Why You Need Smoke Detectors
This has nothing to do with the forum so forgive me, but as a "Public ServIce Photo", coming across this in my files, I thought I'd post it.
It's after a fire in my bedroom in New York. All that burned was a chair and a wire in the wall. I was out at the time. I asked a fireman what would
have happened if I had been sleeping there. He asked if I had a smoke detector in the room. I said no, but in the kitchen next door. He then asked if I sleep with the bedroom door closed. When I said yes his reply was:
"You wouldn't have woken up - ever. Smoke inhalation".

Glad to hear you're Ok but saddened to hear about the incident. At least no one was hurt.

Blessings,
Michael

Originally Posted by STLMach1 Glad to hear you're Ok but saddened to hear about the incident. At least no one was hurt. Blessings, Michael

Thanks for the nice message. This was a couple of years ago & I posted it more to show what can happen -smoke and heat-wise - from what would sound, if described -- as just a minor fire (ie A chair in flames and smoldering fire in the wall.) It's incredible, things melt, there's oily black smoke over evrything in the whole apt., including one's lungs without an alarm.
At the time and for a long while after, it was really disturbing and dislocating (psychologically and in terms of living space). Never knew before this how bad it gets with fires in terms of smoke and heat. Luckily the New York Fire Dept was, (according to those in the building at the time), there in 3 minutes and in to the apt in another 60 seconds. They're really good....

Yes the brothers form the FDNY are VERY good at what they do. You are correct that "just a chair" will do a lot of damage. The probelm with fires now is that everything is made out of plastics and other petroleum based products instead of the ordinary combustibles they used to be made of i.e. paper, wood, cotton, etc. Oil based products tend to give off that thick, and well oily, black smoke that you see coating everything. They also tend to not burn completely, so you have a lot of viscious chemicals in the smoke. Including but not limited to arsenic, cyanide, carbon monoxide, etc. Recently some brothers from the Providence, Rhode Island FD were hospitalized from an unknown illness after fighting a fire. Some heads up doctor decided to test them for cyanide poisoning and figured out what was going on. This is kind of a new one for us. We knew about all the other stuff that was in smoke but never thought much about cyanide.

So in summary, get those smoke detectors, one for each room. Make sure they are tested once a month, and the batteries get replaced once a year whether they need it or not. I suggest using your birthday as the change date, that way you never forget. If you have a fire, GET THE HELL OUT! TAKE YOUR KIDS WITH YOU! Call the fire department from a neighbors house If you call fromt he cell you may be so flustered that you can't remember your address. A neighbor's house should give them the general area of your address so long as your 911 center has the enhanced 911 feature. Don't go back in after your pets, animals are very smart, they know when they are in danger and will find a way out.

Stay safe out there people!

Good advice, cool thread.

I'm guilty of taking the expired battery out of my smoke detectors when they start beeping, and not replacing them for months. Very bad.

It's remarkable how quickly fire spreads.

Originally Posted by wxwax Good advice, cool thread. It's remarkable how quickly fire spreads.

Oops left that part out. Most people don't realize that a fire doubles in size every minute. So in no time at all it will consume an entire room.

We are going to burn a house in a few weeks as part of training. I am trying to decide if I want to setup a time lapse exposure or take action shots. I cannot do both given my current gear. It would be really neat to take shots at say 2 minute intervals.

If you want to see fire travel fast, watch a mobile home fire. The usual burn time on one is about 5 minutes to fully engulfed.

Originally Posted by docwalker We are going to burn a house in a few weeks as part of training. I am trying to decide if I want to setup a time lapse exposure or take action shots. I cannot do both given my current gear. It would be really neat to take shots at say 2 minute intervals. If you want to see fire travel fast, watch a mobile home fire. The usual burn time on one is about 5 minutes to fully engulfed.

I remembered while reading responses, and great ones from the firemen, an incident where me and a friend stumbled upon a house completely ablaze, years ago. Don't read on if you're squeamish.
As we turned the corner, it looked like a huge haystack completely engulfed. No Fire Dept yet. It was around midnight, and it must have gone so quickly that -though obviously impossible not to notice - the Fire D., as fast as they are, couldn't get there in time. My friend and I ran towards the house because no one else was around. A young boy was half collapsed on the lawn. No idea who it was. One of us yelled if anyone was in there. He said his mother was. No way. We ran to the back of the house, but it was too hot to get more than to the rear edge of the backyard. We threw rocks towards the upstairs windows - the wrong thing we later found out - but we were panicked and had no idea what do to do.
At the same time the Fire D. arrived and they jumped off the truck and ran towards the house but immediately had to retreat because of the heat. Then, in a resigned (but quick) way, they went back to the truck and started bringing equipment and others were around the boy He was OK.. But we knew by the way they acted that it was too late for the woman. And it was.
Jerry