Dear Prime Minister Morrison
The indicators appear to support that the current level of fire behavior we are experiencing, will be THE NEW NORMAL from now on. In other words, we need to assume that this degree of fire frequency and fire ferocity will be visited upon us year after year after year.
The implications for rebuilding are such, that to construct replacement dwellings that are unfit to survive fires, will be an exercise in utter futility. Building the same types of houses that have been shown incapable of surviving being subjected to fire, will be a waste of time and money. And only further add to and prolong, already existing heartbreak.
A whole new approach to housing design needs to be investigated. One which will be able to withstand the onslaught of yearly fires. Which may entail building fireproof underground bunkers; purpose-built fireproof villages circumscribed by extra-wide firebreaks; or caravan/tent villages that can easily be relocated to safer areas quickly upon notice of encroaching fires. All utilizing whatever verified construction methods rigorous testing proves will not make them vulnerable to fire ignition.
What we are dealing with is 'The Three Little Pigs' childrens' story rewritten. That old 'Three Little Pigs' story on steroids. Where instead of 'the big bad wolf' saying: "I'll huff and puff and blow your house down." The very planet we live on -- our continually heating-up Earth -- has taken on the nightmarish persona of some horror story character.
These are the cards we have been dealt. So it is up to us to play them to the best that is humanly possible. For us to come back stronger than ever. To rebirth from the ashes, as a new Fireproof Nation.
'We Shall Fight Fire on the Beaches'
We shall go on to the end. We shall fight fire here, we shall fight fire there, we shall fight fire with growing confidence and growing strength, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight fire on the beaches, we shall fight fire on the fire grounds, we shall fight fire in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight fire in the hills; we shall never surrender. (Churchill for 2020)
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UPDATE
Sent: Wed, 8 Jan 2020
Subject: Bushfire-proofing Building Standards
Dear Prime Minister Morrison
What do you think of the idea of making houses similar to this
https://www.baldwinobryan.com/bush-fire-resistant-houses.html
the minimum standard for new house construction in Australia. This way, should next year we have a repeat fire intensity level (or worse) to what we've had this year. And a number of deaths occur due to the replacement houses that were newly built this year, not being at a sufficiently high enough bushfire-proof standard. We Aussies won't have to live with all the deaths on our consciences, due to not having gotten our act together?
Image Credit: Wikipedia
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