Should there be laws to stop people living / building in bushfire prone areas?

[donnashuggy]

and surrounding themselves in trees and bushland.

It seems very risky to live in these areas and very risky for the firefighters.

[icyfroth]

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@donnashuggy wrote:

Should we save risk out lives saving them in bushfires though?

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Of course! It's our human bounden duty.

[izabsmiling]

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@donnashuggy wrote:

and surrounding themselves in trees and bushland.

It seems very risky to live in these areas and very risky for the firefighters.

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The push is to move outside the cities ...everyone can't  live in  Cities which have their own risks

I was just reading a comment on a newspapers site ..the person requested that judgements about where the victims (as this person is apparently)  live  wait until after this disaster .

and no there shouldn't be laws about that imo

In Vicitoria some of our bigger towns/small cities are classified fire risk areas .The risk areas are increasing

[mtnlane · Accepted solution]

Discussion on insurance companies aside, this is an interesting article on the need to adapt housing designs to environs in which the house is being built.

Glenn Murcutt has built a number of houses in the Blue Mountains and other fire-prone areas, successfully adapting designs to suit conditions.  Mention is made of that in the linked article.

Having said that, local councils have been derelict in their duty, approving building applications in totally unsuitable and frankly dangerous locations.

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/nsw-fires-if-you-live-in-the-bush-build-for-the-bush-20131021-2vx2l.ht...

[izabsmiling]

do other States have this  ?

http://hia.com.au/hia/content/Builder/region/National/classification/Building%20and%20Planning%20Ser...

New building standards for bushfire prone areas AS 3959 (Vic)

Following the recent bushfires the government has moved to introduce higher building standards in bushfire prone areas Victoria.

[purple_haize]

We live in the bush, we have huge mountain ash trees around, and the council wont allow for people to have them taken out. If the council was more responsible, then those that live in the bush and surrounding suburbs could remove the trees and vegetation close to houses.

I like Punch have to pay for *floods* now on our insurance and there is no way our place would ever flood, but we all have to pay it.

The council that takes in the Dandenongs here in Melbourne lets people build in some areas, in the hills where it isnt safe. Some roads are so narrow there is room for one car only............what happens if there is a fire in these areas, everyone wanting to get out, fire trucks wanting to get in............they should be widening the roads as well.......but no, they dont.

I love the bush, I hate suburbia, all my husbands family and my daughter live in the Dandenongs, my sister in law lives right on the edge of the Dandenongs National Park, on a narrow road, she wouldnt move for anything.

[cherry*135]

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@ashjoma wrote:
no, but there should be designs which are like concrete bunkers and build into the ground, to lessen the risk

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That is a sensible answer.

[elefunk!]

Residents are allowed to perform hazard reduction around their houses, and on new developments the buffer zone is usually part of the DA.

What conservationists and environmentalist object to, are developers buying up conservation zoned land, usually at bargain price then via political mateships have the zoning overturned so that they may develop the land and remove all the bushland on it.

Trees and greenery is an important part of maintaining a cooler microclimate and fresh air around homes, plus the habitat corridor for native wildlife.   By removing all trees you actually decrease the humidity and increase the average temperature.   Hazard reduction around residential areas now concentrate more on a low burn to remove fuel along the ground but keep the branches and crowns of trees green.

[i-need-a-martini]

We've actually been having a lot of discussion on this in our (architectural) office this week.

Australian build the most ridiculous houses for the climate. 

We are designing a house at the moment on the edge of Lane Cove National Park (in NSW) in a street where houses were lost during the fires in 1994. We were wanting the client to fire proof their house with noncombustable materials and smarter design but we couldn't convince them. We thought we might be able to talk a more sensible design through at a meeting yesterday - seeing as there are currently fires in their area - but their attitude is one of "It will never affect me as long as I clear out the gutters of dead leaves."

I cannot understand why people would choose to build anything other than a safe home if they are in a fire prone area. It makes no sense.

[i-need-a-martini]

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@elefunk! wrote:

Residents are allowed to perform hazard reduction around their houses, and on new developments the buffer zone is usually part of the DA.

What conservationists and environmentalist object to, are developers buying up conservation zoned land, usually at bargain price then via political mateships have the zoning overturned so that they may develop the land and remove all the bushland on it.

Trees and greenery is an important part of maintaining a cooler microclimate and fresh air around homes, plus the habitat corridor for native wildlife.   By removing all trees you actually decrease the humidity and increase the average temperature.   Hazard reduction around residential areas now concentrate more on a low burn to remove fuel along the ground but keep the branches and crowns of trees green.

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Flying burning embers don't really take note of buffer zones.

Whilst I agree about keeping trees, the answer isn't in the landscape but in the design of the buildings themselves.

A house should be designed well enough that a fire can pass straight over the top of it - it's as simple as that.

[freakiness]

Yes, I remember years ago on the Central Coast houses timber housed built among trees on hillsides on stilts so they resembled open fireplaces downstairs. And yes they did burn down fast when bush fires went through.