Advice/Idea, storing firewood in an extreme fire zone.

[Weimar]

Hello there, just looking for advice/ideas.
We have a little shack down the coast in a area rated with an extremely high fire danger. One of the pieces of advice we have received is not to stack firewood under or against the house and to store it at least 20 metres awayor in a fireproof container. We will struggle with the 20 metre rule as this will put the stack close to other houses, power lines, road etc.

What have other people done? I don't know of anyone who has seen let alone installed a fireproof wood store.

The best I can come up with, since the block is reasonably steep is
a concrete tank dug into the ground with a checker plate door.
Ground can get pretty damp though.

I'd be grateful for any ideas.

Tim W

[Basil135]

Much of the decision is going to be based on how much wood do you need (want) to store?

A couple of 44 gallon drums with lids might do, or if you need more, then an old concrete rainwater tank.

Keep in mind, that whatever you use, you need to be able to reach or at least access, the bottom of it to get the last of it out.

[frantic]

Double purpose , put in 6 posts 6m x 2 to hold a 20ft shipping container. Fire resistant as well as storage for wood On one side ( the hot side so it dries quicker ) and you fuels for mower as well as storage for mower etc. If it is a high fire danger area make the posts out of steel not wood(so if a fire runs uphill it doesn't destroy the posts and send the container On a trip):! and being a shipping container you probably won't need council approval as long as you use only bolts.

[bob10]

Lay a concrete slab, only has to be 1 metre by 3 metres, 2 metres high. Bessa blocks, precast concrete slabs for the roof, get a brickie mate [ or yourself, if handy] to put it together. Steel door, fill the bessa blocks up with concrete, if you wish. Align the set up so the steel door is facing away from where you think fire may approach, in the top of the door have a section for a small screen of steel mesh for ventilation. Weld a hood type setup over the mesh, if you are concerned about ember attack. Dimensions are up to you, but you get the drift. If you want to go the whole hog, build up a dirt revetment on the 3 concrete sides. Doable either with a few mates, cement mixer, blocks, etc, on a weekend, or piecemeal over winter. The concrete precast slabs can be purchased from garden centres , or perhaps Bunnings, or put together yourself, remember you have to lift them. As an extra touch, plant creepers in the dirt revetments, Bob

[mikehzz]

In the last bushfire at Winmalee, I had a trailer with a fully sealed metal lid full of wood at my back gate. I was hosing it down and one wheel still burnt out to the rim while the other didn't burn at all. All the electrics/lights went plus ALL the wood inside burnt to ash even though there was no direct contact with embers or flame. Remember, I was hosing this thing down trying to save it....I don't think there is such a thing as fire proof anymore.

[Tote]

What are you trying to achieve? if you have a bushfire the last thing you care about is if your firewood burns, only that it dosen't burn your house down.
We use one of the old square rainwater tanks to contain the wood and keep it dry, that would at least contain the fire that eventuated away from the house

Regards,
Tote

[Bushie]

Just make sure it is as far away from the house as possible and preferably down wind (use the wind that will give you fires) east coast it would mean the pile is to the NE -> SE from the house.

The problem is that if the wood pile burns it places a higher thermal load on the house and can lead to piloted ignition if embers land , window breakages etc.

Of course I have no idea whether the house can withstand a fire impact in the first place, but any reduction in heat will help, main thing is to try and keep embers etc out of the structure.


Martyn

[Weimar]

Thanks for the advice.

Shipping container has a lot of a appeal, I be able to get most of the inflammable stuff out from around/under the house but the only space available is uphill from the house.

Looks like I will go with something along the lines of Bob10's suggestion.

Thanks again.

Tim W