I'd like to hear comments from the people with firefighting experience on this temperature question.

I recall reading that human lungs are extremely fragile with respect to hot air - temperatures that are readily survivable on other parts of the body are fatal if air at that temperature is inhaled for even a single breath.

I'm wondering about the usefulness of a "wildfire shelter" that doesn't keep the interior air "cool" as the fire passes by. If the air is heated to 1832F that it's going to expand (create a wind) and try to enter through cracks and such in any shelter.

I've ridden out several hurricanes on the waterfront and think most (not all) hurricane evacuations are unnecessary, but I'm not sticking around for any fire of any size.

PS. I prefer to reserve the word "luck" to mean "opportunity meets preparation". When someone survives in spite of themselves that's not luck, that's an accident: "Joe defended his home from the inferno with a garden hose but survived by accident"