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Quoted: "I keep reporting them but it just keeps happening" View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Just call the fire marshal. Hell I'm a private contractor that does fire alarm and fire sprinkler inspections and have written customers up for those same violations. Can't block egress doors or prevent them from opening. "I keep reporting them but it just keeps happening" I’m going with the fire marshal isn’t doing his job then. He should be making it financially painful for them and if that doesn’t work he could close the building for fire code violations. In my 21 years of doing this I’ve called the fire marshal exactly twice to have two buildings shut the fuck down. One was a public library which was closed for over a year because of their violations and the second one was closed for two weeks for their violations and because the customer was a dick and I made it hurt for him when I broke it off in his ass. Most places get shit fixed real quick once the mention of the fire marshal is brought up in nj. |
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I'm on the fence... Not sure How I feel about this. Ultimate level Karen (Chad) or upstanding citizen. For the children. If it saves 1 life.
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Looks like the lessons learned back in 1883 amd 1903 have been forgotten by some people. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Hall_disaster https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iroquois_Theatre_fire Quoted: White snake concert venue ![]() The biggest issue with the Station Nightclub fire was the use of pyrotechnics coupled with the highly flammable foam they had on the walls and (IIRC) ceiling. The saddest part is that many of the people who died cooked to death while stuck, piled like cordwood, in the main entrance doors. The incident is a great study on fire dynamics as well as human behavior. Despite fully marked emergency exits located right off the main floor where the fire occurred, only something like 8 people actually left the building through those exits. Everybody else fled for the main entrance - where they came in. This caused a logjam of people, in which nobody could move and 100 people burned to death. Moral of the story: In a panic situation, people tend to flee the way they came - even if a closer, quicker exit is right there in front of them. When I go to a theater or stadium or other public venue like that, I try to always discuss with my wife and kids where we will go in case of fire or emergency. I'm intentional about pointing out exits. If you're not consciously thinking about the emergency exit as an option before you need it, you will probably not think about it during an emergency either. The videos of this are sooo awful The building was fully involved in less than 5 minutes. |
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Quoted: I'm on the fence... Not sure How I feel about this. Ultimate level Karen (Chad) or upstanding citizen. For the children. If it saves 1 life. View Quote I get it, snitching isn't usually a popular thing. But this isn't someone riding a bike without a helmet. These are hazards in public venues hazards that may not be noticeable by the general public until it's too late. OP reporting them is comparable to a civil engineer reporting a school that might collapse or a mechanic flagging an airliner that isn't safe for flight. Deliberately locking a fire door is a pretty malicious, asshole move. |
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Quoted: I'm on the fence... Not sure How I feel about this. Ultimate level Karen (Chad) or upstanding citizen. For the children. If it saves 1 life. View Quote Not KaraChadding at all. Fire safety is a concern for all citizens. Would you, for example, fail to report a forest fire? Or a residential fire? Lives are at stake. And fire regulations are at least an attempt on the part of the government to make buildings safer for people. One point to remember: If it's your job to do this stuff, start a paper trail to CYA. After the 2nd effort in my above example (child care at a college), I made a point to Email the appropriate people, and very pointedly CC the message to myself. I was essentially saying "I'm reporting this stuff, it's serious, and if something goes down, YOU are gonna be without a paddle." I started taking it personally when the operators of the child care center replied with a snotty "What's the worst that could happen? Define 'worst case' for me, will you?" That was the Email I forwarded to the Safety Coordinator. Stuff got done real quickly after that. |
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Quoted: I get it, snitching isn't usually a popular thing. But this isn't someone riding a bike without a helmet. These are hazards in public venues hazards that may not be noticeable by the general public until it's too late. OP reporting them is comparable to a civil engineer reporting a school that might collapse or a mechanic flagging an airliner that isn't safe for flight. Deliberately locking a fire door is a pretty malicious, asshole move. View Quote Wrong. This is MYOB vs duty to report/prevent. If this is OPs JOB, I am completely fine with it. If it's just busybody work, I'm still on the fence. |
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Quoted: I'm on the fence... Not sure How I feel about this. Ultimate level Karen (Chad) or upstanding citizen. For the children. If it saves 1 life. View Quote ![]() |
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Quoted: Not KaraChadding at all. Fire safety is a concern for all citizens. Would you, for example, fail to report a forest fire? Or a residential fire? Lives are at stake. And fire regulations are at least an attempt on the part of the government to make buildings safer for people. One point to remember: If it's your job to do this stuff, start a paper trail to CYA. After the 2nd effort in my above example (child care at a college), I made a point to Email the appropriate people, and very pointedly CC the message to myself. I was essentially saying "I'm reporting this stuff, it's serious, and if something goes down, YOU are gonna be without a paddle." I started taking it personally when the operators of the child care center replied with a snotty "What's the worst that could happen? Define 'worst case' for me, will you?" That was the Email I forwarded to the Safety Coordinator. Stuff got done real quickly after that. View Quote I disagree. Not an accurate comparison. Off course I would report a forest fire. I would not take it upon myself to inspect a forest not on fire for proper fire breaks and dead fuel. As stated if OP job, fine. If not... I'm on the fence. |
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When I do occupancy inspections the most common issues are;
-out of date fire extinguishers/sprinkler systems/hood systems -missing or out of service exit signs and lighting -blocked/locked or stuck marked exits The process in Ohio to force someone to actually correct things is as bureaucratic and dumb as you can imagine so I typically try to shame or scare the owners into correcting issues on their own volition. OP, are you talking to a local, county or state level official? |
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One more point I wish to add to this discussion: Most disasters aren't the result of a single event; there is usually a chain of events that lead to loss of life. The Titanic disaster, for example, could have been prevented had just one of five or six events been changed. The event in Kentucky was a major CF: an old building had been added to, the wiring was antiquated, the construction codes hadn't been updated, no fire alarms available... the list is probably as long as your arm.
