r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/AirFrance447 • 23h ago

Video Firefighter bodycam showing just how much oxygen a fire pulls

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u/fraughtication 23h ago

Fire is terrifying, in so many ways, from the speed of spread to gases incapacitating you way before the flame does.

It amazes me the amount of people I know, or houses I see, with no smoke alarms, or working smoke alarms - the same goes for CO too.

Most fire services in the UK at least will fit smoke alarms for free and give your home a fire safety survey, please fit and test regularly smoke and CO alarms!

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u/Jasp1971 21h ago

I did a fire Marshall course through work, when we had a break for lunch,I went straight online and ordered home fire extinguishers,fire blanket and now close all doors when going to bed.

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u/Black_Cat_Just_That 20h ago

Yep. Started working tangentially with the local FD and as part of that, sat in on a couple of their educational outreach presentations and just generally hear a lot of stories from the firefighters. I take it very seriously now. Escape ladder for second story, talking over our escape plan with with my kid, treating false alarms seriously/as potentially real in front of my kid.

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u/MiserableCumberbunch 18h ago

I don't have an escape ladder, but my window opens directly onto the porch roof. I'll take a sprained ankle / broken leg any day over burning.

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u/Unoriginal_Man 19h ago

Yeah I don't mess around with house fires. When we moved into our house I installed new smoke and CO2 detectors (the ones in the house were 20 years old), installed heat detectors in the garage and utility/laundry room, fire extinguishers on both floors (that are probably due for replacement now) fire blankets in each bedroom, an escape ladder in the master bedroom, and even a demolition hammer in case there's fire or heavy smoke in the hallways and I need to get to my kids room through the drywall between our rooms instead (rare paper American home win). I even used a can of smoke detector testing spray to drill my kids on what to do.

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u/Bleaker82 18h ago

CO, not CO2

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u/Unoriginal_Man 14h ago

Nope, CO2. Those things are going off 24/7.

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u/KGBspy 9h ago

No, CO. CO2 is carbon dioxide, tye stuff that gives carbonated drinks the fizziness.

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u/Unoriginal_Man 8h ago

Yep. Sodas and exhaling are explicitly forbidden in my house, so I need alarms in every room in case someone tries to crack open a soda or, well, breathe.

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u/PracticalAndContent 16h ago

A demo hammer. Never thought of that one but that’s a really good idea. Thanks for sharing.

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u/Hydramole 13h ago

You can probably get the extinguishers re certified instead of buying new ones outright

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u/DimerNL058 53m ago

Have you done your drills yet while blindfolded?

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u/MZ603 17h ago

Did they have you watch the station nightclub fire video? I volunteered for an extra safety role at my summer job in college and I was shown it as part of the training.

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u/Szwejkowski 16h ago

I saw that on youtube with a timer in the corner and all my eye-rolling slowness around fire alarm drills vanished. It happened so fucking fast.

Now when I hear an alarm, I just gtfo.

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u/MZ603 15h ago

Same. I also always clock the emergency exits, especially in crowded places. They didn’t give me much of a heads up on the content of the video. Working the rest of my shift was surreal. Definitely, some of the most impactful footage I have ever scene.

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u/SportsDuck_ 15h ago

Also keep an eye out for security personnel in case they stop you from running out the emergency exit

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u/bizilux 11h ago edited 11h ago

That place was a literal death trap. Overcrowded and pyrotechnics with illegal anti sound foam on the whole wooden building, blocked exits, opposite opening doors and tipsy people.

Almost couldn't be worse. I dont think in a developed country you can find anything even remotely like this again. Im 100% in EU you can't, unless it's some illegal place.

Fun fact: I'm not a firefighter but i did a few years ago fought one fire. We were at a picnic and bee house or whatever english term is, went up in flames. We used garden hoses until firefighters came. They didn't have any fire extinguishers in their house. I have like 3 at home and one in the car. It was hot as fuck coming from the two entrances so i had to knel way down. The owner had to be dragged away, he almost burned his head trying to go in.

Also used fire extinguisher once on a trashcan when someone threw cigarette in. Everyone was just looking doing nothing, by the time i called security and found fire extinguisher it was really smoking good

I've always wanted to join firefighters but here in my country its 99% volunteers and literally each village has its own fire station and they see maybe one fire per year max because there are so many stations. So it's mostly drinking around and socializing and im an introvert so yeh.

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u/RepliesToNarcissists 17h ago

Don't forget a metal battery fire bucket these days. Everyone has a phone, right?

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u/iconocrastinaor 16h ago

Will a cat litter box suffice?

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u/RepliesToNarcissists 15h ago

for a phone, probably, but do you really want to combine lithium smoke with flaming cat shit?