September 18th, 2007
Flashover Video - With subtitles
Since October and Fire Safety Month is almost upon us, I think this is as good a time as any to post this video of how quickly a small fire can become deadly. This video starts off with french (?) but it switches over to english subtitles. A great way to see how quickly a small fire becomes a big one in a hurry.
Flashovers occur when all of the unburned gases and objects in a room spontaneously ignite as a result of a fire burning in the room.
In this particular example, the fire really gets going at about 2min 40seconds and that’s the result of a single match on a piece of furniture.
I hope this convinces you to make sure that a) your smoke detectors are fully functional and b) they have a visual and/or tactile component. A smoke detector would have alerted residents to the fire between 20 and 40 seconds after the match was placed on the seat.
Can you afford not to have working detectors? Contact your local fire department to see if they have smoke alarm distribution programs. If not and you can’t afford them, contact the Foundation for Safer Housing as they have a visual smoke alarm distribution program.
October 11th, 2007 at 2:46 pm
The idea of a deaf fireman at first glance is glance would stike one as a completely fool-hardy idea, but when it comes down to it there may be a lot more to it then might come out in a mundane conversation.
I ‘know’ from anecdotal evidence that what lacks in certain physical attributes can be made up for in other ways… the blind person with extra shape hearing or sense of smell comes to mind.
What I wonder about is the level of communication that can or can’t occur on the scene, particularly in the heat of the moment (if you’ll forgive the pun). I’d be interested in some conversation about that aspect of your service.
Thanks for your interesting blog and looking forward to having the time to read more.
Vic Fichman
Partner/Founder
http://www.firetraining.net
October 23rd, 2007 at 10:32 pm
[...] Blog points out, a room can explode in flames in a matter of minutes. In this post, he links to a video that shows what happens when flashover occurs (he also notes, ironically for So Cal, that October [...]