In the college daycare room, they'd usually leave toy cars or wagons in the way. They refused to believe that in a panic, those toys would become major obstacles to a panicked teacher, parent or child. |
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Is MYOB an option or are you a code inspector or something?
Fires are so rare this is unlikely to be a problem, which is why the facilities don't care. |
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Quoted: The biggest issue with the Station Nightclub fire was the use of pyrotechnics coupled with the highly flammable foam they had on the walls and (IIRC) ceiling. The saddest part is that many of the people who died cooked to death while stuck, piled like cordwood, in the main entrance doors. The incident is a great study on fire dynamics as well as human behavior. Despite fully marked emergency exits located right off the main floor where the fire occurred, only something like 8 people actually left the building through those exits. Everybody else fled for the main entrance - where they came in. This caused a logjam of people, in which nobody could move and 100 people burned to death. Moral of the story: In a panic situation, people tend to flee the way they came - even if a closer, quicker exit is right there in front of them. When I go to a theater or stadium or other public venue like that, I try to always discuss with my wife and kids where we will go in case of fire or emergency. I'm intentional about pointing out exits. If you're not consciously thinking about the emergency exit as an option before you need it, you will probably not think about it during an emergency either. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Looks like the lessons learned back in 1883 amd 1903 have been forgotten by some people. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Hall_disaster https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iroquois_Theatre_fire Quoted: White snake concert venue ![]() The biggest issue with the Station Nightclub fire was the use of pyrotechnics coupled with the highly flammable foam they had on the walls and (IIRC) ceiling. The saddest part is that many of the people who died cooked to death while stuck, piled like cordwood, in the main entrance doors. The incident is a great study on fire dynamics as well as human behavior. Despite fully marked emergency exits located right off the main floor where the fire occurred, only something like 8 people actually left the building through those exits. Everybody else fled for the main entrance - where they came in. This caused a logjam of people, in which nobody could move and 100 people burned to death. Moral of the story: In a panic situation, people tend to flee the way they came - even if a closer, quicker exit is right there in front of them. When I go to a theater or stadium or other public venue like that, I try to always discuss with my wife and kids where we will go in case of fire or emergency. I'm intentional about pointing out exits. If you're not consciously thinking about the emergency exit as an option before you need it, you will probably not think about it during an emergency either. A while back I noticed the Lowe's on Lemmon Ave. in Dallas changed their front doors so they only open from the outside. You can't exit the front doors. In order to "prevent theft". I asked the clerk at the register about it and he said the employee's would unlock them if there ever was an emergency... Told him it was dangerous and I haven't been back since. |
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Quoted: Fires are so rare this is unlikely to be a problem, which is why the facilities don't care. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Fires are so rare this is unlikely to be a problem, which is why the facilities don't care. No it isn't: 11. A fire department in the US responds to a fire every 24 seconds. Even though the National Fire Protection Association points out that the number of fires is significantly lower now than it was 50 years ago, fires are still a common ordeal. According to them, firefighters in the US respond to a fire every 24 seconds. 12. US fire departments responded to an average of 358,500 home fires between 2011 and 2015. Wondering how many homes catch fire per year? The most recent statistics show that in 2018 it was 363,000 homes. 13. US fire departments responded to a yearly average of 37,910 industrial or manufacturing fires between 2011 and 2015. Each year from 2011 until 2015, firefighters from across the US responded to almost 38,000 fires that occurred in industrial or manufacturing facilities. The numbers were similar in 2018. 