- Author
-
Ramsay, G. C.
|
McArthur, N. A.
|
Dowling, V. P.
- Title
- Survey of House Survival in the February 16, 1983 Bushfires in Australia.
- Coporate
- Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Australia
- Book or Conf
- International Conference on Flammability. INTERFLAM '85. Conference Workbook. March 26-28, 1985,
Guildford, England,
131-136 p.,
1985
- Keywords
-
building construction
|
design applications
- Identifiers
- "Ash Wednesday" fire, Mount Macedon, Australia, February 1983
- Abstract
- This paper describes a survey which was undertaken to ascertain those features of house design and construction which were important to the survival of houses in the 'Ash Wednesday Bushfires' of February 16, 1983. The Otway Rangers area of Victoria was chosen and 1153 houses, with varying degrees of damage, were included in the survey. Results of a preliminary analysis are given, together with observations made concerning the so-called 'exploding house' phenomenon, the role of wind and the part that people played in house survival. Evidence for the ways that houses were ignited, by radiation, flame contact, and wind-blown embers, was also gathered. The importance of these ignition modes are discussed and examples given. Preliminary observations on the rebuilding process are also given.