Anyone know of any sources or stories where one could read about the spread of fire in a building. I'm trying to make the set piece in my story realistic and would like a few things to compare it against so it isn't immediately dismissed as unrealistic.
What kind of building is it, and how big? When I was in school we watched a video where they intentionally burned down a house to see how fast it would spread z etc. I remember the narrator walking through the house before it happened saying, "This is the master bedroom. This door will remained closed." And "this is where the fire will begin" etc. Anyways, I digress. I'd see if OSHA or some other national safety board type organization has resources on it. I imagine a lot will depend on the structure, what kind of energy source the building normally uses, pipes, layout, sprinkler systems, etc.
An old, concrete building. Three stories and no sprinklers. Used as a hostel but not really fit for purpose. Edit Something like this:
There are firefighter bars just like there are cop bars. Buy a round of drinks and ask questions; people always love to talk about their work. In addition to the data you need you'll (hopefully) meet some very interesting people, who could be additions to your character data base.
As an architect, my first comment is that the building in the photo isn't concrete, it's brick (i.e. "masonry"). And the exterior photo doesn't tell us whether the structure beneath the skin is wood or steel (or possibly concrete, but that's unlikely for a 3-story building of that vintage). Irrespective of the above, most fires start because of some element of the contents, not the structure, and most fires spread because of the contents. In fact, in evaluating classifications of buildings for fire hazard potential under building and fire codes, they key issue is "fuel load" -- how much stuff is inside that will burn, how fast will it burn, and how much toxic smoke will the stuff produce when burning.
No there isn't, at least not over here. The full time fire service is too small and there are no cop bars for obvious reasons.
https://gothamist.com/news/fire-and-firefighters-death-spotlights-illegal-lofts https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/downtown-los-angeles-artists-lofts-cited-for-dozens-of-fire-safety-code-violations/ And here's the one I was looking for: the "Ghost Ship" https://news.yahoo.com/oakland-warehouse-fire-leads-to-crackdown-on-illegal-artist-spaces-around-the-country-214021920.html https://www.firerescue1.com/ghost-ship/articles/ghost-ship-a-tragedy-rooted-in-deceit-and-missed-opportunity-qevoZ0SPAcQpqzQn/ https://www.newyorker.com/news/benjamin-wallace-wells/what-happened-exactly-in-oaklands-ghost-ship-fire
Thanks @SapereAude Some useful reading there I guess my main question I'm looking to solve is how long would my guy have from discovering the fire until getting out. He finds the fire on the ground floor and them attempts to wake up as many people as he can in the floors above before he has to turn back.
@ShannonH Some great responses here. I’ve no idea on the subject, but I remember going to see the movie BACKDRAFT. Was expecting garbage and just eye candy for the girlfriend, but it turned out to be a real thriller. Two real scenes standout in memory, the first was the fire hiding in the walls. The tension build seeing the fire get pulled into the frame work disappearing. The second obviously the push on the door. Seem to remember them the characters explaining what was going on really well. This might give you some ideas... MartinM
That's a good idea. I saw Backdraft years ago but only had it on in the background. I was also a big fan of the show, Rescue Me. Maybe I should polish off some of the old DVD's.
There is no way to know. Fire guys will tell you that every fire is different. The time someone has to move around in a building that is on fire or has an active fire in it will depend on both how fast the fire spreads and how much toxic smoke the fire produces. Both of these are a function of both how much "stuff" there is in the building, and what the "stuff" is made of. (The fire services refer to this as "fuel load.") In addition, the structural material of the building may make a difference. For example, fire fighters hate buildings with open-web steel trusses for the roof structure, because they know a hot fire can quickly weaken the strength of the trusses and cause a collapse. If there are fire fighters on the roof when it lets go -- they're toast (literally). Counter-intuitively, old mill buildings with the structure of heavy wood timbers and the exterior walls made of brick are less susceptible to rapid collapse, because heavy timber has some inherent fire resistance capability. When the outer surface becomes charred, the layer of char slows the burning of the core of the member and protects (to a degree) from heat. Conversely, steel gets weak. That's why in many buildings steel beams and columns have to be sprayed with an insulating material to protect against collapse before people can get out. The problem in your scenario is that the fire is on the lowest story and you want your character to warn people on the upper floors. The reality is that it may take awhile (5 minutes? 10 minutes? 30 minutes?) for the fire to reach the upper stories, so he could go up there and be able to pound on doors for several minutes. BUT ... with the fire on the lowest story, he may not be able to get out. And if he's running around on the upper floors, he can't see how fast and how far the fire is spreading on the ground floor.
My brother-in-law saw that film and told me that it was the real deal... too real for him, in fact. He was a fireman and retired as a captain of the Fremont, CA fire department, and taught classes in fire safety, so I figure he knew what he was talking about.
I just remember from my time at 9-1-1 that a fire doubles in size every five minutes. This idiot was playing with lighters a few years ago and livestreamed burning the upper floor of his house down. The weird childlike audio is a text-to-speech thing he had going where people watching the stream were saying things like ushiro (behind you) abunai (be careful, look out) and kaji desu (there's a fire). It might help you as documentary for how quickly things can spread in a semi-average bedroom though. EDIT: Fire starts at about 4:40, by the 11 minute mark the room is fully involved.
It looks to me as though he started by trying to smother the fire with cardboard boxes. Maybe not the best plan. Back to the OP, this channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/FascinatingHorror covers a number of disasters, some of which are fires, such as: One thing that comes through is how people often won't leave because of an insignificant fire, and before they know it it's too late.
