The sad wildfires in spain made me wonder this, especially as climate change means there’ll be more fires. I know groups like disabled people and their families are slower to get out, causing risk. But is it more that the fire is too fast, or that some people just don’t leave fast enough?
Just wondering what could be done to reduce deaths.
I know the recent-ish Palisades fire near me was an issue of both fast fires and limited exits, but even then most of it was property damage. What worked was early warnings of evacuation that people took seriously.
The part that struck me was they started calling it a conflagration because the structure fires were so much hotter than the bush fires that things were straight up melting, causing cars to stop working and so on. If you were still there when the houses were full burning, you were likely toast.
The best way to avoid deaths, therefore, is early evacuation and careful neighborhood design. There were some houses that survived the blaze because of factors like walls and gaps that helped reduce the spread, although I’m not sure if they cracked the code on that yet.
The code is concrete.
My building has a plan-b for fire that is “shelter in-place in the main bathroom and block the door sweep.”
Yeah, I think that’s well established but what was interesting was the way concrete walls funneled hot air certain ways but not others. But it’s been a while since I heard the interview, the main discussion was on the heat of a conflagration vs a normal fire.
You can build essentially fireproof houses using non-combustible materials. (Concrete, rockwool, steel framing, aluminum window frames, metal roofing etc…) and you can further protect by keeping the area around the home free of fuel.
If the fire gets close enough, the windows may break from heat, you still have smoke to deal with, and even a fireproof home can still slowly become an oven. Indoor temperatures can easily become unsurvivable.
Evacuation is always prescribed, followed by non-combustible construction coupled with strict control of fuel.
https://firesmartcanada.ca/about-firesmart-2/the-home-ignition-zone/
Proscribed means it’s banned
I am a dumbass.
Ahhhhh of course. Layout can save you or fuck you up