By being informed about high-rise fires, you'll be better able to decide what to do if you are ever in one.
The Main Causes of High-Rise Fires
- Smoking is #1. Avoid smoking in bed and careless handling of smoking materials.
- unsafe cooking practices and cooking accidents.
- overloaded power outlets, frayed extension cords, and unsafe appliances.
- arson
- improper use of the garbage chute. Don’t put flammable liquids, aerosol cans, or force large cartons into the chute. Deputy chief Garry Bell of the Brandon Fire Department/Emergency Services cautions people to never discard cigarette butts or ashes in the garbage chute.
Be Prepared
Every time you enter a high-rise, take 30 seconds to prepare yourself for an emergency. Find the closest exit door. Is it left or right? Is it accessible? How far is the exit from your location? Count the doors to the exit in case smoke makes it difficult to see. Find the red manual fire alarm pull station. Make a habit of doing this.
Once in your room, put the door key somewhere accessible. Check to see if the bathroom has a vent; you’ll want to turn it on if there is smoke. Check out the window(s). Does it open? Is it locked? Take a good look outside. Get a good mental picture of what is out there. All this takes less than a minute and the knowledge may save your life.
Now you can relax and settle in.
Know Your High-Rise
“There’s no question, a high-rise fire is probably one of the worst kind of fires you can possibly be in,” said Jack Sharp, retired assistant deputy chief of the Toronto Fire Department. Fortunately many buildings have built-in safety features. Find out if your high-rise has the following so you can make an informed and quick decision in the event of a fire:
- fire resistive construction and compartmentation (confines fire to a specific area and prevents spreading.)
- fire alarm system: smoke detectors, thermal detectors, and sprinkler flow switches
- sprinkler heads that function. A sprinkler head is an instant firefighter and they do save lives. A fire killed six people in a 30-storey apartment building in North York, a Toronto suburb, in January 1995. Prior to the fire, the residents of the high rise fought against installing a sprinkler system, fearing increased rental rates. A sprinkler head probably would have extinguished the flames and saved six lives.
- a voice communication system to inform occupants of the nature and location of the problem and get instructions to people. Deputy Chief Garry Bell says, “If people hear instructions over their building’s public address system, they should listen carefully and follow those instructions. They may be told to stay where they are or given alternate routes of egress.”
- fire hose cabinet with hose and extinguisher
- “pressurized stairwells that don’t fill with smoke,” adds Jack Sharp.
A Word About Fire Alarms
When a fire alarm starts clamouring, immediately take action. If you don’t move, you could pay with your life. Yet many building occupants ignore the fire alarm signal for one of three reasons:
- not recognizing the sound of the fire alarm
- unable to hear the signal, usually due to the sounds of everyday life
- no confidence in the fire alarm system because of previous nuisance alarms
Repeatedly it is shown that after people hear the fire alarm they spend minutes in non-evacuation activities. Don’t make this mistake. Don’t round up belongings, make phone calls, or finishing watching your TV show.
Ensure you will be able to hear and recognize the fire alarm if it goes off and, when it does, act immediately.
Jumping
Some people consider jumping from a burning high-rise. If you’re on the first floor, sure. From the second floor you probably won’t seriously hurt yourself if you jump far enough to clear the building. The danger is in hitting the windowsills and ledges and going into a cartwheel. This leads to serious injuries. Your chances of surviving a jump above the third floor are very slim. Panic is usually what causes people to jump so think clearly and stay calm.
Example of a High-Rise Fire
Let's look at a real high-rise fire to consider the scenario. It was January 31, 1997. In a 25-story condominium complex with 296 units in Ottawa, the majority of the residents were senior citizens. On the sixth floor a fire started inside an apartment closet from an improperly cleaned pipe in a jacket pocket. The fire quickly burned through the door of the apartment and entered the corridor. One of the two seniors in the apartment called 911 and firefighters arrived within minutes. It took ten minutes to extinguish the fire.
When firefighters arrived, an announcement was made over the voice communication system for the residents to evacuate. 95% of the people heard the message (137 people). 83% decided to evacuate while 17% decided to stay and protect-in-place. Most who stayed where they were did so because they felt it was too dangerous to leave or were physically unable to evacuate. Just over half of the people who chose to evacuate (61 people) were able to get to the ground floor. The rest of the evacuees (53 people) were unsuccessful and returned to their own apartment or retreated to another apartment. Everyone above the sixth floor who evacuated encountered smoke during their departure. It was later determined that the amount of smoke in stairwells and corridors exceeded a safe level for evacuation.
Of the 23 people who stayed in their apartments, none of them reported having smoke in their room. Only those who opened their main apartment door encountered smoke. Residents who did evacuate, many through dangerous smoke conditions, were frustrated to learn that all of the people who had stayed in their units and protected themselves were all safe and uninjured.
Knowing about the dynamics of a high-rise building fire will help if you are ever in one.
Toby Welch - Toby is a full-time freelance writer who specializes in magazine articles, online writing, e-books, and manuscript editing.
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