A structure ignites through one of three methods: direct flame impingement, radiant heat energy from burning structures nearby, and wind-driven firebrands or 'embers'. This last one is the number one cause of structure ignition here in North America, and is the one I focus on the most. Those firebrands can bombard your home while the fire is still several km away.

How about an Earthship with fire shutters on the main windows and a sprinkler system!

Why do you always pick the most expensive way to fireproof your house? Here is my fire prevention strategy. I covered the entire exterior of my 1000 sq. ft. house with 1/2" sheetrock, then house wrap, then 1/4" cement board, then 1\2" cement board from ground level to three feet up. All exterior wood trim is covered with galvanized metal and the windows are plugged with removable 1/2" sheetrock. There is absolutely no combustible material on the exterior of the house including the roof. As an extra measure during fire season, I lean two foot tall 1/2" thick panels of sheetrock against base of the house to create a fire-resistant berm which keeps fire two feet away from the walls. Even if the sheetrock deteriorates and crumbles after several hours of intense heat the fire still has to burn through 1 1/4" of noncombustible cement board and sheetrock, which will not happen! The ground around the house has been cleared of any combustible material to a distance of at least six feet all around the house and any vegetation within sixty feet of the house is kept to a height of no more than four inches. Trees are kept far enough away so should any tree catch fire the flames will stay at least ten feet away from the house. To test my modifications, I built a four foot by eight foot test wall which replicates the house wall construction and two three foot by eight foot wing walls on each side of the wall, in order to contain the heat of the fire that I built at the base of the wall. I fanned the fire to simulate a twenty mile per hour wind which brought the fire up to around 1000 degrees. I kept stoking the fire for five hours. (I did the test without using the two foot tall 1/2" thick panels of sheetrock leaning against the house.) The end result was the that the first 12" of the exterior 1/2" cement board crazed, cracked and crumbled, however the next layer behind the 1/2" cement board which was 1/4" cement board became slightly brittle but did not crumble and the next layer behind that was 1/2" sheetrock which was unscathed. I also did a heat test on the entire wall while the fire was burning with the following results. The temperature within the first 12" was approximately 1000 degrees Fahrenheit, at 20" up the temperature dropped to approximately 600 degrees, at 40" up the temperature was approximately 350 degrees, at 60" up the temperature was 200 degrees, at 80" up the temperature was 125 degrees and at 96" up the temperature was basically ambient temperature. I found that the first 20" from the ground level are by far the most vulnerable.

The truth is this: if the building is made of 2’ foot to 4’ foot walls and roof of earth lime and sand, imitating concrete, with fire proof window covering and an enclosed air system within, then you can weather the bushfire. You could even use car tires filled with earth and covered in 3inches of earth, with the roof being covered the same way and you would have a fireproof home. The windows again would need to be covered, but if all flammable vegetation is kept 100 foot from the windows, you would have a buffer zone. All trees should also be outside that zone and, since nothing else is flammable, you and your home would be safe. We think wood is a good building material, but it isn’t. It’s because of wood that fires kill. Remove the combustible material from the building and you’ll have a fireproof structure. And stop allowing building codes that permit wood asphalt shingles, or rubber roofs to be part of the building code. Think about the earth under your feet and build smarter.

Great advice but people have absolutely no idea of the unpredictability of intense wild fire. I survived a super intense wild fire but lost my home & everything i own, lost my mums home & my dads cabin all with in about 45min. My house was initially saved by leaving a protective barrier of iron bark trees which stopped a fire blast of 60km per hour over thousands of hectares all at once, but the fires swept past & returned to ignite everything it had dehydrated in seconds as it passed. My mums house made of fire proof fiber board & iron roof was in a completely clear 60acre paddock with less than 1 inch of grass & a heat cloud from 1 to 3km away instantly combusted the whole house in several seconds. Dad had a timber cabin & it was the last to go which was totally unexpected. My point is fire has no rules, breaks all the rules & there is no way to truly secure any house from true wild fire. In my case 300mm RSJ steel beams were melted by the front, every bit of aluminum window melted like lava by a front that was so powerful it was snapping trees in half 60cm across & concrete exploded into hundreds of projectiles, some as big as half a square meter flying over 3 m through the air. I had fair clearing , a sound house & sprinklers set up, but the front destroyed all water pumps long before getting to the house cooked everything inside shipping containers & sheds & so on. My belief is the Government has taken a completely wrong approach in forcing people to build fire safe homes at extreme expense & homes in these areas should be simple, cheap & replaceable instead.

Why isn't hemp being mentioned as a bushfire proof building material?

Ah, fire resistant roll-down residential window shutters! Anybody manufacturing these yet?

Yes, but with clearance and provision particularly with protection windows. One method is Cross-Laminated Timber with a Weathertex cladding, with additional design components. Designed it is a passive house certified building, Hello Tone Wheeler.

Any air crete domes or earth bag domes down under?

I'm thinking it's theoretically possible... with aerogel and/or starlite... though it would be prohibitively expensive.

What is gauze?

adobe mud... rammed earth homes - and of course corrugated iron, steele, all very superior at achieving this.

this is existing house.....title should had been " how to prevent fire from spreading ."

Maybe if you make it out of lego...

Yes, it's called a steel shed.

360p and mono sound. welcome to 2020. why not do a b&w silent film. gosh!

Lies! U can have a fireproof house if it's made with aerogel

Hemp bricks

what is fibro??