By Alex Rea

David Aitken and Anne Eastman have recently installed a bushfire bunker at their Turnbull’s Lane property. Living on the edge of the town, the couple are all too aware of the risks of future fires and the speed with which it could come after the Black Summer fires.

David, an architect, said “It was a local artist Ken Tabor in Maulbrooks Road who convinced me recently to get one. He survived in his own built shelter when the Mogo Fire swept through in 2019. His whole forested property, car and house went up in flames … he would never have been able to escape by foot or car!”

“He convinced me finally that we were stupid not to put a shelter in,” said David.

The shelter’s location carefully selected and excavated using a timber profile as a visual guide. It has been built in with extra granite boulders and covered by a curved metal roof.

The shelter unit was prefabricated in Albury.

Special Features include:

• Durable design made from 40MPA reinforced concrete with a 100mm wall thickness.
• Double plated, insulated steel door comes fitted with a fire window allowing the occupants to see what is going on outside and know when it is safe to leave.
• The door is fitted with the highest quality industrial thermal seals available and 1400°C x 50mm thick Fire Blanket inside the door.
• Bunker is lockable, although also includes an internal safety latch for extra safety – Occupants cannot be locked inside!
• Units can be freestanding or ideally buried or submerged into an embankment.
• Fits up to 6 adults (pets too!) for a period of two hours. In most cases, you should only need to be inside for 15-20 minutes. Approx 8 cubic meters.
• Comes with a concrete base.
• Designed for easy unloading with a tray truck and hiab crane. Bunker has lifting lugs that allow it to be positioned.
• Tapered roof line allowing water run off.
• New Heavy Duty Container Door hinges are used with brass bearings (no plastic).
• Double glazed fire window.

The advantage to this bunker is that there is no climbing down or crawling into. It allows easy and safe access for all ages and their four legged furry friends to walk in and out.

The bunker would be safe for the couple for around 4 hours.