Australian Politics Forum - Fire and Tree/Sea change critters

Jovial Monk

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Fire and Tree/Sea change critters
Oct 2^nd, 2021 at 3:41pm

Lots of people are moving to the country from the city—tree change/sea change. When you move to the country you move to/closer to the bush. The globe is warming—bushfires get more vicious.

The sort of trees you want around you are deciduous, not evergreen. Leaves should be wide and thick, not thin, pinlike and the trees should not be scented.

In other words—you do NOT want gum trees or pine trees or other conifers close to your house.

Wooden garden furniture, arbors, pergolas etc should be over 10 metres from the house—this is just more fuel for any fire.

The move to my block, a few years from now, will be a tree change. This is personal to me but I am no orphan in making a tree or sea change.

Assuming the GMods desist with the ridiculous long bans for no reason I will develop this theme. Increasingly the message will apply to outer metro/large town suburbs as bushfires get more and more deadly because of AGW.

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« Last Edit: Oct 2^nd, 2021 at 6:52pm by Jovial Monk »

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Sophia Gold Member Offline Posts: 8615	Re: Fire and Tree/Sea change critters Reply #1 - Oct 2^nd, 2021 at 4:31pm Another fire hazard most are unaware, I recall one of the reasons for them Canberra fires and loss of a lot of homes…was chip bark in the garden all around the house.
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Jovial Monk Moderator Offline Dogs not cats! Posts: 47794 Gender:	Re: Fire and Tree/Sea change critters Reply #2 - Oct 2^nd, 2021 at 4:35pm Yup. Better to grow succulents and/or cacti with no mulch. No fuel near the house!
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Jovial Monk

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Re: Fire and Tree/Sea change critters
Reply #3 - Oct 3^rd, 2021 at 8:34am

The other suggestion I have seen—don’t have long beds covered with peastraw or woodchip mulch—this will let the fire spread along those beds, perhaps right up to the house. If you really want to use that sort of flammable mulch use it in “islands” of plants/flowers in a lawn—the mulch will burn if there is a big fire but the chances of those fires spreading is much less.

Best is to have nice wide paths around the house so in the case of a fire firefighters can move around the house easily with their gear and fight the fire, saving your house. Plants should be low and preferable of the cactus, succulent and/or sedum variety.

In Adelaide at least a fashion has grown up to make each house a “gated community” with fences, carports etc preventing easy access around the house. Can you blame firefighters if they fight a fire at/near a house that offers easy access all around?

Use gravel mulches near your house would be the best bet.

Here is a funny fact: strawbale is the most fire–resistant building material!

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Jovial Monk

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Re: Fire and Tree/Sea change critters
Reply #4 - Oct 3^rd, 2021 at 9:27am

Another funny fact, one I noticed on my George Town block:

Rabbits LOVE digging in hardwood chip mulch but they do not dig in peastraw mulch! Weird but that is what I noticed.

Back to fires and the fire resilient house—the trees I described above fit the category of fruit trees very well! Apple, pear, plum etc, nearly all except citrus are deciduous plants with thick leaves that are not scented (pomegranate is an evergreen shrub with scent and nectar on the ends of its leaves.)

So some apple or pear or peach or apricot etc trees at least 9 metres away from the house do well as ember-catchers. They will not catch fire easily but will burn for a while once alight.

With bushfires embers are blown from the firefront to areas not yet burned and these embers, which could be blown towards your house and garden for hours and hours will be what sets your house alight.

Temperatures from bushfires can be hundreds of degrees Celsius, a sprinkler here or there just can’t do much to slow the fire.

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John Smith

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Re: Fire and Tree/Sea change critters
Reply #5 - Oct 3^rd, 2021 at 9:40am

Jovial Monk wrote on Oct 3^rd, 2021 at 9:27am:

Another funny fact, one I noticed on my George Town block:

Rabbits LOVE digging in hardwood chip mulch but they do not dig in peastraw mulch! Weird but that is what I noticed.

Back to fires and the fire resilient house—the trees I described above fit the category of fruit trees very well! Apple, pear, plum etc, nearly all except citrus are deciduous plants with thick leaves that are not scented (pomegranate is an evergreen shrub with scent and nectar on the ends of its leaves.)

So some apple or pear or peach or apricot etc trees at least 9 metres away from the house do well as ember-catchers. They will not catch fire easily but will burn for a while once alight.

With bushfires embers are blown from the firefront to areas not yet burned and these embers, which could be blown towards your house and garden for hours and hours will be what sets your house alight.

Temperatures from bushfires can be hundreds of degrees Celsius, a sprinkler here or there just can’t do much to slow the fire.

place I stayed at called 'the caves' a couple of months ago was built into the bush ... trees overhanging the house on all sides except the front .... it did have a sprinkler on the roof but the pipe taking water up to it was PVC ... if there ever was a fire that pipe would be the first thing to go Cheesy

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Jovial Monk Moderator Offline Dogs not cats! Posts: 47794 Gender:	Re: Fire and Tree/Sea change critters Reply #6 - Oct 3^rd, 2021 at 9:42am Trees, especially gum or pine overhanging a house is a recipe for disaster.
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Jovial Monk

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Re: Fire and Tree/Sea change critters
Reply #7 - Oct 3^rd, 2021 at 12:13pm

A couple of other things to be wary of.

