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Da Woiks: Links, Library, News and Other Stuff More Useful Than You Are => Le Laowai Liberation League Labor & Lifestyle Lending Library (ON-TOPIC) => Topic started by: cruisemonkey on June 03, 2013, 10:24:46 PM
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... seems to be virtually nonexistent.
On each floor of my uni's faculty apartment building there are standpipes and fire hoses (I assume) in metal cabinets on the walls of the hallways... all locked.
The first floor entrance/exit doors at the back of the building... chained shut and locked.
The landing in the basement at the bottom of the back stairwell (the only way out at the back) completely crammed full of flattened cardboard boxes waiting to be recycled and cigarette butts... and is always blocked by a scooter.
The hallways/stairwells are pitch black at night because the lights are always burnt out. They use 'cheap-shit' Chinese bulbs that last approximately a week (but are only replaced once a year).
The emergency lights don't work because the batteries are 'dead'.
After spending six years in Korea (where things are much the same) none of this surprises me.
What's your place like... and why are Asians such idiots when it comes to fire safety?
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Fire safety is a bit like traffic and bodies in motion. You have to be able to allow information access to your brain pan that is beyond the next 0.1 seconds in order to understand these things.
My apartment is a relatively new building. I wouldn't say the fire safety is good, but the stairs are never blocked or locked and there's roof access to two or three adjacent buildings, so I could go up or down. I have seriously considered buying some rope that could be used to descend from my balcony, but there are two vertically open spaces about 2 meters square on either side of the elevator that I could go down in a free climb if I first busted into that vertical space, which I think I could do bare-handed, so I don't think the rope is necessary. I'm on the 9th floor.
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Today's news. aoaoaoaoao
A blaze at a locked poultry slaughterhouse in northeast China killed at least 119 people on Monday with several still unaccounted for
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Oh man...the fire alarm went off in the middle of the night at the place where I used to live...there was smoke in the hallways. I was the ONLY person who used the stairs, most people ignored it, others used the elevators (turned out to be nothing serious but hey...). I've heard from someone who worked as residence hall staff at a uni in the UK that Chinese students are a nightmare when it comes to the surprise annual fire drill (they refuse to be outside unless fully dressed with a jacket, they stop to gather all their stuff, are usually last out etc).
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I'm on the third floor in the middle of the building. There are two stairwells - no elevators. I've memorised the number of doors to each stairwell from my apartment, the number of stairs and landings in the stairwells at the back & front (they're different) and practiced getting out 'by feel' while holding my breath. While walking upright, it can't be done (without breathing), nevermind if one had to crawl to stay below the smoke. If one doesn't know where the fire is, it's pitch black, and the hallways/stairwells are full of smoke, one will have a 50/50 chance of picking the correct direction to go - further reduced by the chance of being overcome by smoke even if one picked/guessed the correct direction.
I always have my Mini Maglite on my bedside table. However, like gzwriter, I've been thinking of getting a rope I could use to decend from my balcony, but have so far put it off... it's time to 'get off my ass' and do it!
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My old apartment and my house both are of the brick and concrete variety (you should have seen me trying to jam a push-pin into what I foolishly assumed was drywall shortly after arriving in China the first time ahahahahah). In either, I could pile my stuff in the living room, set it on fire, and then sit safely in the bedroom until the smoke clears.
Evidently, newer construction is of a more flammable variety.
During one of the less harmonious days of expressing anger against Japan over some islands, I was at Computer City in DG. They had most of the entrances and exits (including all the emergency exits I saw) chained and locked shut. I decided I didn't really feel like shopping that day once I noticed that there was no quick way out.
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Twice I've been in apartment buildings where small kitchen fires filled the landing with smoke and set off the alarms and nobody else seemed to even notice. The people in the apartment put out the fires, but they didn't call anyone, not even their neighbors.
If I lived between the second and fifth floor, I would have already bought the rope, it's just above that it's kind of a pain to keep that much lying around. I also have a flashlight next to my bed. I've been meaning to put together a mini go bag in case of having to get out in the middle of the night, especially a couple of months ago when there was a small earthquake and I felt the building sway.
At one job I had in the USA, we were in a 5 story building that was quite wide and had begun packing two people into every cubicle because of increased tech support demands. The fire drill took a looooong time. I was surprised to see that with so many people, it can easily take 20 minutes to file out from the top floor.
Although I'm sure that during a fire people would want to move faster, I think the frenzy would probably slow things down.