14. From 2010 to 2014, 7,410 structure fires were reported every year in restaurants and bars. Eating and drinking establishments are not exempt from fires. Workplace fire statistics show that almost 7,500 fires were reported each year, from 2010 to 2014, in bars and restaurants across the US. 15. 4,980 fires in educational properties were reported each year, between 2011 and 2015. Close to 5,000 fires require the fire department to respond, each year from 2011 until 2015, occurred on a property owned by an educational establishment. This shows that teaching kids about fire safety should be a major point of their early education. Deaths and Injuries in Home Fires in the US 16. There were 3,400 deaths due to a fire reported in the US during 2017. In 2017, there were 3,400 fire-related deaths in the US. Compared to the same data from 2008, 2017 saw a 9.6% increase in fires with a deadly outcome. 17. There were 14,670 reported injuries caused by a fire in 2017. Statistics provided by the U.S. Fire Administration show that, compared to 2008, the number of injuries obtained in a fire had dropped by 15.8%. https://safeatlast.co/blog/fire-safety/ |
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I had to testify at a worker’s compensation hearing at the Grain Exchange building in downtown Minneapolis. When I was dismissed I went to leave and there were no exit signs. I went back into the hearing room and asked for help finding the exit because there weren’t any signs. The Judge and both attorneys walked out to the hallway to investigate and sure enough, no signs. The Judge was really pissed off, he had worked in the building for years and never noticed. The plaintiffs attorney said that after the hearing the Judge ripped the building manager a new asshole...
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Quoted: I get it, snitching isn't usually a popular thing. But this isn't someone riding a bike without a helmet. These are hazards in public venues hazards that may not be noticeable by the general public until it's too late. OP reporting them is comparable to a civil engineer reporting a school that might collapse or a mechanic flagging an airliner that isn't safe for flight. Deliberately locking a fire door is a pretty malicious, asshole move. View Quote especially when it's a commercial business knowingly putting profit above safety I know of two specific instances of this occurring. |
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Quoted: You're not sure how you feel about locked emergency exits? ![]() View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: I'm on the fence... Not sure How I feel about this. Ultimate level Karen (Chad) or upstanding citizen. For the children. If it saves 1 life. ![]() exit and finds it locked. |
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Quoted: Who's "on the fence" about a building trapping your children with a blocked emergency exit? ![]() View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: I'm on the fence... Not sure How I feel about this. Ultimate level Karen (Chad) or upstanding citizen. For the children. If it saves 1 life. Who's "on the fence" about a building trapping your children with a blocked emergency exit? ![]() Read my post about "multiple steps involved in a disaster." If you've ever seen this happn, it sticks with you, whether it's your job or not. |
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specific example
I volunteer on the board of a local nonprofit. Each year along with law enforcement and first responders we cosponsor a public event for children and their families. Displays, costumes, games, entertainment, sit in the fire trucks, etc. Last event we had over 3,000 children come through the front doors. Before the event I walked through the building "getting my bearings", so to speak. That's when I found the padlocked door under the lighted emergency exit sign. Now, who the hell thinks I should've MMOB and ignored it? ![]() |
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I once walked a facility writing a quote for some lock work in one area of the building. As we passed through one section, there were several exit doors with barrel bolts and padlocks, and I told the owner that was a major problem. He shrugged it off, but then OSHA popped up a few days later and gave him $25k in fines with no correction notice. I'm not sure what the solution is, but I do feel that I'm seeing these kinds of problems less often.