Gas bottles. Obviously these should not be stored next to the house. Less obviously, big gas tanks should not be placed next to a storage shed/container etc but this is often done. Big gas tanks should be away from other structures and from trees. I have decided on electric oven/grill/cooktop with camp cookers in case power is out for an extended time. Will have to work out where to store them. The bottles of course will be filled up just before summer—it is gas or petrol vapor that will explosively combust.

The garden shed. The corrugated iron will distort in the extreme heat and the contents will burn, keep it more than 9 metres from the house.

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Belgarion

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Re: Fire and Tree/Sea change critters
Reply #8 - Oct 3^rd, 2021 at 12:22pm

It's not that the natural occurrence of fire and flood are getting more extreme, but that more people are building in the bush and on flood plains, so naturally more people are being affected.

Add to this the fact that most of these people are urban dwellers who have probably never previously been confronted with nature in the raw, coupled with ever more sensationalist reporting, and this is why many people believe that these incidents are growing in frequency and intensity, when it is really only nature doing what nature always does.

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Jovial Monk Moderator Offline Dogs not cats! Posts: 47794 Gender:	Re: Fire and Tree/Sea change critters Reply #9 - Oct 3^rd, 2021 at 12:52pm And AGW makes the fires fiercer, fuel reduction burns harder to manage safely etc. Hotter summers = drier vegetation = hotter fires. And yes, not used to the bush, no idea of the power of a bushfire etc.
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Jovial Monk

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Re: Fire and Tree/Sea change critters
Reply #10 - Oct 4^th, 2021 at 9:14am

While I thought I understood bushfires I soon learned I did not!

Windows are easily broken and the curtains behind the window sure to catch fire. A flat roll down blind filled with styrofoam is the solution. If there are fireproof curtains that could be considered maybe.

You also want your house to be visible to firefighters and have clear, wide paths, an open area for them to stage and it could be your house that gets saved from the fire.

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Jovial Monk Moderator Offline Dogs not cats! Posts: 47794 Gender:	Re: Fire and Tree/Sea change critters Reply #11 - Oct 4^th, 2021 at 9:19am Plenty of YouTubes and making your house fire resistant, e.g. and:
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Jovial Monk Moderator Offline Dogs not cats! Posts: 47794 Gender:	Re: Fire and Tree/Sea change critters Reply #12 - Oct 4^th, 2021 at 6:11pm Re mulch catching fire. If you read any account of a US Civil War battle you will read that the dead leaves on the forest floor caught fire—and burned some of the wounded soldiers lying on the ground unable to move much at all. E.g. Battle of the Wilderness.
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Jovial Monk

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Re: Fire and Tree/Sea change critters
Reply #13 - Oct 5^th, 2021 at 12:47pm

Fire resiliency zones

Zone 1
The defensive zone

Extends 9.1m in all directions from the house.

Firefighters will defend the house from this space, it must be uncluttered and have wide firm paths. Driveway to be wide and offer another exit in case of emergency to the firefighters.

“The garden zone/defensible space is the most important zone in this model. Without igniting, this zone must be able to withstand firebrands and intense heat, between 900°F and 1,300°F. Everybody and anybody should be able to move unencumbered and swiftly through the garden zone. Firefighters will battle a blaze within these first 30 feet/[9.1m]”.

Kent, Douglas; Kent, Douglas. Firescaping (pp. 107-108). Wilderness Press. Kindle Edition.

Veges, currants, thick leaved plants etc can be grown here. Wide clear paths all around the house.

The ideals of beauty and privacy play a large role in determining plant selection. Fences, hedges, sheds, compost areas, and stored items, such as firewood, are common in this zone and add a lot of fuel.

Garden shed is over 11m from the house as will be greenhouse, compost heaps etc.

About as far as I have gotten with this book.

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Jovial Monk

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Re: Fire and Tree/Sea change critters
Reply #14 - Oct 5^th, 2021 at 5:50pm

Just remembered something else.

If you are in the bush and you have decking you need to put a “skirt” on the decking. A brick wall or fibrous cement is excellent. It is thicker than the old (asbestos) fibro and entirely fireproof. Enclosing the lower part of your decking means the fire can’t come in underneath then flame up as it burns the decking.

This applies to your house too! If all or part of your house is on stumps or above ground fire can get in underneath and burn through your floorboards etc, so enclose the part where the house is above ground level so fire can’t gain entry there.

Eaves should not be wide (mine will be as I want to build with strawbale infill and, like 99% of Tasmania it is damp where my block is. These eaves or other soffits need to be lined and fibrous cement is the material here.

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