Scuba escape

Pete Fabrici survived the devastating Prevelly fire by using scuba gear to stay at the bottom of a swimming pool as the inferno raged. When the 53-year-old builder's friend called to warn him he could see a wall of fire heading towards the father-of-two's beloved Margaret River home, he made sure he was ready.

He set about making an oxygen device, which was made up of a diving tank strapped to a small trolley, to help him breath in the rapidly deteriorating conditions. He stuffed gutters with rags, put on heavy, drenched clothing, placed sprinklers on the roof of his house and, eventually, escaped and took shelter at the bottom of his neighbour's pool for about five minutes - a move he believes saved his life.

"I dived head-on into the pool with the trolley in one arm and my goggles in the other only to find that the pool cover was still on . . . and I just spent five minutes on the bottom of the pool."

"I was in tears when I got back to our house. I just looked at the devastation around me and saw the houses on fire . . . I just dropped to my knees and cried like a baby because I was still alive.

SOURCE: ABC News