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Quoted: I once walked a facility writing a quote for some lock work in one area of the building. As we passed through one section, there were several exit doors with barrel bolts and padlocks, and I told the owner that was a major problem. He shrugged it off, but then OSHA popped up a few days later and gave him $25k in fines with no correction notice. I'm not sure what the solution is, but I do feel that I'm seeing these kinds of problems less often. View Quote I don't care about the fire marshal, inspectors, OSHA, or fines. I just want people to give a shit about trapping innocent people in their buildings. Not asking much. ![]() |
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Quoted: There are >300 million people in this country and only a few thousand fatalities. Worrying about this is even less rational than worrying about COVID View Quote You think fires are the only reason to need a safe exit from a structure? That's GD at it's best. I don't worry about it. I'm doing something about it. I try to help keep people safe including myself. |
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View Quote GD never fails to amaze me. |
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Quoted: You're doing the right thing. Don't worry about what other people have to say. View Quote Trust me, I'm not. I know the manager of one of the local stores that has remodeled and blocked emergency exits. He's made the choice to ignore the situation after I discussed it with him. Bad call. |
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Quoted: I don't care about the fire marshal, inspectors, OSHA, or fines. I just want people to give a shit about trapping innocent people in their buildings. Not asking much. ![]() View Quote I feel the same way, I just thought that one was good, the guy absolutely didn't care that there was no exit from one whole section of a manufacturing facility. I wasn't really working for them, just quoting, and I warned them, then OSHA broke it off in them. Most of the time when I stress the dangers, people say ok, let's fix it and I do. The only exceptions were a restaurant with a huge hazard in their restrooms that they wouldn't fix, and a contractor that owned some huge warehouses and unwittingly built a highly effective man trap where anyone could exit an office and be instantly stuck in a corridor with no exit in the heart of a mostly vacant warehouse. I mentioned it to them, they blew it off, so I called the fire marshall. The general public will not recognize most of these hazards on their own, and neither will the people in charge of the building. Most of the time it's a relatively simple fix, and it removes so much liability from the owners/operators of the property I don't see why anyone would fight it. |
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Quoted: So before you set foot inside, you recon the exterior and ask about exits? Hardcore. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: I never walk into a place I don't know how to walk out of. So before you set foot inside, you recon the exterior and ask about exits? Hardcore. Whenever there's any doubt,there is no doubt. That's the first thing they teach you. |
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Reading comprehension in GD is non existent. Not sure why I expected this thread to be different.
My example: I’ve run quite a few youth wrestling tournaments. In that capacity, damn straight I had responsibilities to keep everyone in that building safe. I took it seriously. We made sure to have security, ambulance, trainers on site. Along with patrolling all emergency exits to keep unobstructed. All I’m saying is that in my everyday life I don’t make my mission to find issues with buildings and businesses. If I stumbled upon a dangerous situation, I would definitely address it with the owner. |
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There are some alleged "small government" types in this thread who really should just admit that "no government" would probably be closer to what they really want. (And I'll be called a statist for pointing it out)
I'm okay with a public venue owner being required to provide adequately marked functional emergency exits, and being required to make sure they're not doing risky things that are known to start fires. Like everything else it's a slippery slope, but fire prevention has been a basic function of government since Roman times, and it's one of the roles I'm ok with. And to address an earlier point: fires and fire deaths are relatively rare (though not as rare as you probably think) BECAUSE of government intervention. It's one of the very few government actions that's actually had a meaningful, positive impact. Muh free market does not incentivise business owners to keep their clients safe. If it did, threads like this wouldn't exist. And Great White wouldn't have had to hold auditions for a new guitar player. |
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Quoted: Yeah too bad it wasn't both. And throw Zombie in there too for good measure. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: White snake concert venue Yeah too bad it wasn't both. And throw Zombie in there too for good measure. Come at me Bro! |
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Quoted: Wrong. This is MYOB vs duty to report/prevent. If this is OPs JOB, I am completely fine with it. If it's just busybody work, I'm still on the fence. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: I get it, snitching isn't usually a popular thing. But this isn't someone riding a bike without a helmet. These are hazards in public venues hazards that may not be noticeable by the general public until it's too late. OP reporting them is comparable to a civil engineer reporting a school that might collapse or a mechanic flagging an airliner that isn't safe for flight. Deliberately locking a fire door is a pretty malicious, asshole move. Wrong. This is MYOB vs duty to report/prevent. If this is OPs JOB, I am completely fine with it. If it's just busybody work, I'm still on the fence. Safety is EVERYONE'S business. |
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We recently had an N2 leak that killed 6 people at a local poultry plant. Turns out, a bunch of exits were partially or totally blocked by equipment, bins, etc. I'm waiting for the OSHA report to drop on that one.
