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That first video is visually stunning, and also gives a complete noob a good idea of what to expect from fire. It's one thing to have some generalized idea that

That first video is visually stunning, and also gives a complete noob a good idea of what to expect from fire. It's one thing to have some generalized idea that "fire spreads quickly"; it's quite another to see how a seemingly low-key flame will almost instantly burst into an unmanageable fireball. It's interesting to see that there is a pre-emptive warning to a "flashover" - you can see the edge of the fire, for lack of better terms, "licking" or "curling" along the edge. Of course that visual warning is of little consolation if it comes with less than a couple of seconds of time to react; especially without a fire retardant suit. Imagine how many lives would be saved if every citizen could experience this kind of training first hand. I think inexperienced individuals are likely to think there is time to gather belongings "while the fire is still scaling". How many of us, upon seeing a fire "slowly" taking over a corner of the room, would believe we have plenty of time to collect our most prized or expensive possessions before running out the door? Random side thought: I wish we'd come up with a better way of testing evacuation drills. All drills do is teach people that every alarm is fake, and so everyone spends minutes packing up their laptops, grabbing their coats, etc. It's disconcerting to watch people "finishing a block of code", drinking their coffee, or texting on their phone at an office when an alarm goes off. And I've seen that at a company where the executive team planned an unannounced drill 2 months after the scheduled annual drill. As in, nobody knew it was a test. And yet it took 15 minutes to evacuate a small building. facepalm

hvidgaard 10y ago
The drills have their place, but I recall a place where they simply, once a month had a walk through of the procedure while doing it. Supposedly, people can actually remember it, and because there isn't any fire drills when the alarm sounds, they take it seriously.
Symbiote 10y ago
> 15 minutes I'll be the one leaving as soon as the alarm sounds. I've found this also sets an example and people follow. My school caught fire when I was 12, due to an electrical fault in the basement, and an adjacent building caught fire when I was about 15. University buildings I was in caught fire twice, once late in the evening and once during an exam. None of these were serious enough that we couldn't reenter the building within several hours, at least to retrieve belongings, but there'd have been no advantage to lingering inside.
ygra 10y ago
Flashover is visually stunning, but rare these days. Building codes should in most cases prevent it from occurring, at least in non-residential buildings (inside homes it's another matter, as there is often more combustible material than in office buildings). Even if it does happen, it requires a fire to be going on for quite a while already (pyrolysis isn't instantaneous), so everyone inside that room is either a firefighter or already dead, so I don't think training every citizen to recognise it is of much value. At work I'm one of the people responsible for evacuating employees and our only responsibility is evacuation, calling the fire department and trying to extinguish small fires (e.g. a burning waste basket, however that may happen). Anything leading to a flashover is something we should never get close to. As for the drills, you should make it clear to everyone that getting outside (or behind the nearest fireproof door) is their top priority. Hallways are going to be impassable (without passing out at least) after about three minutes, so 15 is definitely too long. I'd probably try to talk to each one of those people you're describing and make sure they understand what they're doing in that case. While they may not value their life much, their employer is on the line if they die during a fire.
TeMPOraL 10y ago
> Random side thought: I wish we'd come up with a better way of testing evacuation drills. A company-wide policy that if you're still inside 5 minutes after the drill starts without a good, drill-related reason (e.g. crowded stairwell), you get your performance bonus cut this month, and if you're still inside 15 minutes after the drill starts, that's ground for firing? I can't think of anything else that would make people take drills seriously. An example I remember from my high-school times that particularly annoyed me was teachers who didn't want to let the class go because they were having a test, and test is obviously more important than a fire drill...
- woliveirajr 10y ago
  I liked the pun in the argument: if you're inside the building after 15 minutes, you're fired...

hvidgaard 10y ago

The drills have their place, but I recall a place where they simply, once a month had a walk through of the procedure while doing it. Supposedly, people can actually remember it, and because there isn't any fire drills when the alarm sounds, they take it seriously.

Symbiote 10y ago

> 15 minutes I'll be the one leaving as soon as the alarm sounds. I've found this also sets an example and people follow. My school caught fire when I was 12, due to an electrical fault in the basement, and an adjacent building caught fire when I was about 15. University buildings I was in caught fire twice, once late in the evening and once during an exam. None of these were serious enough that we couldn't reenter the building within several hours, at least to retrieve belongings, but there'd have been no advantage to lingering inside.

ygra 10y ago

Flashover is visually stunning, but rare these days. Building codes should in most cases prevent it from occurring, at least in non-residential buildings (inside homes it's another matter, as there is often more combustible material than in office buildings). Even if it does happen, it requires a fire to be going on for quite a while already (pyrolysis isn't instantaneous), so everyone inside that room is either a firefighter or already dead, so I don't think training every citizen to recognise it is of much value. At work I'm one of the people responsible for evacuating employees and our only responsibility is evacuation, calling the fire department and trying to extinguish small fires (e.g. a burning waste basket, however that may happen). Anything leading to a flashover is something we should never get close to. As for the drills, you should make it clear to everyone that getting outside (or behind the nearest fireproof door) is their top priority. Hallways are going to be impassable (without passing out at least) after about three minutes, so 15 is definitely too long. I'd probably try to talk to each one of those people you're describing and make sure they understand what they're doing in that case. While they may not value their life much, their employer is on the line if they die during a fire.

TeMPOraL 10y ago

> Random side thought: I wish we'd come up with a better way of testing evacuation drills. A company-wide policy that if you're still inside 5 minutes after the drill starts without a good, drill-related reason (e.g. crowded stairwell), you get your performance bonus cut this month, and if you're still inside 15 minutes after the drill starts, that's ground for firing? I can't think of anything else that would make people take drills seriously. An example I remember from my high-school times that particularly annoyed me was teachers who didn't want to let the class go because they were having a test, and test is obviously more important than a fire drill...

woliveirajr 10y ago
I liked the pun in the argument: if you're inside the building after 15 minutes, you're fired...