Australian
Screen

an NFSA website

Research on Survival in Bushfires (1963)

A video which normally appears on this page did not load because the Flash plug-in was not found on your computer. You can download and install the free Flash plug-in then view the video. Or you can view the same video as a downloadable MP4 file without installing the Flash plug-in.

Email a link to this page
To:
CC:
Subject:
Body:
clip
  • 1
The survival tent

This clip chosen to be G

Clip description

This clip shows a 1963 field test on a survival tent prototype used to increase the rate of survival for firefighters trapped in a fire. Dr AR King, who participated in the field test, talks about the survival tent.

Curator’s notes

In 1962 the CSIRO published A Preliminary Report on a Survival Tent for Rural Firefighters, based on the research done by its Division of Physical Chemistry. By 1963, when this film was made, the survival tent was in its third prototype and had undergone some minor changes including the shift from an upright cone-shaped tent to one in which a man could lie down.

The survival tent was inspired by the story of a man who lived through the Black Friday bushfires of 1939 by dropping a blanket over his head. The tent was made of aluminium foil and fibreglass cloth, and only recommended for use by trained firefighters in emergency situations such as when trapped in a bushfire. The survival tent seems to have disappeared into oblivion, but fire-protective clothing works on the same general principle of deflecting the intense heat radiation that causes fatal second and third degree burns.

Thanks to the generosity of the rights holders, we are able to offer The survival tent from the documentary Research on Survival in Bushfires as a high quality video download.

To play the downloadable video, you need QuickTime 7.0, VLC, or similar.

You must read and agree to the following terms and conditions before downloading the clip:

australianscreen is produced by the National Film and Sound Archive. By using the website you agree to comply with the terms and conditions described elsewhere on this site. The NFSA may amend the 'Conditions of Use’ from time to time without notice.

All materials on the site, including but not limited to text, video clips, audio clips, designs, logos, illustrations and still images, are protected by the Copyright Laws of Australia and international conventions.

When you access australianscreen you agree that:

  • You may retrieve materials for information only.
  • You may download materials for your personal use or for non-commercial educational purposes, but you must not publish them elsewhere or redistribute clips in any way.
  • You may embed the clip for non-commercial educational purposes including for use on a school intranet site or a school resource catalogue.
  • The National Film and Sound Archive’s permission must be sought to amend any information in the materials, unless otherwise stated in notices throughout the Site.

All other rights reserved.

ANY UNAUTHORISED USE OF MATERIAL ON THIS SITE MAY RESULT IN CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LIABILITY.

This clip is available in the following configurations:

File nameSizeQualitySuitability
research1_pr.mp4 Large: 21.0MB High Optimised for full-screen display on a fast computer.
research1_bb.mp4 Medium: 9.9MB Medium Can be displayed full screen. Also suitable for video iPods.

Right-click on the links above to download video files to your computer.

Thanks to the generosity of the rights holders, we are able to offer this clip in an embeddable format for personal or non-commercial educational use in full form on your own website or your own blog.

You must read and agree to the following terms and conditions before embedding the clip:

australianscreen is produced by the National Film and Sound Archive. By using the website you agree to comply with the terms and conditions described elsewhere on this site. The NFSA may amend the 'Conditions of Use’ from time to time without notice.

All materials on the site, including but not limited to text, video clips, audio clips, designs, logos, illustrations and still images, are protected by the Copyright Laws of Australia and international conventions.

When you access australianscreen you agree that:

  • You may retrieve materials for information only.
  • You may download materials for your personal use or for non-commercial educational purposes, but you must not publish them elsewhere or redistribute clips in any way.
  • You may embed the clip for non-commercial educational purposes including for use on a school intranet site or a school resource catalogue.
  • The National Film and Sound Archive’s permission must be sought to amend any information in the materials, unless otherwise stated in notices throughout the Site.

All other rights reserved.

ANY UNAUTHORISED USE OF MATERIAL ON THIS SITE MAY RESULT IN CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LIABILITY.

Copy and paste the following code into your own web page to embed this clip: