How Hidden Engineering Keeps You Alive in Apartment Fires

[@dgnikon]

As a fire engineer, I have to say: extremely well done! I liked your focus on stay put/shelter in place policies, that’s generally what we want people to do in the UK. However, as this is for an international audience, I’d like to touch on a few points: Know your building Get familiar with the plans and notices posted in YOUR building. Know and follow their advice. Know your escape routes. Know what to do when you hear the fire alarm go off. This goes for your home as well as your place of work. Don’t fight the fire Unless there is a very small fire, outdoors, on a calm day, you a) won’t be doing much with a fire extinguisher anyways and b) risk smoke inhalation, which has extremely dangerous short and long term effects. Stand up for your fire safety Make sure access and egress routes are clear. Talk to neighbours who block the hallways with unnecessary items. Don’t let people park illegally in fire lanes, not even for a few minutes. Demand that your buildings fire equipment is serviced regularly, make sure fire doors close well and close automatically. If your building managers refuse to do something, talk to your city’s fire department, they can conduct an inspection and enforce the fire code. Get involved Some cities have volunteer firefighters, others have other volunteer positions. If you want, get involved, they’ll be happy to welcome you.

[@dgnikon]

Other aspects of your video I’d like to comment on: Sprinklers Sprinklers are, as you said, an additional layer of protection. Without other measures like working compartmentalization, their effectiveness is limited, at least in a residential setting. External insulation External wall insulation, like styrofoam based cladding, can be a risk in high rise buildings, if it doesn’t respect the compartmentalization and spans multiple units without fire breaks. The most prominent example of this is Grenfell tower, which did prompt further investigation and updates to fire codes and procedures world wide. All in all, a fantastic video with well researched information. I loved that you linked additional resources in the description. Thank you!

[@Lam]

Thanks for all your hard work in bringing up this information. I'm going to add the "get to know your building" part to the description. I encountered a lot of what you mentioned and ultimately ended up cutting most of it as I wanted to focus on the engineering instead of the "what to do in the fire" element of it.

[@Markus-zb5zd]

Yes as a multiple decade volunteer fireman I totally agree. Also great video! And important, if you have no safe way if escaping, make yourself visible! Heck even call 911/112 even if fire services are already on scene. We can use special ventilation techniques to clear the staircases or in extreme cases come to you and provide you with an emergency air supply hood and get you out even through smoked staircases.

[@johnrauner2515]

@@dgnikon There is no way I'd stay in place if I lived in one of these towers. Doing so puts your life in the hands of multiple layers of people doing their jobs properly. And frankly, that right there is the whole absurdity of staying in place. Keeping the fire isolated to one part of the structure requires the architect did their job properly, the builder including all subcontractors all did their jobs properly (adhering to fire codes) and (as in Grenfell Tower) no unsafe modifications or additions have been made to the structure that completely compromise the isolation system. Of all the things I've learned over the years, trusting people to do things properly isn't one of them. Experience has taught me people are stupid, moronic, lazy, unskilled, inept, take shortcuts out of laziness or penny pinching (upping their profit), don't do their research (Grenfell Tower insulation installers), don't care (Grenfell Tower insulation installers), and building inspectors suffer all of the above which is why things like Grenfell Tower happen. Staying in place requires trusting ALL THESE PEOPLE to have done their jobs properly. WTF? If I lived in one of these structures I'd have full face masks and 15 minute air tanks for them, for myself and all my family members plus a couple spare for guests. And the same number of fire blankets. And if a fire did break out in the building we'd leave and nobody would stop us. Portable air and leaving at the first opportunity would have saved everyone in Grenfell Tower.

[@mammutMK2]

@@dgnikon wasn't that what happened in Dubai, where the high rise lit up like a candle because the insulation caught fire. But in total the building was pretty safe, as I remember the fire stayed on the outside. In germany there was an apartment building where the fire started on the balcony, spread out over the insulation to other balconies (was a stormy day), shattered the windows resulting in a total loss of the building, I think there were no fatalities since the alarm worked, but staying inside would have resulted in death.

[@bytesabre]

This doesn’t apply in the UK. Many buildings still have the same cladding as the Grenfell tower, the residents are unable to sell their flats and move away because they are knowingly not fire-safe, the building managers won’t remove the cladding because there’s no government pressure to do so and the residents can’t remove it themselves. They are forced to live in a deathtrap

[@mdhazeldine]

I'm pretty sure there IS government pressure, which is exactly why 100s if not 1000s of buildings are currently being re-clad.

[@SadisticSenpai61]

@@mdhazeldine Zero laws outlawing the cladding or requiring firebreaks in the cladding have been passed. Any recladding of buildings is being done by the owners of the buildings at their own expense, not because they were forced to. Any pressure on the building owner to do so is coming strictly from the residents. And for towers like Grenfell which are owned by the local council, pressure from residents don't matter as much as whether the local council member that would vote to pay for that is concerned they'd lose their seat or not. If they're in an area where voters want to limit spending on their council housing and vote accordingly, they're not likely to approve that kind of spending. And frankly, what I've learned about UK's fire safety codes since Grenfell is just baffling to me. London's burned down how many times? And yet their fire codes aren't as strict as the US's. It's a weird position for me to be in cuz usually the UK's got better safety laws in general, but not when it comes to fire!

[@unconventionalideas5683]

@@SadisticSenpai61 That type of cladding is currently illegal to use now, but older examples are grandfathered. However, that cladding does not last forever. So as it needs to be replaced, the situation improves.

[@piraterubberduck6056]

@@SadisticSenpai61 You are mostly correct as far as I know and hopefully soon you will be far less correct. The UK government, through a number of bodies, is reviewing building safety regulations right now, this includes Approved Document B, BS9991 and BS9999, with particular focus on tall residential buildings, and will be publishing more information over the next couple of years and the information coming out already is being reviewed by industry experts. Parallel to this, building fire safety is under review by major architectural/multidisciplinary studios and fire engineers. The new gateways for planning approval are already raising the standard of fire safety design and we will see the results of that in new builds as designers are now being held to a higher standard that the current standards and regulations, which is a little confusing for all, but will work itself out. The push for the ability for disabled residents to easily be able to evacuate a building without assistance is also making a difference, in particular with the New London Plan in regard to evacuation and fire lifts, although these high standards are also being applied to other projects in the UK. And on top of that there is the new standards coming out for the recording of fire safety information following the Golden Thread and including that in digital construction information, digital construction/BIM models coming from fire engineers, and the new addition of FIREie coming soon, which is similar to COBie BIM information, but for fire risk management. I could go on, but my comment is getting pretty long already. TLDR: Stuff is happening and the standard for fire safety is being improved in the UK in every way that the industry can think of.

[@wilsjane]

Grenfell is a national disgrace, since due to austerity, the refurbishment was approved by a surveyor employed by the development company. The government surveyors only did the admin and no physical inspection. Their were 2 reasons why the fire spread. The first was due to NONE of the 200 fire barriers that would have contained the fire to the exterior area covered by one apartment being fitted. These would have held the fire for 30 minutes, prior to it moving on to the next area. The second (and far worse) problem was 3 inches of flammable insulation applied to the building first. Most installations, although not 100%, would not allow a fire to spread rapidly, so they need to be checked by competent qualified surveyors. Panic removal of the cladding is not the answer, unless it has been checked and deemed unsafe. PS. If you have not already guessed, I am a UK chartered engineer, (now retired).

[@PauwerFurry]

Firefighter from the U.S. here. I love what you said near the end about the dangers of house fires next to highrise apartment fires. Houses built in the modern day are filled to the brim with synthetic materials, like plastics and foams. These building materials, while significantly cheaper, are also extremely dangerous in fires. When they burn, they give off extremely toxic byproducts, be it by smoke, or gas. Another thing that you touched on, but I really want to emphasize. ALWAYS SLEEP WITH YOUR DOOR CLOSED!!! This gives you waaayyy more time to react to your smoke alarms (assuming they work, of course (change the batteries when they ask you to, please!)) and either escape, or shelter in place effectively. Even those cheap and hollow interior residential doors can keep you safe from extreme heat or fire for several minutes.

[@Lam]

I found it interesting how houses became more dangerous because of innovation. Things got better except when a fire breaks out. You're right on closing the door, hopefully more people will do that after watching this video

[@adamliske]

@@Lam Maybe you should look at some data on this. Look at the NFPA for the US and similar agencies for Canada and the rest of the developed world. You will find the both outright and relative deaths, injuries, and damage has decreased for single family dwellings (along with apartments and multifamily dwellings) over the last 4 decades. Deaths in single family dwellings are less than a third of what they were in 1980 when you look at deaths per million people, the value that really matters when comparing stats. Along with this, house fires are down by half despite there being way more homes today. Homes, just like cars, are safety than they ever have been. Apathy to data, survivor bias, and the insistence of the good old days were better are the bain of improving the world around us. Firefighters have spent the last 6 decades making themselves less and less needed in modern society, and that is a very good thing.

[@harmonicaveronica]

@@adamliske it seems that fires are less common, but the fires that do happen are worse. My guess is that a lot of the reduced risk of fire comes with increased safeguards to electrical standards in homes! I live in a house built in 1938 and while it's generally in great condition and I'm pretty sure the electrical stuff in the kitchen has been updated (probably as of 2008 or so based on the age of the appliances when we moved in?) I wouldn't be surprised if there's a hodgepodge of wiring from different decades throughout the house. Gutting the electrical system is something we're planning to do as soon as we can afford jt

[@critter2]

so why arent we updating in infroming people cause i been taught to get out and not take evelators during a fire

[@harmonicaveronica]

@@critter2 it depends on the building. If you live in a high rise, read the posted safety information in your building and/or ask the building management. Modern buildings with many apartments should be built so fires stay contained in one unit. Older buildings might not be. Smaller buildings probably won't be. Regardless, if you do need to leave, you still need to take the stairs instead of the elevator. Before firefighters get there, any residents who are physically unable to take the stairs (e.g. they use a wheelchair, they've recently had knee surgery) need to be able to use it because it's their only way out. Once firefighters are there, they need access to the elevator

[@EssentialOwO]

Most informative, I actually didn't know why people are so calm even when there's a fire. It's a even more serious situation here in Singapore, where the fire can spread quite far. Now I know why, thank you Andrew.

[@Lam]

Glad you enjoyed it and Singapore is incredibly dense so it's important they get it right (I'm sure they do)

[@misham6547]

Calm people survive. Panicked people die

[@TheGenuineDriver]

Hi fellow singaporean

[@AwkwardYet]

in school at least in the US, they taught us to be calm during a fire when we had our fire drills

[@willwunsche6940]

@@AwkwardYet Yeah for all our problems with American schools fire drills are not one of them. We are actually good at it in my experience

[@FordPrefect6x7]

Hey man love the content and want you to succeed! I've always wondered what went into my apartment to keep me safe from fires and often thought about how I might need to jump out the window and onto the tree someday to escape one. Well maybe that's not quite what I need to be prepared to do after watching your video. :-) Thanks again!

[@Lam]

Wow, thanks FordPerfect for your generosity! Hopefully you feel a bit safer compared to before. Since you are on the lower floors, there's a good chance they can bring a fire truck ladder and bring you out through your window. There's also emergency escape ladders you can buy but it's probably not necessary unless it's something you're worried about! Thanks for your support and I hope to continue to bring you more content you love!

[@STV-H4H]

If you end up jumping into trees you might want to ask for ten bucks back since you’ll need bandaids 😂

[@BizzinBuzzer]

@@STV-H4H from the angle of his apartment and the view of Lake Ontario I can determine that he lives in lakeshore and could maybe live at the Newport Beach condos. If I am right this means that I can see your condos out of my condos in Etobicoke across the town

[@BizzinBuzzer]

I have calculated the floor he is on by looking at the building adjacent to his condo and I have concluded that he lives on floor 12 or 13 I can calculate his suite number but I won’t because that is straight up doxing due to the position of the sun

[@BizzinBuzzer]

Nevermind I have reevaluated my information and I have concluded that he lives at the condo lakeside place

[@dillonstanford7141]

Hi Andrew, I'm a fire alarm technician in Florida. I have to say you did your research on this and your information was flawless. I take my job very serious knowing that lives could be at stake. A big part of fire saftey is knowing what to do when there is a fire present in the building that a individual is at. I hope your videos reaches way more people.

[@Lam]

Thanks Dillon!

[@jblyon2]

I live in a mill building that was converted to apartments. There is very thick fire resistant material below each floor, and walls between units are double fire rated sheetrock on each side (which also greatly reduces noise). In my 1 bedroom apartment there are 10 sprinkler heads, and the building has a massive generator backed pump capable of running every sprinkler head in the building at full pressure. There has been an apartment fire while I've lived here, and aside from smoke that did get into common areas the damage was entirely contained to the one apartment. I feel very safe here.

[@iamjamieq]

I'm a fire sprinkler designer who has designed systems for a dozen and a half high rises. I absolutely appreciate this video! High rises absolutely are safer than most other buildings due to the large number of extra requirements, even just for the fire sprinkler system itself. Thanks for helping educate the general public on such an important topic!! You've got a new subscriber. Also, shout out to Seneca College in Toronto for my education.

[@Lam]

Thanks James! I was looking at Seneca fire protection program at one point to see if I could talk to people there. Seems like a great school.

[@richardprice5978]

sprinkler's in 3000SF home 🏡 garage's/shop's/parking and more so with larger 100KW BEV how do you feel/collages/data about it pro or against it i image a car like a 2018 hemi hellcat randomly self fuel and or electric fire when parked and occupencs are in bedroom in bed sleeping it's helpful but metallic fire's my understanding is it can act as a catalyst and increase and spread the smoke and fire 🔥

[@Crotaro]

Can you share some of your knowledge as to the cleanliness of sprinkler water? Movies make it seem like perfectly fine tap water comes out, while I have heard tales that (especially in older buildings that never had a big fire in them) it can be so gunky that it's almost a brown sludge pouring down. What's your experience with older and poorly maintained sprinkler systems? Asking specifically about poorly maintained ones because I can't see many businesses (and much less households) regularly cleaning the pipes.

[@veritasjustus8543]

​@@CrotaroThis may depend on location by the water in our buildings were basically the same water as the city water. The water has to be clean to keep the pipes in good running order....especially the sprinklers. I didnt do the sprinkler systems so I could be wrong...we did the firestop materials,fireboard,firestop "caulking". Ive seen the sprinklers in action and its nearly a heavy mist...like the stuff youd see coming from a pressure washer...but less air(very wet). The water couldnt be dirty or the sprinklers wouldnt last very long and would likely get clogged up.

[@billsmith5109]

@@CrotaroA 13-D home system, using special plastic pipe, or a 13 commercial system in a high-rise, office building or a distribution center? In a commercial system the first water out is dark and has a particular smell. There are special valve assemblies that keep it from going back into the municipal water main system. The home system isn’t much different from your plumbing system, just don’t drink it. I think this is why IT people are notorious for shutting off sprinkler systems. See Ocado fire in the U.K. Great sprinkler system, right up until it was turned off during the fire. Worried about water and computers, they tend to be the cause of their buildings burning to the ground. Someone should tell them computers are cheap.

[@SomeGuyCalledJ]

Regarding the UK, you should be aware that we have an unprecedented situation of flamable external cladding mounted to many buildings. This has resulted in one of our worst fire disasters, Grenfell. There's a lot to this issue, worth researching.

[@merlinmediagroup]

Was surpirsed that British regulations were referred to, but no mention of Grenfell (understandable though, with the video being US-centric).

[@piraterubberduck6056]

The external cladding was just one part of the issues with Grenfell. All the issues are being reviewed and new standards will be coming soon. This is a huge thing in the UK construction industry right now.

[@vyros.3234]

Tons of countries still have that issue. China for example just had a high rise building burn down due to cladding.

[@robotskirts]

He shows a headline featuring Grenfell while saying the media sensationalizes tragic fires. In additional to flammable cladding it also had fewer stairwells because of its shelter in place design; they assumed the whole building would never have to evacuate.

[@bobbygetsbanned6049]

Yes, and the Düsseldorf airport fire was a similar issue. I don't care what anyone says, this fireproof building shit hardly ever works and has already gotten a lot of people killed. It's a fucking crime to tell people to shelter in place when they can safely evacuate, they should only be told to shelter when it's no longer safe to evacuate. There's 0% chance of you dying from fire outside, and non zero chance if you shelter inside, so get the fuck out if you can. Trusting the overly complex fireproofing systems that don't work is getting people killed.

[@ve2vfd]

I work for a big city FD and the biggest problem we have in appartement buildings (low and high rise) is people wedging fire doors open or interfering with the automatic closing systems. It basically bypasses all the protection of a fire break and spreads smoke everywhere. It's more common in poorly maintained buildings often owned by slumlords but I've also seen it in public housing and expensive condo towers. Only a few days ago we ran a 3am call for a small trash fire in the basement garbage room of a 4 floor 60 apt building, all the hallway and stairs fire doors were jammed open so though the fire was small and never spread from the room, all the stairwells and hallways were filled with smoke. It happens too often.

[@bobbygetsbanned6049]

Exactly, sheltering in place depends on these complex fire proofing systems to actually work. And it requires the Grenfell Tower not to happen where combustible material was used in the construction. I don't care what anyone says, it's safer to evacuate buildings while it's safe to do so rather than tell people shelter in place until it's no longer safe to evacuate. I'm not sitting around counting on a complex fire proof system to save my life when we have multiple examples of it getting people killed and there's 0% chance of me burning to death OUTSIDE the building.

[@Noadvantage246]

This is why education is so important! I’m 25 and love to study and learn but I’ve never understood the function or importance of fire doors until this video. The extent of my fire training is stop drop and roll. I believe if we took the time to really educate people and let them know an open fire door is literally the difference between life and death almost no one would prop them open. And if someone did they’d probably be policed by others. But ofc people don’t care when no one really understands the significance of them. We just see them as the heavy doors that are always trying to close on you.

[@Cr4sHOv3rRiD3]

I was worked at metal industry for over 15 years and during that period I learn the most important thing when Fire happens: "Stay Calm and think". I can't even count how many fires I've prevent during 15 years, can you imagine melted Iron (about 1500 degree celsius), with calm head I was able to extinguish and localize 99,99% of them. Only 1 fire I wasn't able to extinguish and reason is I wasn't work that day and other people panic to much and let the fire spread thru the facility. It is an great and very informative video for the people who are not familiar with fire, destructive power, safety and prevention. Keep up great content.

[@zakzerkich1788]

As for the part about stair wells. Most buildings in high rises have designated fire escape stairwells. These are made of metal and concrete with fire doors. These are often required to have a positive pressure atmosphere which keeps smoke and fire out. When evacuating always use fire escape stairwells. Never use any type of “convenience” stairwells as they are sometimes called. They are not rated to protect you from fire or smoke.

[@Lam]

Wow, that's good information. I must have forgotten about that during my research. Are those labeled? I'm guessing there's no exit signs

[@zakzerkich1788]

@@Lam often you can tell by construction. If the stair well has large windows and generally is more for looks it’s likely more of a convenience stairwell. Often it won’t go the full heigh of a building either. It also potentially will not have fire doors which leaves users prone to smoke, fire, explosion, etc. I haven’t seen too many personally but I have read about them in my fire fighting textbook before. I am trained in NFPA fire fighter level one and two. If you have more questions I would definitely answer them. I’d even send you my number, privately of course. I love talking about this stuff haha. I’m very passionate about fire safety. Love the video by the way. Very informative.

[@Lam]

I can tell your passion and thanks for sharing that information! I was reading the essentials of firefighting and I found a lot of the information fascinating.

[@301terf]

It's been a while since your last video but I really enjoy your story-telling! Especially on topics that don't necessarily seem as exciting or mainstream

[@Lam]

Thanks! I'm hoping to unsurfaced similarly unloved topics. Hopefully faster this time 😄 Glad you enjoyed the storytelling!

[@brimmed]

I'll have to remember that UL fire demo video. I work in a high rise and the door to my group's area is a fire door but people leave it open all the time. We do a safety topic every month and you better believe I'm going to do the importance of fire doors next haha

[@Lam]

Love it! They're easy to overlook! Good on you!

[@billsmith5109]

A magnetic hold-open, released by the fire alarm system is a good solution.

[@Muonium1]

13:30 "you are usually safer staying in your own flat unless heat or smoke is affecting you" I mean.... that WAS fine advice in for instance the UK for a long time, until about 2 decades ago when they started allowing buildings to have their facades refurbished with composite panel cladding containing polyethylene or polyurethane foam insulation; and then as billions around the world saw in 2017 it turned Grenfell Tower into a giant barbecue for people, killing dozens. I'm in the US where this was never allowed for high-rise buildings, so I don't know if they've been able to remove all that cladding on every affected building in the UK so the original advice is true once again, but I doubt it. Anyway, there are plenty of other countries around the world where lots of buildings have the same problem, no recognition of the danger, and little to no oversight on matters of fire safety, so you always need to know the specific situation your particular building is in wherever you are.

[@Lam]

Yeah, I'm sad I cut that story and then didn't have the energy at the end to put it back in. The cladding fires issue has it's own wikipedia page and I was falling the Grenfell Inquiry podcast to learn the technical details. Stay put is being debated especially as it's often the first and only strategy in the UK whereas other countries factor in escaping much more. Originally I had much more on what to do for fire safety but I didn't want to turn this into a PSA

[@MunyuShizumi]

13:50 This security cam footage was taken during the FIFA 2018 quarter-finals match between Croatia and Russia. The firefighters got up just before the last shot of the penalty shootout, and departed within 20 seconds without any hesitation. Just 15 seconds later, the winning shot was made. Croatia went on to win second place in the World Cup. I don't care too much about football, but I live in Zagreb, and it's a somewhat famous anecdote about their professionalism since they didn't delay leaving for a single second, even though the extra 20-30 seconds likely wouldn't have mattered anyway. Kudos to all the firefighters out there.

[@sandwich2473]

It's always a real treat to see a video from you in my sub feed :o This one was especially fascinating, and the time spent on your storytelling is felt really strongly Great narratives throughout

[@Lam]

Thanks Sandwich, really appreciate the kind words and recognizing the effort! It was a real struggle to put this one together but I learned a ton from doing it. Glad you enjoyed it and I hope to keep bringing you great content in the future!

[@simonjackson7269]

On 14 June 2017, a high-rise fire broke out in the 24-storey Grenfell Tower block of flats in North Kensington, West London, at 00:54 BST. 72 people died, including two who later died in hospital, with more than 70 others being injured and 223 people escaping. It was the deadliest structural fire in the United Kingdom since the 1988 Piper Alpha oil-platform disaster and the worst UK residential fire since World War II.

[@austin-kr8xg]

You've been knocking these info/story videos out of the park, amazing work again.

[@Lam]

Thanks Austin! I'll try to keep doing it

[@phillipkelsey7984]

Good video about fire safety and how to properly react to fires in buildings. I work as a fire sprinkler engineer, and noticed a couple of small errors, nothing that changes the overall message of the video just things that bother someone who does this daily. For standpipes, the GPM coming out of them is dependent on what class they are which is dependent on the type of building it is in. While there is a class of standpipes that is rated to give 150GPM, most are rated to output 250GPM out of at least two outlets simultaneously. The response time of sprinklers comes in two varieties, standard response and quick response. You are correct in saying that townhomes and apartments are required to have quick response sprinklers, but many commercial buildings have quick response sprinklers as well. For the commercial sprinklers it does depend on what the building is used for to decide the sprinkler, as an office has much less fire capacity than a paper mill. I also feel like it does a disservice to not mention the codes that govern this design such as NFPA, and FM global data sheets. Feel free to ask any question about sprinkler systems and I will try to answer them best I can.

[@HiiImChris]

I really would like to take a second to give a genuine thanks to all the fire fighters and engineers and any respondents. Dying in a fire is probably my number 1 worst way to die, and I really can't imagine the horror of those who perished in such situations. It makes me feel much better knowing there are people who take these risks extremely importantly and do their best to implement any way to reduce chance of death by fire. If I wasn't already in another branch of engineering I honestly would probably have been interested in such things because it really does save lives

[@ScottWoods-ix5gu]

Wow! Great content and pertinent to everyday living for all. As a firefighter, you did an awesome job. One suggestion would be adding some simple things to do such as blocking door openings with towels and if needing to leave in smoke, use a wet towel to breath through as a filter. Great job. Definitely sharing. SW

[@syckid330]

So, I'm very familiar with fire codes in the US and the Iroquois Theatre fire. I work as an electrician in theatre. One thing that caught me off guard - I was touring China for work and we had push bars that were bike chained closed backstage. If you don't know, theatres are designed so that the stage housing can be separated from the house by fireproof curtains and often contain a deluge system that floods the stage with water if the fire is located on/backstage stage. There was no deluge or fire curtain at that venue.

[@fltfathin]

pushbars are known security flaw in buildings since people bypass door locks to get access into buildings they are not supposed to be in

[@springbok4015]

Informative and well put together. Fire safety should be taught in schools at an early age. I remember being taught basic fire safety in school and it’s come in handy since.

[@gaveintothedarkness]

I am currently condo shopping, this video will give me a lot of important things to look out for!

[@SageThyme23]

This is great if the house is built properly but the terrifying part is when the building is flawed because of lacklustre maintainance and you end up dying because you did what you are supposed to do.

[@HarukiYamamoto]

I’m a building services engineer. Where I come from, fire protection systems are usually among the first systems to be “value engineered” out of the project when funds are tight. We haven’t had major fires in the short history that the country has been in existence which makes property owners think that they are saving money when they ignore these systems.

[@TheSeanUhTron]

9:00 Some sprinkler systems have flow sensors on them. So when they detect the water flowing (Meaning a sprinkler has been triggered) they trigger the fire alarm. I believe some people get that process backwards.

[@johncford3957]

A few of the buildings were I lived in Toronto had pressurised hallways that were marketed as keeping cooking odors out of the hallways, I had often wondered if they would keep the hallways clear of smoke as well. Now I know thank you.

[@mortalspiral]

A topic that I hadn't thought much of before but told in a really engaging way! Well done :)

[@Lam]

Thanks! Yeah I had to go through multiple stories before I figured out how to tell it

[@Toast90186]

I’m in the fire protection industry . You did a great job explaining how these systems work and how they tie into each other

[@ErulianADRaghath]

One of things that's also important is the consistency and sensitivity of the building's automatic fire detection system. This past summer, I lived in a newly constructed apartment building that has per suite fire detectors, automatic fire doors that are opening during normal use but closes when the system detects a fire, insulated fire escape elevators, and many other advanced features. The only problem is the overly sensitive fire detection system kept triggering and ordering whole building evacuation from people smoking weed in their apartments. After the third such evacuation, 90% of the residents no longer evaculate, which meant the state-of-art automatic system in advertently caused more complacency due to an incorrect setup.

[@Lam]

Yeah, that's unfortunate. Too bad they couldn't change how the alerts go out

[@Lam]

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[@wendyhill8230]

I'm an MEP/FP engineer, and this is spot on. Sadly combustible structure is making a comeback due to it's low cost and deregulation.

[@notsocreative]

I'm in Valencia Spain at the moment and my building lacks all of this. Even the walls are bad. The neighbors have even locked the roof door which for us leaving at the top is one of our escape routes. They don't care and it's the same answer from the company managing the building so we don't have the key. None of the doors are fire doors. Well we have none of the safety measures you mentioned. I guess this is good only for new constructions although down from where I live a recent high rise building was entirely destroyed by flame from bad electrical wiring. Some people died. So it depends on when your building was built, if the constructor follows the regulation and the country where you are (especially: how easy is it to bribe building inspectors)

[@goigus]

Your videos are so mesmerizing to watch and much more well-placed and structured than most youtubers. I get a lot of satisfaction out of watching them, and any length of time is worth the wait for this kind of quality! Keep it up

[@Lam]

Thanks! Really appreciate the kind words and for noticing the effort in making these videos!

[@richardengelhardt582]

True. I was once in an apartment fire in a NYC apartment building (on Park Ave and 65th street, no less). The fire started in the elevator shaft but was trapped there. Even smoke was contained. We only noticed the true seriousness of the situation when our dog, a German Shepherd passed out from smoke inhalation (plus panic), and we had to evacuate through the exterior fire escape.

[@BsktImp]

Did you mention the Grenfell Tower disaster (London, UK; 14 June 2017) where the flawed application of the stay-put strategy was tragically compromised by the building's flammable exterior cladding?

[@Lam]

Originally Grenfell was going to be a big part of this video but was cut early. If I had the energy I would have added it back as I think it shows how the regulations have gone from bad to good. I did listen to about 10 episodes of the Grenfell Podcast and much of Barbara Lane testimony as one of the experts called to testify on the cause of the fire and the sufficiency of the fire protection measures

[@c2h7]

@@Lam IIRC, one of the main reasons so many people died in Grenfell Tower (apart from the cladding burning fast and the smoke entering the windows) was that the stairwell had several doors propped open, letting smoke get everywhere. Is that correct?

[@alsanova]

@@c2h7 There are many factors caused stairwell to fill with the smokes, doors propped open by fire service passing hoses through from floor below, smoke vent in the lobby only operate one floor at the time, stairwell door only have 20 mins fire rating (if I remember correctly), gas pipe run through stairwell and fire stopping boxing wasn't completed allowing fire and smoke to enter, many flat's front door non-compliant which failed in 15 mins instead of 30 mins (some may have been left wide open if tenant removed door closer) this contribute to filling lobby and stairwell with smoke. And lastly "stay put" ONLY applied if compartment (flat) isn't breached and not spreading fire to adjacent flats. Should be evacuated immediately upon compartment breach.

[@Lex_chats]

Fire sprinklers have been mandated in Australia for easily 20 years (buildings over 25 m) also, most new buildings are required to have fire booster pumps separate to the building to provide the fire main within

[@uzaiyaro]

Id love to see a video on how high rises defend against tornadoes or other severe weather. There have been some rather close calls with Oklahoma City, I believe. I imagine they’d naturally perform better than even a well engineered home, since the things are so heavy, and are built to sway and whatnot. Ditto if fire protection in office buildings has advanced too, particularly after 9/11.

[@GARdotETH]

The Emergency Operators told the people in Grenfell Tower London to "Stay Put" and most of them died! Granted, it was caused by the wrong materials used on the building, but I think I'd rather take my chance and run.

