[GSBN] Straw Bale House Fire

[John Glassford]

G ' day

I have been following this trend with some interest, of course.

I certainly agree with the findings so far when it comes to a straw
bale house fire, either deliberate or accidental.  We have experience
in both types.  I will not expand on them here and now.

What we are also interested in are fires of the bush fire variety as
touched on by Brian Hodge from Anvill Building in Victoria.  Frank
Thomas and a few others are investigating this right now. We look
forward to their findings.  As some of you are aware Bohdan Dorniak
from Adelaide was responsible for getting straw bale walls tested
under the CSIRO one of the world's leading scientific bodies.  The
results can be obtained from Bohdan and a summary is here:

http://www.earthgarden.com.au/strawbale/fire_test.html

I feel that the intensity of these recent Victorian bush fires would
have incinerated just about anything, including straw bale houses.
That is what we need to find out just what a straw bale house can
stand.  However it also comes down to design and the actual site
itself.  I am sure Frank and his team will come up with some facts on
these fires in due course.

The reason for the post is that I am very concerned of one particular
straw bale web site, an American one, which used the recent Australian
bush fires to create an assumption that a straw bale house would
survive this type of fire.  Also we need to be ever vigilant in
promoting straw bale as a fire "proof" material when rendered.  My
feeling is that straw bale walls will perform better than most modern
materials used in buildings today, however they are not fire proof by
any means, no matter what the fire is.

Some rational thinking is needed here with a conservative approach at
the same time as to promoting the advantages of straw bale in a fire
situation versus other materials.

My apologies if I have not made myself clear all I am trying to do is
to get the sensationalism out of the eye of the public when it comes
to straw bale walls and fires.

All for now.

Kind regards
John Glassford
Huff 'n' Puff Constructions
http://www.glassford.com.au
61 2 6927 6027
In Australia (02) 6927 6027

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