Caporegime
I think that's the cause.
Tower block fire - london
- Thread starter robfosters
- Start date
I think that's the cause.
still better odds than landing on concrete...
could have done with a large cherry picker too
If you're going to think that far ahead, you'd be better off installing a proper fire suppression/sprinkler system. How are you going to the old, kids or disabled people safely down a rope? Do you know how big a rope you'd need to get down 20 floors?
yup - you'd need one that is 20 floors long plus about another 15 - 20ft on top of that to give you a bit of slack to work with tying it off to a decent anchor point
Soldato
- Joined
- 30 Sep 2005
- Posts
- 16,557
Doesn't the smoke kill more people quicker than the actual fire. Masks wouldn't be a bad idea.
A mask would last all of 30 seconds in a fire that intense. What they needed is full respirators, which cost 10x the price, need regular checks, and filter cartridges. They have relatively short shelf lives too, so would need replacing every few years.
Even then, that still leaves the heat, entrapment and debris tk deal with.
What buildings like this need are emergency fire proof elevators in the central core so that they're easily accessed by all.
Soldato
You have to question what all the cladding was for. It looks suspiciously like it was there to tidy the building up, rather than service any meaning benefit to the residence.
An old, outdated, unsafe building covered in a flammable party frock to keep some of the more well todo locals happy.
Caporegime
Which you ain't gonna get in a 1970's refurb!
I didn't say how long, I said how big. It's physically large to support it's own weight, and you'd need a lot of them. They'd have to be checked and replaced regularly, and pretty sure you're not going to get randoms to abseil through flames. You might as well ask for a set of giant harpoons that would pin a wire down to the ground and allow people to zipline down to the ground. Still no way to get kids, the elderly or the disabled down. Instead of asking for silly movie stunt equipment, all that's really needed is a working sprinkler system, and not building them like inverted wicks.
Don
Smoke hoods will keep you alive a good 15-20 minutes as long as you don't have to run through an actual fire.
It's insulation to improve energy efficiency of the building and protect the 40-year old structure from the elements. The single glazed windows were replaced at the same time to reduce heat loss, noise transmission and safety.
When I was at boarding school in the mid 60's, the top floor dormitories did indeed have a system a bit like this as a fire evacuation system.
It was called a Davy escape (See http://activerain.com/blogsview/4268666/the-davy-fire-escape---something-unusual-in-winnetka )
Needless to say, as 7-10 year olds we were never given any training as to how to use this. It was after all the 1960's when people, even young children, were still expected to figure out how to use stuff like this on our own should the need arise....!
Don
Something similar is used offshore called the donut system.
indeed you're not - though if you do live in such a high rise and you're sufficiently worried you could stash a big climbing rope and couple of harnesses in your wardrobe just in case
Soldato
I hope with the building being old it wasnt full of asbestos.
Sorry, what does BF mean and is that supposed to be harassing?
I assume Britain First.
If it had been full of Asbestos, it might not have been a problem... :/
Soldato
It will be packed full of the stuff.
This building was built slap bang in the middle of the asbestos era. It'll pretty much be built from the stuff.