[@EricAllisonWeb]

Your videos leave me amazed about things I had no idea I should be amazed about. :-)

[@Lam]

Thanks a bunch Eric! I really appreciate it and it's my hope that I keep surprising and delighting you in the future.

[@Outback_Recluse]

Very well done Andrew, thankyou, this video was not only educational and informative but entertaining. I've been a subscriber for many years and from a fellow content creators, point of view, I think you're inspirational. Also you've helped me personally, with advice via email, in the dash cam era. For that also, thankyou 🙂

[@Lam]

Hey, thank you so much, that's really touching. I appreciate you going out of your way to tell me that. Sometimes you don't know how you influence others and I wish you the best on your journey. Thanks for being a long time subscriber too!

[@ItsAllPainNoGain]

I live in Texas and one of my jobs is fitting fire doors in new buildings. Never really thought much of it but after watching the vid I realized that my home is outdated and extremely flammable. I have replaced a few doors and have gotten a fire extinguisher for each large room and the hallway. Thanks for making me be a safer more aware man

[@hannah5740]

The editing for this must of taking ages. well done. I watched this with my dad and it was really good

[@Lam]

It was a lot for sure. Multiple revisions on the storyline and many times I thought of saying "that's enough" and going with what I had. Thanks for enjoying it and recognizing the effort ❤️

[@esecallum]

2 days

[@matsv201]

Where i live we build every apartment that is not ground floor with fire protection typically 90 minutes. Its worth saying that fire proof wood structures does exist.Wood is not quite as flammable as people might think. We have wood building that will not burn down even in a major fire.

[@nchia]

Really enjoyed this video. May not be completely applicable to the laws in Australia, but certainly helps me ask relevant questions.

[@Chrazzari]

Well an apartment fire can't kill anyone if they've all been evacuated due to structural failures beforehand lol. So Opal tower residents are still safe.

[@mariamkeita8675]

I'm working on a final project for my Urban Planning course about apartment fires and this video was extremely helpful/informative. Thank you so much for your work on this!

[@0error.389]

"Natural fibers from 50 years ago" Isn't that asbestos?

[@the_pelican_real]

He’s talking about the fibers in your furniture, like sofas. Modern sofas have lots of plastic in them, while older sofas are often made of linen. Plastic burns very dirty compared to natural fibers. Also asbestos is fireproof

[@RobotnikPlays]

Taking a moment to appreciate the painstaking effort spent at 3:46 to align the camera & shot perfectly to blend in to the news story. Well done!

[@Lam]

Thanks for appreciating it! I was wondering if that would go noticed. It would have been even better if I decided to film with the sun in my face but I didn't want to haha

[@oryagoda]

I also noticed and liked it!

[@Paul_Wetor]

That "natural vs synthetic" clip at 10:40 is really shocking. P.S. The Iroquois Theater advertised itself as "absolutely fireproof". The fire occurred only a month after it opened.

[@Android_Steed]

I love your channel, and this video in particular! As a person who has a lot of fire-anxiety, and as an engineer, this video gave me a lot of appreciation for modern technology and the hard work of countless people to keep society safe

[@Lam]

You're very welcome Andrew! Thank you!

[@stephenlee5929]

Hi You mentioned the UK advice to stay in your apartment and wait to be rescued, I doubt you will find anyone i UK who will follow that advice until action is taken regarding the Grenfell Tower fire, it was the advice given to the 72 people who died. The inquiry is on going, but until improvements are made, I doubt anyone in UK will stay in and wait to be rescued.

[@GabrielTobing]

Dont forget the 9/11 disaster and the korea ferry disaster.

[@_Pyroon_]

Well researched, fantastically explained, great animation, easy sub.

[@MrCanadianGoof]

Awesome video! I use to live in an apartment and would always wonder what the best plan of action would be!

[@Lam]

Thanks! I'd check out the guides below and if you're super keen go talk to the firefighters that service your area. Likely they have preplanning on your building and what they would like you to do in a fire based on that information and how they respond.

[@Aranimda]

The Stay Put policy was a killer during the Grenfell Tower fire. I missed this mention in your video.

[@whatever_12]

I got a fire training at work and since then it's infuriating to see how often fire protocol are ignored in low rises (6 floor or so) from bike in the hallway to the stair itself having no fire door.. I had kept a roped escape ladder in my apt

[@chinookh4713]

Fire safety is often ingored... this is coming form a firefighter in new york

[@jamessmith1652]

The algorithm recommended you today, I'm now binge-watching your videos, they are great. Love your style! I only wish there were more of your newer videos already :)

[@Lam]

Thanks James! I too wish there was more of my new style of content haha. I'm working hard on it for people like you!

[@smckay87]

I was in a highrise condo fire in 2009 in Chicago, it was on the 36th floor of a 42 story building. We were told to stay in place unless in immediate danger. The building was older and thus didn't have sprinklers. The elderly resident of the fire died, but only other injuries, no other deaths. The injuries were because the fire actually busted out the windows and into the units upstairs. Staying in your apt may seem scary in the moment, but it was definitely the right call for us. kzbin.info/www/bejne/kKeZq2WPrpuenqs This video was really cool and informative, thank you!

[@bobbygetsbanned6049]

I mean there's a 0% chance of me burning to death outside and a non zero chance inside so I'm getting the fuck out but ok.

[@arthurgu3800]

Looks like I forgot to leave a super thanks here. Rectifying this now.

