Our world is growing more and more globalised, and with many businesses switching to ecommerce platforms, postage and shipping is becoming bigger than ever. Beyond that, the re-use for shipping containers has also exploded, in areas like home extension, gardening, or long-term storage. With these structures holding so many important parts of our lives, our team at South West Containers wanted to explore how shipping containers can withstand against one of the most dangerous risks known to Australians: fire.
Are Shipping Containers Capable of Burning Down?
To find a reasonable answer to this question, we must look to what makes up a shipping container. External materials are comprised of a marine-grade corten steel, which is a fireproof material, leaving the container to withstand a fire, should one occur. Unfortunately, if the fire ever finds a way into the innards, which are usually made out of plywood or even bamboo, interior damage is likely, leaving it important to keep doors closed in high-risk areas. At the very least, a fire would be contained to one container, and with a lack of oxygen, would likely burn out quickly, leaving the possibility of spread relatively low.
Can Shipping Containers be Repurposed as Fire Bunkers?
With the above in mind, many people may think that closing themselves off in a shipping container during a fire, such as those devastating outbreaks in bushland, that they will be protected. This is untrue! Shipping containers are built to be air-tight to protect their goods from fire or water damage, but that doesn’t include living people. The lack of oxygen will likely lead to suffocation in prolonged periods of being locked inside, as well as the heat from the environment increasing temperatures to dangerous levels.
Can Shipping Containers be Repurposed to Fight Fires?
If they can’t protect us, is it possible that shipping containers could be repurposed to tackle some of the dangerous fires plaguing our nation? Well, savvy inventors have actually started to experiment with leaving shipping containers in areas prone to fires as a way to fight outbreaks. How it works is, when surrounding temperatures rise to a certain level due to surrounding fires, the walls of the shipping containers will collapse, and release the contents of fire-retardant foam up to 50 metres in diameter, leaving a relatively ‘safe’ area around the container where fire can no longer travel.