Two years ago, my fiancee was at home when she looked out the window to see some kids literally “playing with fire” in the alleyway behind the house — the fire quickly got out of control, and, kids being kids, they ran away to leave my fiancee panicking in the house.
She ran to the kitchen and filled a bucket with water — forgetting in her panic that there was a fire extinguisher next to the sink — before running out to the alley and extinguishing the fire, with the help of a neighbour.
The blind panic of having to deal with a real emergency rendered her faculties of logic completely useless.
Your panicking stories
In a discussion on another post, we touched on the idea of people panicking when faced with an actual fire emergency. This is, of course, what fire drills are supposed to address — to ensure that people don’t panic when they hear a fire alarm.
What situations have you been in where you were faced with a fire that you really weren’t expecting? What did you do? Did you do the right thing — did your knowledge of fire safety and prevention spring straight into action — or did you do something completely mad? Like this story shared by IFSEC Global user safeNsane:
We had a fairly large brush fire here last year because someone was having a BBQ and it got out of control, instead of making any attempt to put it out, they pushed it into a stand of palmettos which are pretty much a fire waiting to happen. Panic makes people do some strange things.
Whether it was something you did, or a friend, or a client, or if it was an incident that you were faced with or read about, we’d love to hear some of your stories, and even see any pictures you might have as well. Use the comment stream below to share your story.
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We all have certain expereinces in our lives which could be used for others to learn lessons from. We all know that timely action to extinguish fire could save lives and infrastructure. I rememeber …. once I started my car early in the morning. Those were winter days and I used to warm up the engine adequately before driving off to my office. As the engine cranked and picked up after ignition …I gave it initial running few minutes. I smelt smoke from the engine. As I opened the bonnet , I found some wires on fire. I fortunately had… Read more »
had a women in a basement apartment in mt Lebanon pa try to kill her self by fill apartment with naturalgas . she ws blown out thru her in openoing steel apartment door leaving an imprint on door as it blew thru the jam backwards. caused a masive fire and blew window froams 100 feet from building and survived and after she recovered could not understand why here fellow tennats did not want her back in apartment. this same building 10 years later womens lost her life when her apartment so full of papers only place you could sit down… Read more »
I fortunately had fire extinguisher in the boot of my car.
@Shehrbano Kamran, thanks for sharing your experience. Frankly I never carried fire-extinguisher in my car. But after listening to your story and watching the video of burning car, I think its always safer to carry fire-extinguisher in the car.
A homeless guy was apparently annoyed that a breadstore refused to give them their stale bread. So he went by the entrance of the shop and began to play with a lighter. He was burning some random stuff he picked up off the sidewalk. It got out of control, he panicked, and threw the burning stuff at a neighboring shack (it was in a slummy area, where the houses were made mostly of wood.)
After a few hours, a hundred houses has been gutted.
You make a good point, Sunita. I think few people carry fire extinguishers with them in their cars, because they don’t think a fire’s going to be breaking out in it. Although as a safety precaution (and as the video that you’ve linked to has demonstrated), it might be better to carry one with you in the car.
Thanks for sharing you experience, Sheh, and hopefully many others can learn from it as well after reading your story. It might just save their lives or the lives of their loved ones.
Wow, what is with the people in this apartment building? As for that first story, I think it’s nothing short of a miracle to have her survive that blast! That said, I think what she did was extremely selfish considering that she endangered the lives of everyone in her building!
Were charges pressed against her?
I think few people carry fire extinguishers with them in their cars, because they don’t think a fire’s going to be breaking out in it.
@Hazel Chua, true and sometimes they dont carry the fire extinguisher because it consumes inner space. I think special provisions should made inside the car so that it would be easy to carry a fire extinguisher.
Yes she was eventually charged and put on probation due to her advanced age. and has passed away.
A hundred!? Crikey, that’s dreadful!
Sheh, thanks for sharing. Great point on the importance of having a fire extinguisher in a car, though I’d also say that many modern cars have very limited fire risks compared to older vehicles, and recalls where there is a fire risk are common and very well run. Still, never hurts to be extra careful.
That’s a dreadful story @nick markowitz which I think just underlines the potential thoughtlessness of some people. Never nice to hear a story that ends in tragedy, of course and I do perhaps think the 2nd part of your comment underlines the importance in home safety visits from fire services.
I’ve had a couple of those panic issues with fire. In the last case my wife was calling my name frantically and not giving me any idea of what was wrong. When I walked into the living room a candle sitting on the mantle was burning about 6″ above the glass container it was sitting in. I just walked over and put the cover on it to suffocate the fire. To me it really wasn’t a big deal but to my wife it was an out of control fire and she panicked. Fire is one of those things that just… Read more »
Very rightly said, Rob. Older cars were more prone to accidential fires. Now, we have hybrids and electric cars also on the road. I think despite having new technology in the cars, we still have fire hazards in the event of short circuiting or gasoline drop from anywhere in the engine. Moreover, drivers who smoke while driving can inadvertantly cause fire hazards. Keeping a small fire extinguisher can prove very beneficial in some unforeseen situation.
Electric cars have seen the odd problem in recent years — some of the recalls due to batteries and casings around batteries in recent years that could lead to a fire have been quite interesting. But anecdotally, I wouldn’t say there’s been more of those than of other fire risks in cars. Despite what the anti-green lobbyists would have you believe.
There’s something very primal in fire that can seem to make some people lose their heads, yes. Thanks @Mike Clauss for sharing.
I think the biggest fear with the hybrids and electrics haven’t been fire issues they have been the fear of electrocution after a crash as cables fray and emergency personnel cut through body work to get people out. I remember reading something about fire departments being trained where to cut to avoid hitting batteries and cables.
Yes, it certainly was a big risk. As you say, I think the training has caught up now, so that should be a think of the past.
Right you are, SafeNSane. Some people fight or take flight. While others freeze and, well, don’t really do anything to solve or address the situation. It’s easy to say that we should take action when stuff like this occurs, but when the fear is too overwhelming.. Well, this is what happens.
Glad you guys were okay after this!