I like the technology...
Here are some issues that people need to be aware of:
1. People are still building houses out of wood in these fire areas.
2. Houses should be built out of fireproof materials. roof should have metal or cement, closeable ventilation (metal) should fire come near roofs, outside siding should be cement board or stone, not wood.
3. Rebuilding after fire, the insurance company should insist on constructions materials in #2.
4. Most houses in rural areas are required to have interior spray systems. So why not external systems.
5. House in the interior should have external sprinklers on the roof (which should be metal) with min 5000 liter tank for fire season. This system should be hooked up with a collection system ( to recycle the water back to roof top). The sprinklers could be put on mist, or when temp get higher to full flow when the fire comes closer. The government should come up with a formula for roof area and perimeter area of the walls of a building to determine the actual amount of water required for external area of an building. The tank should be good for 3-5 days worth of water to cover the house in mist, or full spray when temperature max. The bigger the tank the more costly it becomes and contractors will push back on the design of any tanks.
6. A fire break from min distance from house/building to trees. grassy areas.
7. As seasonal temperature go above certain settings, the more protection your building will need in the future. As worldwide temp increases so does the weather system hit back (with extremely high temps 40-50 C in parts of the world, along with damage due to floods caused by rainstorms (too much water vapour in air due to temperature). What was standard practice 30 years ago is now suspect due to higher water damage caused by floods. eg Calgary flood from 11-15 years ago.
8. Window protection (outside security roll shutter system or metal, or metal sideways shutters.) Again with outside sprinklers that can cool the shutters, makes sense in fire situation.
9. Small towns and cities should have ring-mains or several ring-mains (depending on size of the city) to mist water in the air for when temperature reaches over 35 C. Priority should be given to which way the wind blows during fire season. Then slowly increase the system to complete the ring-main.
10. Schools should teach young kids and teenagers in how to use fire extinguishers.
When you see burnt out buildings, its usually cement foundations that are left. So building a house from cement (ICF), with siding that is cement boards would reduce the risk of a house burning down. A external system could cover the house in mist/water should the fire get within 10 m of the house. this would further protect an cement house. Give somewhat iffy protection against wood construction.
Earth houses built into the ground usually survive. The fire passes over them.
When these building burn down, my insurance rates always climb, and construction costs go up.