[@jamesconway4821]

Unfortunately this is something that many people just don't think about. I can definitely Testify that this type of thing does happen it happened to me the apartment below us literally blew up causing our floor to Shake and within seconds we had black thick toxic smoke coming through every wall receptacle crack and crevice. Oddly enough we had just literally finished installing a brand new full surround sound stereo system with extra large woofers and we're watching an action movie coincidentally there was an explosion in the movie and we thought at first wow these speakers are awesome because the floor shook. It wasn't until we saw the black smoke coming out receptacles that we knew that the explosion sound extreme vibration didn't come from the speakers and the vibration we felt was real. We barely had enough time to grab our dog wallet and keys when we opened up our front door there was flames shooting up and over the balcony from below us. We then begin pounding on our neighbor's doors trying to get them out of their Apartments. I've never seen smoke so black and thick and accumulate in abundance so fast many of our neighbors that we woke had to crawl over their back balconies and climb down the balcony railings actually escaping from their back porches the building was three stories and we were on the second floor fortunately we were able to get everyone out in time. Me and my roommates had to even bust down some doors there was no time to knock and wait. This was back before cell phones were popular my roommate was able to use one of the neighbors phones to call 911 by the time the fire department got there there was yet another explosion that wound up raising our floor literally two to three inches above its original position it blew out all of our windows the apartments on each side of the apartment below us also burnt up the fire was so intense that it literally melted the plumbing in the building the fire shooting out the back of the first floor unit below us went all the way up to the roof of the third floor and also caught that unit on fire and this all happened within a matter of 30 minutes since we heard the first explosion. It felt like everything was in slow motion and that it took forever for the fire department to put the fire out we wound up losing pretty much everything. All the plastic in our apartment melted and everything was covered in black soot. Needless to say the whole entire building had to be condemned. Luckily the apartment below us where the fire originated the people were not home. So thank God nobody died. But it definitely shook us all up. And left the whole building occupants scrambling to find somewhere to stay. After going through that horrible ordeal I think every solitary building new or used especially multi-story should be required to have full fire suppression sprinklers systems along with emergency egress stairs for the backs of of buildings so that people have more than one way out. Along with Extremely Loud fire alarms. To warn the people of a fire Unfortunately our building had none of that. The fire department told us that we probably literally saved everybody in the building because we were the first ones that became aware of the fire and woke everybody up and got them out. Probably the scariest thing I've ever been through in my entire life. And to this day I still have nightmares about it. I also have a very hard time watching action movies with explosions in them. But I am extremely thankful to God that I have my life along with everybody in that building which consisted of about 15 units five on each floor I believe it was 24 people saved including us.

[@axxxonn]

I do want to correct that the smaller bulb size in the fire sprinkler is not related to its activation time but rather the size of its orifice for the required water demand. That said residential fire sprinklers tend to be far less demanding than commercial. And that's because the hazard imposed by the type of occupancy of the building. And R-2 occupancy is less of a hazard than an S-1.

[@billsmith5109]

Not correct. A residential head may be smaller, but the same 3mm diameter bulb is used in other quick response heads. The 5mm bulb, now much less common was the standard response time index head. It’s a mass to surface area ratio design. In normal room there is considerable lag between rated temp and operation. Originally developed as part of the residential sprinkler head program that started at the National Fire Academy in the late 1970’s. The efficacy of faster response, and later larger orifice sprinklers then created largest changes to fire sprinkler technologies since the replacement of conventional heads by the SSP and SSU heads in the early 1950’s.

[@strasburgrailfan90]

If you’re in the twin towers it wouldn’t be safe to stay where you were

[@Dave-lh6ws]

That was a bit more than a simple fire

[@stevedolesch9241]

Andrew, thank you for this but especially for natural v. synthetic materials deonstration! I'm saving this video.

[@Lam]

Glad you liked it!

[@yourikersten8243]

Very interesting, high quality video. It even reached the Netherlands. Keep up this good work

[@dabitzz]

High rise buildings are required to have special fire alarms called speaker strobes. These can give directions on what to do. If the alarm says to stay in your room, stay. If you leave, it could clog up the stairs, and firefighters wont be able to get up, resulting in more deaths. Only leave if the alarm says to leave.

[@Ayaya787]

Great Video :) Extremely informative!

[@Lam]

Thank you so much Empyreal! Really appreciate it and I'm glad you enjoyed the video!

[@Markus-zb5zd]

12:07 fire services can actually employ makeshift overpressure zones. We have dedicated fans for that. On top of that our station usually sends a team to set up the correct ventilation requirements for this as part of the scouting in such buildings. Another reason why you should not try to leave through a smoke filled staircase, we can make it safe, even older ones.

[@Lam]

I was reading about positive pressure ventilation! I was originally going to make a video about firefighting but pivoted. That's an interesting tidbit about the way stairways are made safe that I didn't know about

[@Markus-zb5zd]

​@@Lam basically what you do is close all the doors to the stairway, including and especially the way to the fire. Then you create an opening that is smaller than the intake (usually the door) and then turn on the ventilator. You can usually extend that to an entire hallway for one level of a building if you open the "exhaust" at the end of that hallway, (it's not really an exhaust, just so there is a flow of air and not smoke from the fire pushed through the cracks as there is no where for the air to go). This way you can safely evacuate level by level even when the building is fully smoke filled when you arrive. It's super cool to see when you have it running. Also way better for residents ladder trucks and emergency respirator hoods.

[@Nogapniba]

All of these system is in my Japanese high rise apartment I was wondering what was that on 11:51 and now I know they do the critical job

[@cole8124]

This video is insanely good! So many informative and vital concepts covered in an easily digestible manner.

[@darshandolas3035]

Properly communicated the message of fire safety, good job!

[@NHSSHINOBI]

A fire broke out in my dorm's building, and as I hurriedly made my way to the ground floor, I reached the fire door, but it refused to open. I felt an overwhelming surge of frustration and anger in that moment. After, management did not believe me, but the camera's told my truth. I moved out shortly after.

[@alanar8046]

Very informative video! I learned a lot about fire safety. For clarity, please consider replacing the word "as" in your scripts to show causal relationships. Since "as" is used to mean "concurrently," and to compare, and it's used in various types of grammatical clauses and phrases, its meaning can sometimes be unclear until the sentence has concluded. Therefore, using the words, "since," "because," "thus," and "therefore" make cause and effect relationships unmistakable. Thus, your content's information will be easier to digest for those with focus issues, processing issues, and those for whom English is a second language. We can absorb your wonderfully presented information without mentally re-contextualizing something because we thought you meant "as" to convey "meanwhile" when it turns out you meant "since." Thanks for all your hard work!

[@Lam]

Thanks! I didn't know this was a thing. I'll see what I can do in the future

[@bentleyspotter]

This was an incredibly impressive video. you are going places Mr. Lam

[@kyh148]

14:05 is that why you're not allowed to use them during a fire? Not because of the risk of being trapped, but because it needs to be used by firefighters? That's interesting, never knew that.

