houses that are more bushfire resilient. This article by Fifth State Bushfire season is back, so what did we learn about protecting homes? (thefifthestate.com.au) explores the lessons we have learnt, the cost of rebuilding in bushfire-prone areas and what to do about the one million homes in high risk areas built prior to our modern bushfire regulations (AS 3959) that have little or no bushfire protection.

In the article our principal architect Sarah Lebner, who is part of a working group updating the Australian Institute of Architects’ paper ‘Planning and Design for Bushfire Protection’, says that since last summer, the level of interest and engagement from clients in the bushfire regulations has changed. “Before they [the regulations] were seen as a check-the-box activity, whereas now we are seeing our clients coming in asking to at least meet the requirements and sometimes exceed.”

The article also includes comment from Nigel Bell, principal at Blue Mountains ECOdesign Architects + Consultants who has represented the Australian Institute of Architects in the development of the bushfire-related Australian Standards and has extensive experience in designing in bushfire-prone areas. Nigel also recently wrote Beating bushfire: Retrofitting for safer homes in fire-prone areas for Sanctuary Magazine. This article has some great advice on measures home owners in high risk areas can take to improve their homes’ chances of surviving a bushfire.