Chief Michael Grant (2004) said, "That firefighter they pulled out of there was very fortunate. Conditions deteriorated very rapidly. The buildup of heat was intense" (WTWH 2004). With the birth of new chemicals and plastics and other materials that are on furniture, rugs, lamps and cooking tools the common house can be a death trap for firefighters and the people who live in them, people must be educated on the products that are in their homes and want they can do when there is a fire. See figure 1.
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Figure 1: House on fire.
Every room with people going in and out of it most have a smoke detector, and a carbon monoxide detector because plastics and new materials are extremely flammable.
High-rise fire.
Today taller is better, so buildings are being built higher and higher every day. The biggest problem with this is safety. If a builder is going to build a high-rise he/she must have safety plans and big enough stairs so that every one in the building can get out fast. That was not the case in Chicago when an 18 story high-rise apartment building started on fire. One resident's heating unit started on fire because it was too old and out-dated and no one took care of it. When people started to move out, the security officers asked the residents to stay in their rooms (NBC5 2004). Luckily the fire was not that big of a problem for the fire department to put it out, but if the fire had been big and out of control people could have lost their lives because no one knew what to do, not even the security officers. Plans for evacuation should have been made by the owners of the buildings, and the residents along with the security officers should have practiced with the civilians on what to do and where to go to get to safety. Also, the building has no sprinkler system in it, the owner should have installed for the safety of the residents. .
Six people killed in high-rise building.
This next incident is very similar to the last on, but this story does not have a happy ending.