F***ing brilliant: Underground bunker protects man from South Coast fires
He’s waited 20 years to use it but this man’s underground bunker has won the praise of firefighters battling a blaze in the NSW south coast.
Illawarra Star
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Ian Patton has been waiting for the Currowan bushfire to hit for more than 20 years.
The Turmeil resident built an underground bunker to protect himself, his little dog and chooks when he bought his property almost two decades ago.
Mr Patton chose to stay and defend his home when the fires broke out, with a sophisticated irrigation system protecting him from the ferocious fire.
The blaze, which has been burning for more than a week, devouring almost 50,000 ha of bushland, crept dangerously close to his property on Wednesday, as the fire spread east into Termeil.
Mr Patton built the underground bunker himself, knowing that he’d be at risk of bushfire at some stage or another.
“When I bought the place I knew it was going to get burnt one day so I built it then,” he said.
“Fire or flood I knew I’d need it.”
The bunker also served to protect one of his most prized items.
“I’ve got my motorcycle down there,” he said.
“Got to protect that.”
One of the firefighters working to contain the blaze around Mr Patton’s home said his irrigation system was “f***ing brilliant”.
“That’s a good news story that ... bloody brilliant,” he said.
The fire warning had been scaled back from emergency level to watch and act by Wednesday morning, but the blaze was still threatening homes at Termeil and further south towards the small coastal villages of Kioloa, Pretty Beach, Pebbly Beach, Depot Beach and Durras North.
More than 200 firefighters are on the ground fighting the fires, which are expected to rage on for days to come.
So far, it’s understood one home has been destroyed in the blaze as well as “other structures”.