[@paanjang16]

Mamy reasons actually: 1) smoke can obstruct the door safety mechanism light sensor and you cannot close the door as it will keep sensing the door is blocked. Fire lifts in fire mode are manually operated to prevent this. 2) smoke may enter the lift shaft. Fire fighting lobbies are pressurized to prevent smoke from entering the lift lobby. Normal lift lobbies do not have pressurisation. 3) fire may damage the power supply to the lift, or control system to the lift. All lift are using essential power with fire rated cable. Essential means there is a backup power supply in case the building power goes out. Changeover is not instantenous. 4) in a fire all lifts will go down to grd floor and open and shut down upon receiving a fire signal from the main fire alarm panel. Only a fireman switch at the fire lift can override this

[@Lam]

Great explanation!

[@paanjang16]

Look up marina bay suites fire in singapore. Lift malfunctioned causing 2 security guards to die. Fire fighters had to stop several floors lower to fight the fire since the fire was very intense and the fire lobby had combustile materials.

[@pangolin83]

Saying the media uproar is what's making people more scared of high-rise building fires is missing the point a little bit, especially in the case of the Grenfell Tower fire. You say the line "when a high rise has the right engineering", but Grenfell has proved that sadly, we can't just assume that no corners have been cut.

[@smooshfanultra]

I absolutely adore this type of "hidden in plain sight yet CRUCIAL" infrastructure videos. Can't wait for the next

[@boozejunky]

I just experienced my second fire in this building just last week. What I found amazing was how clueless me and my neighbors were about what to do. We found a spare key open the apartment and extinguished the flames with an extinguisher but opening the door only allowed the smoke out at that point we exited the building and waiting for the fire department. I can't stress this enough, have a plan and follow all the safety rules they teach you. Thank you for the video.

[@informeddissident]

The building you referenced in Toronto is now known as the Phoenix. They had someone paint a massive almost full height mural on the side of the building. That particular fire is also responsible for a giant shift in how toronto fire deals with high-rise incidents. It's a great rabbit hole to go down

[@The_Harylaba]

Thank you, Andrew. I never thought I'd find engineering content this exciting to watch.

[@xmicoz]

As an architecture technologist learning about fire safety and ratings this helped extremely well! Thanks from Toronto!!

[@matthewcandler4179]

This was an excellently put together video, great job!

[@Fladrif]

Thanks!

[@Lam]

Thank you!

[@tomash6299]

Amazing content! ❤ Tho, I couldnt not notice Taiwan quietly being amongst the countries in your video. Brilliant 🎉

[@caffienatedtactician]

12:29 if anyone wants to know more about the Iroquois Theater Fire, Fascinating Horror has a great episode on the tragedy

[@MRblazedBEANS]

I grew up in the age of evacuation and never ever take the elevator during a emergency, use the stairs. Now it's the exact opposite due to technology. Soon I swear dying from accidents will be rare and we only die from old age in the 1st world.

[@BeyondBaito]

Here in New Mexico a lot of buildings use Stucco which helps wonderfully. In my neighborhood the exposed pilot light to an old water heater ignited paint fumes causing the garage door of the building to shoot across into the street. The house was burned from the inside, the owner wasn't home at the time and survived, and the fire never left the property despite the large amount of flammable waste in the house.

[@DaewooFestiva23]

there was this incident that happened in china were a cheap apartment burned down and collapsed, i dont remember how many people died but it was quite a lot.

[@Lam]

Yeah, unfortunately engineering standards are useless when it's not enforced or inspected. Really sad

[@Eric2300jeep]

Great video. Sorry but, I had to laugh when I saw the skit about "gov" smacking a fire and saying no. I live in California & it's the extreme opposite... well with forest fires anyway. One of the largest fire departments we have here (CalFire) sends up requests to our Governor's office on a regular basis to request funds for clearing fuel breaks & doing control burns. They're denied 95% of the time. All of our major "wildfires" in the last decade, were started in areas that have been previously evaluated & deemed a massive fire risk. Shows how much "gov" doesn't care if it doesn't affect their infrastructure or there's a way to profit off the losses. Sad.

[@veritasjustus8543]

as a previous firestop installer ....I approve this video. The material is pretty cool stuff.

[@calw2939]

Very interesting, I work in love theatre on the technical side and the amount of fire safety engineering that goes into these spaces is incredible.

[@MoonLiteNite]

as someone who is into security, crash bars are the worst. The number of banks and office spaces i have "broken into" due to crashbars haha

[@RapidVidsProductions]

please continue making these sorts of videos. best educational content i've ever seen on this platform, not exaggerating.

[@russotragik]

10:47 the Wilton Paes de Almeida building, a "modern towering inferno" was an abandoned building that was occupied by homeless people and it didin't had any safety feature, and to get things worse, some structural pillas were removed by the invasors, because it was taking too much space of their "units"...

[@DopamineAddictt]

Oh wow! I never even knew about how it could be safer to stay put! Very cool video!

[@Lam]

I wouldn't have thought that either!

[@alexelo6971]

I’m honestly very happy you’re not reviewing dash cams right now, you are doing an amazing job with your last few videos I never subscribe so quickly. Also hi from Toronto 👋

[@Deepthought-42]

16.23 The fire rapid fire spread was caused by flammable cladding on the outside of the building which quickly engulfed the whole of the building in flames. Many died in smoke filled exits or in their rooms because they were told to stay put. Similar situations had occurred in other high rise buildings where fire had spread to other parts of the building but it was not acted upon. So much for good design and Regulations in the UK! The Grenfell Tower enquiry is ongoing.

[@C0DEN4ME0MEG4]

Always interresting to see how fire saftey works around the world. Greetings from Germany :)

[@diegosilang4823]

There is one exception that defeated the design is some idiot in UK decided add flammable exterior cladding to Grenfell Tower allowing the flame to bypass all the safety features and burned the entire building.

[@sargentwolfLL]

i used to work for a museum. we had 3/4 of a million CFM smoke exhaust and 1/4 million CFM smoke intake unit. the 1/4 million was hidden behind our dinosaur exhibit and didnt work...till i annoyed my boss enough for us to rappel 40 feet down to work on it. turns out they didnt install the fuses or belt properly. would have never worked. glad i was annoying as a teenaged volunteer maintenance worker.

[@Lam]

It's often a lack of maintenance that can bring entire systems down. Thanks for sharing your story!