POWER and phone lines should be underground so that essential services don't fail during bushfires, according to a woman who was stranded in her burnt-out street for 24 hours after Black Saturday.

Vicki Law, of St Andrews, told the Bushfire Royal Commission that rebuilding must include underground placement of wires in areas that do not have mobile reception.

"Nobody knew we were alive till Sunday afternoon," she later told The Age.

The media are banned from the commission's community consultations.

Mrs Law and her husband sheltered with a neighbour after losing their home, sheds, garage, hens and cats, despite being prepared with two water pumps and a pool.