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I've been meaning to put together a mini go bag in case of having to get out in the middle of the night,
Don't just think about it gzwriter, do it! bfbfbfbfbf I advise everyone who is reading this topic, to stop NOW and think about the consequences of NOT being fully prepared to evacuate your building. What about your personal papers and documents? How hard will they be to replace? Cruisemonkey has also put in some effort which is good to see. I was the volunteer fire and bomb warden in my large workplace and believe me, humans can be very stupid and unpredictable in an emergency. May I also suggest that you take a few minutes to see if there is a plan of escape routes in any places that you frequent. bfbfbfbfbf
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I didn't want to read this topic because it is one of the worst aspects of living in China for me: the Chinese love to chain shut any safety doors, options and really can't be bothered when a few hundred perish in a fire. I was in Liaoning, but not in Shenyang when they had a fire in a department store about 10 years ago and hundreds died from being trampled or from the smoke. They had chained the majority of the exits (why build doors you'll never use?) and panic ensued. At my school of that time, I had to go into the library once during a rain. They had about 20 doors and 19 chained. And everyone was moving in and out slowly to accommodate umbrellas. Once inside, I kept noticing the locked doors and trying to decide which window I might need to smash with which chair or table. I'm a bit claustrophobic as it is, and it doesn't help to know there are no exits.
Where I live now, like EL, the neighbor's fire likely won't last and won't reach my apartment, but...there is only one stairwell (not enclosed) and all of the windows are barred. I haven't tested the strength of the iron or the fasteners (possibly a good kick will send the bars down to impale a poor onlooker) but it also bothers me.
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There are these underground shopping malls in Guangzhou that literally have exit signs everywhere, so you have no clue how to get out. Cut the lights and blow some smoke and it's a perfect death trap.
@ Granny Mae: thanks for the suggestion. I do have all my important papers and computer data in one place that I could gather up in less than a minute, but without a mini go-bag, I'd be standing outside in my undies with a small duffle over my shoulder, cash, passport, and a few portable hard drives.
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I was going to buy a smoke alarm here in Ireland to bring back for our new apartment - has anybody else done this? Will it drive us mad going off everytime we cook?
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Do you cook at super high temperatures using horrid vegetable oils that become even worse when super heated and atomized, covering your entire apartment in a thin film of nastiness?
If no, then a smoke alarm sounds like a good idea.
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Fozzwaldus, my brother is a retired Fireman and he told me to buy the photo electric smoke alarms as they are far more effective. If the alarms were accidentally set off during the day because of human activity, I'd take the batteries out during the day and put them in at night. My alarm used to go off if the lawn mower went past my back door. Hope I didn't come off as a nag gzwriter, but my experience and observations give me cause for great concern in respect of this topic. What you folks are telling me about lack of escape routes, is really frightening. May I suggest again, that everyone take a REALISTIC look at what could or probably would happen if there was a fire in their apartment. It will be TOO LATE once it has happened.
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The 'go bag' is a great idea. I'm putting (and keeping) a change of clothes along with all my important documents and bank info./cards in my luggage 'carry-on' - all ready to 'grab & go' without thinking or looking.
Yesterday, I bought 20 meters of rope and knotted it about every meter for better 'grip'. It's now secured to the living room radiator (the only anchor point strong enough) and coiled unobtrusively, in the corner, behind a chair, on the floor just inside the sliding glass door to my balcony. All I'll have to do is open the sliding door, open the balcony window and throw the coil out...
P.S. It's not the just the apartments -
At each entrance/exit of all the teaching buildings on campus there are either: three or four sets of doors. However, in all cases, all sets except one are chained & locked. During class changes, this creates a 'bottle neck' it can take minutes to get through. During a fire, with people panicking, the entrances/exits are 'death traps'.
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Good one cruisemonkey! bfbfbfbfbf Any chance that you could get duplicate keys cut for a couple of sets of the school fire escape doors?
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@ Granny, no worries, moyt, didn't come off like anything but a good suggestion. Cheers!
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Good one cruisemonkey! bfbfbfbfbf Any chance that you could get duplicate keys cut for a couple of sets of the school fire escape doors?
Actually, a pair of industrial sized bolt cutters would make me feel safer. Hard to hide in the book bag though. A hammer would fit.
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Thanks guys! bfbfbfbfbf roadwalker,I hope that you and the other folks in similar circumstances will really try to solve those escape route problems. I would never forgive myself for not pushing harder if something happened to any of you as a result of something you could have fixed. bibibibibi
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Good one cruisemonkey! bfbfbfbfbf Any chance that you could get duplicate keys cut for a couple of sets of the school fire escape doors?
Actually, a pair of industrial sized bolt cutters would make me feel safer. Hard to hide in the book bag though. A hammer would fit.
Duplicate keys? The building 'caretakers' have probably lost them; and even if they still did have the keys, the chance of them giving (or allowing me to duplicate) a set is probably on par with going a week without a power or water failure.
Bolt cutters would be the answer, but...
