In hot weather, eucalyptus trees breathe lots of the oil vapour - it's like the whole countryside is a giant one of those military 'vapour bombs'.

It's considered safer to protect the house, hide from the radiated heat, and then clean up any minor fires after the major heat burst passes over. Homes burn down if you can't extinguish the ember fires, especially in the roof, or fires started inside by radiated heat thru the windows.

Of course you need to stay calm and focused, and on the ball knowing what to do - panic merchants should just leave. If you get caught outside in 1000 deg heat, you don't last long.