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: I get it, snitching isn't usually a popular thing. But this isn't someone riding a bike without a helmet. These are hazards in public venues hazards that may not be noticeable by the general public until it's too late. OP reporting them is comparable to a civil engineer reporting a school that might collapse or a mechanic flagging an airliner that isn't safe for flight. Deliberately locking a fire door is a pretty malicious, asshole move. Wrong. This is MYOB vs duty to report/prevent. If this is OPs JOB, I am completely fine with it. If it's just busybody work, I'm still on the fence. Safety is EVERYONE'S business. If it saves just one life, amiright? That being said, I agree to an extent. Properly functioning exits are a good thing. However, unfortunately, even a good thing can be and has been taken too far. And I have seen safety weaponized and used to harass. So somewhere a balance has to be struck. |
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Hamlet, NC fire:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/deadly-1991-hamlet-fire-exposed-high-cost-cheap-180964816/ Eighty years after Triangle, a fire broke out at an Imperial Food Products plant in Hamlet, North Carolina, when a fryer ignited and flames fed off grease and oils on the factory floor. As the fire raged, the building's sprinkler system failed, forcing workers to run through heavy smoke. Desperate to find exits, only to find locked doors, the victims collapsed into piles of bodies as the carbon monoxide overtook them. Of the 81 employees working at the time, 25 died and an additional 40 were injured. |
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Quoted: All I’m saying is that in my everyday life I don’t make my mission to find issues with buildings and businesses. If I stumbled upon a dangerous situation, I would definitely address it with the owner. View Quote That's nonsensical. Buying groceries, shooter starts dropping people in the aisles. Exits don't matter to me because it's just everyday life. ![]() Situational awareness is a thing. |
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Quoted: That's nonsensical. Buying groceries, shooter starts dropping people in the aisles. Exits don't matter to me because it's just everyday life. ![]() Situational awareness is a thing. View Quote Holy shit you twisted my words.. So, when you go to a store, you find the manager to take you in the back and inspect all exits and look for fire hazards? ETA: You actually inserted a sentence of your own that I didn’t write. Screw you and your situational awareness. Stupid wins ITT. I’m out. Have fun on your mission. Not all heros wear capes. |
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Quoted: The biggest issue with the Station Nightclub fire was the use of pyrotechnics coupled with the highly flammable foam they had on the walls and (IIRC) ceiling. The saddest part is that many of the people who died cooked to death while stuck, piled like cordwood, in the main entrance doors. The incident is a great study on fire dynamics as well as human behavior. Despite fully marked emergency exits located right off the main floor where the fire occurred, only something like 8 people actually left the building through those exits. Everybody else fled for the main entrance - where they came in. This caused a logjam of people, in which nobody could move and 100 people burned to death. Moral of the story: In a panic situation, people tend to flee the way they came - even if a closer, quicker exit is right there in front of them. When I go to a theater or stadium or other public venue like that, I try to always discuss with my wife and kids where we will go in case of fire or emergency. I'm intentional about pointing out exits. If you're not consciously thinking about the emergency exit as an option before you need it, you will probably not think about it during an emergency either. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Looks like the lessons learned back in 1883 amd 1903 have been forgotten by some people. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Hall_disaster https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iroquois_Theatre_fire Quoted: White snake concert venue ![]() The biggest issue with the Station Nightclub fire was the use of pyrotechnics coupled with the highly flammable foam they had on the walls and (IIRC) ceiling. The saddest part is that many of the people who died cooked to death while stuck, piled like cordwood, in the main entrance doors. The incident is a great study on fire dynamics as well as human behavior. Despite fully marked emergency exits located right off the main floor where the fire occurred, only something like 8 people actually left the building through those exits. Everybody else fled for the main entrance - where they came in. This caused a logjam of people, in which nobody could move and 100 people burned to death. Moral of the story: In a panic situation, people tend to flee the way they came - even if a closer, quicker exit is right there in front of them. When I go to a theater or stadium or other public venue like that, I try to always discuss with my wife and kids where we will go in case of fire or emergency. I'm intentional about pointing out exits. If you're not consciously thinking about the emergency exit as an option before you need it, you will probably not think about it during an emergency either. My dumbass did just that a while ago. Was in a new shop, and during an alarm (found out it was false later) we handed off control to our backup, and all three of us went right past a marked emergency exit we walked by regularly, for the crowed main door. I made sure everyone heard about that mistake, and what we were to do later. DON'T IGNORE THE EMERGENCY EXIT WITH THE CRASH BAR. This is a great time to work out your anger issues and crash through the door. ![]() |
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Quoted: **snip** Eighty years after Triangle, a fire broke out at an Imperial Food Products plant in Hamlet, North Carolina, when a fryer ignited and flames fed off grease and oils on the factory floor. As the fire raged, the building's sprinkler system failed, forcing workers to run through heavy smoke. Desperate to find exits, only to find locked doors, the victims collapsed into piles of bodies as the carbon monoxide overtook them. Of the 81 employees working at the time, 25 died and an additional 40 were injured. View Quote Grease fires are not to be trifled with. Enough of that stuff gathers up and the results can best be described as "explosive." Such a fire happened a few days ago in my town. A diner (known for poor sanitation practices) had a flash fire at the range: too much cooking oil covering the fume hood and walls caught on fire and it was almost an explosion. They shut down for a day or two. |
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