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I live on the 18th floor (top floor) of my apartment building with only one staircase out, so i guess i'm screwed. The only slightly reassuring thing is that every level to the stairway has fire doors that in theory are never left open, i think occasionally they get propped open but the security guards do a walk through the building once an hour and they do close any they find wedged open. Also every floor has fire hydrants that i have actually seen checked fairly regularly so i try not to worry to much, although this thread is definately food for thought
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Bolt cutters would be the answer, but...
Perhaps you are on to something. Cut off the old locks and replace them and keep the keys. I wonder how long it would be before anyone, in authority, noticed and changed the locks?
There was a very bad fire here in Fortitude Valley in Brisbane a couple of days ago. Fortunately the buildings were only about five stories high. A young man and two young ladies were trapped on a balcony with seconds to spare. The bloke said that his only choice was to JUMP off the balcony into some bushes below as he knew that the fire would get him if he did not. I thought of you cruisemonkey when I saw him on TV; I thought that at least you would now be able to throw out your rope and climb down. Fortunately he had dialled emergency services earlier and they directed a "Cherry Picker" to the balcony. Would you believe that this piece of equipment BROKE just after rescuing these people and there was not another suitable one around if it had been needed. bibibibibi I can tell you that a lot of questions are NOW being asked as they realize that they need MUCH more in the way of how high they can reach. They only just reached these people. bibibibibi
Does anyone on China make rope ladders which could be purchased by someone who would not be as agile as cruisemonkey?
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Bolt cutters would be the answer, but...
Perhaps you are on to something. Cut off the old locks and replace them and keep the keys. I wonder how long it would be before anyone, in authority, noticed and changed the locks?
Seriously? mmmmmmmmmm
The Chinese are incompetent/negligent/dumber than a bag of hammers - but that's their problem. Be that as it may, I'd hate to have it on my concience that 2000 students and 40 instructors died because I changed the locks.
I'll get out of the damn building... and without having to face trial and execution when convicted in a Chinese court of negligent manslaughter.
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No, not seriously cruisemonkey. Just trying to generate some ideas on ways to solve that problem. Who knows where the keys are if the "in charge" person is away? Does one key fit all? etc etc. After the event, people often can't believe that they didn't think about certain obvious aspects. In relation to the fire in Fortitude Valley, they had to admit that they did not have a "turntable ladder" capable of enabling mass rescue of residents in medium to high rise buildings. bibibibibi
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Think about it -
To be in any high-rise building on a floor above the highest the ladders can reach, is to be in a potential death trap.
Now, add to above: negligence, bribery/corruption and a lack of 'common sense'.
bibibibibi
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You are right cruisemonkey. I would hate to live in some of those really tall buildings. One thing which really upsets me is the fact that there is a lot of avoidable death if people just used their common sense or did some planning. A discussion like this often prompts people to stop and think. If they would just try to imagine waking in a smoke filled room and then imagine the actions that could be taken in the event of different areas being blocked off. Can they get out the bedroom door? Is the window the only escape route? Can they climb up or down if they have to?
In the "Valley" fires, a suitable "Turntable Ladder" existed, but the Fire Brigade only had hydraulic ladder platforms. In an area like this, it is an example of really poor planning by people who should know better and I understand that there will be action being taken. bfbfbfbfbf
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4 Girls Fall To Death To Escape Dorm Fire (http://www.chinasmack.com/2008/stories/4-girls-fall-to-death-to-escape-dorm-fire.html)
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aoaoaoaoao ananananan
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I spent 20 years 'at sea' with the Canadian Coast Guard before retiring and becoming landlocked in China.
We trained constantly to prevent/fight fires at sea on: ships, fixed-wing aircraft, helocopters and hovercraft.
I have pulled more than one, 'well-done' dead sailor from the ocean's icy grip. It is not a nice feeling to have someone's arm/leg 'come off' in your hands.
aaaaaaaaaa
Please think about how you would get out of your apartment given a worst case scenario.
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C'mon, it will never happen to me.
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I am quite fortunate to be living not too high up with a chain of descending ledges below making it very easy to just hop down step by step one floor at a time.
There is fire gear here but it has mostly been all vandalised/stolen. There is also a fire escape exactly opposite my apartment, seems good until you go down one floor only to find they have sealed it off with concrete walling right in the middle of the stairs.
Just hope a fire never starts below me as when the people below me are cooking I have to open the windows or sit in my own personal indoor smog.
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Thanks for that info Guangzou Writer. I hope it has prompted folks to take a serious look at their own situation and to get their families to do the same thing. These young folk should have been able to get out if they had only done some prior planning. bibibibibi
cruisemonkey, I take my hat off to you. Not an easy job. I have a few family members who are firefighters and as you know, they see terrible and often avoidable accidents, as have you.