There has been some discussion following the Victorian fires about whether dugouts might have saved lives.

They saved lives in 1939, including my Uncle Jim. My Uncle Michael died in a dugout, but there were exceptional circumstances.

My Aunt Noreen talked about the issues on Radio National with Philip Adams:

[audio:http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/2009/02/lnl_20090210_2215.mp3]