Nagging Wife Saves Family From Bushfire
Posted by Amber Robinson at 11:35 AM on February 9, 2009
Men – listen to your wives.
Seven months pregnant Nicole Berry had begged and begged her husband Andrew to build a fire bunker behind their water tank in the rural town of Kinglake, Victoria, worried that sprinklers would not do enough to protect their timber home.
Her husband, Andrew, told her: “Stop nagging, I’ll build the bloody thing.” And thanks goodness he did (the bunker is pictured right).
As reported in the SMH,
The bunker, dug into an earth embankment with 15-centimetre concrete walls and a $1000 fireproof door, saved their lives and that of their son, Raphael, 14 months. “It was like a firestorm, it was like a raging inferno. It’s a cliche, but that is what it was like,” Ms Berry said.
When flames engulfed their home they wrapped themselves in wet towels and sprinted to the bunker. “We couldn’t shut the door of the bunker, it was that buckled and warped,” Mr Berry said. “The embers were coming through the gap, it was like the fire was coming to get us.”
Mrs Berry eventually made her way to the Kinglake CFA headquarters wearing only a bikini under her clothes. “I don’t own any underwear,” she laughed.
There’s is just one of the remarkable stories emerging from the Victorian bushfires, which are being called the worst natural disaster in Australia’s history.
Related:
Families perish in Victorian fires
Thank god that my Sister, Brother In-law and Nephew are safe and well. There’s a lot to say about a woman’s intuition and that she and her father In-law persisted with the nagging until the bunker was finished otherwise they would have been another fatality of the fires my heart goes out to all those who have lost loved ones.
This story made me laugh, why, cos after the news aired I was sitting inside giving the kids dinner while my hubby was finally outside brush clearing around the house. Nagging wives save lives.
This was one of the stories that inspired me to do some research and write a comprehensive article on Fire Bunkers. It can be found at:
http://home.iprimus.com.au/ianpullar/firebunkers.htm