No Snark Zone, please

If you have ever wondered what it is like to be in a burning torch of a high rise... starting @ 0:13.

quote:

From the video description at YerTub:

A major fire broke out in a skyscraper in the central Chinese city of Changsha, state media reported on Friday, adding that the number of casualties was currently unknown.

"Thick smoke is spewing from the site, and several dozen floors are burning ferociously, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Firefighters have begun work to extinguish the flames and conduct rescues at the scene,.

The blaze consumed a tall building that housed an office of state-owned telecommunications company China Telecom.

The video showed orange flames searing through the building in a built-up area of the city, as black smoke billowed into the sky.

A video posted on social media by a local news outlet appeared to show the outside of the tower had been charred black.

Changsha, the capital of Hunan province, has a population of about 10 million people.

Massive Fire At China Skyscraper, Dozens Of Floors Burning Ferociously. China Telecom building fire

According the redchinese.commie.gov all employees made it out.

When I travel, I always ask for a room somewhere below the sixth floor or no more than two floors from the roof (135' max reach of the biggest ladder trucks I'm aware of).

I HAVE been in a burning building.

This brings terror to me.

The thick black smoke and the outside of the building charred black w/ soot would seem to indicate that building is constructed of materials that wouldn't be 'permitted' in the US.

quote:

Originally posted by Mars_Attacks:
I HAVE been in a burning building.

This brings terror to me.

Now imagine the same exact situation on a ship hundreds of miles out at sea. Just one of the reasons why I would never take a vacation on a cruise ship, and I most certainly wouldn't put my family in that perilous environment.

I’m with you Balze. I’ve been aboard two ships that had fires. And I was the number one nozzleman on one of them.

I also don’t stay above the second floor in hotels. Figure I can jump that far or at least dangle off the outside and drop the rest.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: MikeinNC,

Guess the Chinese building inspector is out of a job.

Looks like Grinfell towers in London. Combustable exterior cladding / insulation and an air gap running between multiple or all floors.

Never been in a burning building but was in an Army Squad that got trapped in a forest fire and ran out on a carpet of fire retardant dropped by a plane.

quote:

Originally posted by nhracecraft:
The thick black smoke and the outside of the building charred black w/ soot would seem to indicate that building is constructed of materials that wouldn't be 'permitted' in the US.

When I worked as a residential building superintendent, if the garage had living space above it, the garage ceiling required type x fire resistant drywall. Not doing so would fail an inspection immediately. Also required 1.5" screws. Some crews tried to cheap out with 1" screws and failed inspection.

I wonder if China has any building codes. Doubt it but maybe someone here knows.

^
Chinese construction is not known for being top notch.

https://www.reuters.com/articl...India-40638820090627

When I saw the video I immediately thought of the Grinfell Towers fire in London, and the flammable cladding.

I had just started a new job before 09/11, which was out of the city center. I was so relieved I no longer worked in a downtown Dallas high rise. Prior I had been on the 12th floor in one building and the 22nd floor of another a few months prior.

I sure hope there is not a huge death toll. Sure we won't know the real number from the chicom gubbermint.

I pray all got out.

Seems like a bunch of us have seen construction that was something perilously close to being the causal factors in some of our dreams.

I don’t ride the DC Metro Green Line between Gallery Place and Shaw. Why? I was the paramedic on graveyard. The men I watched work seemed to know their stuff, and then…

… one night… one very early morning actually, I show up grabbed my gear (e.g., Dræger, anemometer), and went “down the hole” to check on things, mostly safety related. It was part of the job and good exercise too, about ten stories up and down and a 1.3 mile walk.

I walk toward the right bore, a ring about 30’(?) in diameter. looking at it because something was odd. I then realized smoke is poring from the top!

I look over in the left borehole and it’s clearer, but still murky.

I dash over to the left tube and take a Dræger tube for nitrous oxides. Normally ten pumps would not colorize it at all. This morning, not even a complete single pump and the tube changed color from end to end. Yazza!

There was a signal to “STOP WORK RIGHT THE HELL NOW!” I triggered it. That brought everyone to a topside muster. There were about 30 men on graveyard. All but three were downstairs.

An “investigation” found some dipshit disconnected two HUGE ventilation fans because they blocked something (at least they unplugged it before moving it). These things moved plenty of air, with a ton to spare. If they work. The night crew was pissed because the night foreman, pissed that they’d let things get that far, made them finish the shift in the yard moving things just because.

My boss came in hours early, stopped at the Superintendent’s office, and then came to me with that “look.” I held up the tube, and explained how it reacted. I showed him the anemometer readings, the other tubes tested (carbon monoxide being a worry), all of which failed. To their credit, my boss, the Superintendent, and topside crane operator and his lander backed my decision to shut work down. It was heady stuff for 25 yo me, having that authority. I never needed to invoke it again while working there.

Why did it happen?

Someone got the bright idea to use diesel powered engines and muckers without supplying adequate air flow. The miners and engineer were unfazed “I’ve seed it so dark you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face!” Usually said by a toothless, tobacco chewing, 30 year old, at the volume of a cannon because “them foam plugs don’t work” and he long ago abandoned “indoor volume.”

quote:

Originally posted by Edmond:

quote:

Originally posted by nhracecraft:
The thick black smoke and the outside of the building charred black w/ soot would seem to indicate that building is constructed of materials that wouldn't be 'permitted' in the US.

When I worked as a residential building superintendent, if the garage had living space above it, the garage ceiling required type x fire resistant drywall. Not doing so would fail an inspection immediately. Also required 1.5" screws. Some crews tried to cheap out with 1" screws and failed inspection.

I wonder if China has any building codes. Doubt it but maybe someone here knows.

Of course they have building codes.... but, it just doesn't matter, like anything else in that country. Cheap labor, cheap values, cheap politicians, cheap building codes, cheap buildings, nothing real matters, except corruption from high to low, rampant communism and control.

Like most posters here, I've never been in a large fire of any kind, but I remain greatly concerned that one day that might change.

However, I actually MISSED A major fatal fire in London in November 1987, when I had been down to MoD for the day. Coming up from the deep level of the Northern Line underground platform to street level, I had unwittingly arrived at the top having missed the smouldering trash underneath the bottom/start of the escalator. Ten minutes after I got to the top, it erupted in a mighty flashover that killed 31 commuters, one of whom remained unidentified until just a couple of years ago. Since that time I have never travelled on a subway train in UK.

I hope that the code for two stairwells is enforced.

quote:

Originally posted by tacfoley:
Like most posters here, I've never been in a large fire of any kind, but I remain greatly concerned that one day that might change.

I had the privilege of being in several building fires as a paramedic who was trained in fire suppression and vertical rescue.

It wasn’t until years later that I appreciated the experience.

Is the building still even standing? There doesn't appear to be any recent updates; all I see are news articles over a day old.

It’s been extinguished. Seems it’s still standing and no casualties. It’s a Chinese newspaper, so take it for what it’s worth in regards to casualties.

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202209/1275416.shtml

quote:

Originally posted by old rugged cross:
I sure hope there is not a huge death toll. Sure we won't know the real number from the chicom gubbermint.

I pray all got out.

Me too. Very sorry for those folks.