Post: #71

I'm just gonna leave this here. It's a collection of test videos showing how quickly fire spreads. The first segment may put you off Xmas trees forever.




As part of my job I have to take fire safety courses annually, and one of the things they impress on us all the time is that there is no time for heroics, last minute efforts to save belongings or quick dash-and-grab rescues. Some facts:

-Fire doubles in size every thirty seconds on average, depending on conditions of the room. Average time of total engulf: 2 to 5 minutes.

-average time for room to be filled to the floor with toxic black smoke, average home: 2 minutes.

-average temperature of same room at 2 minutes: 1200 degrees.

average annual deaths from fire (usa), civilian:2600. Average number of injuries: 13,500. That's actually down from what it used to be

Basically, if you wait till a fire occurs to have a plan of escape, you're fucked, and so is your family. smoke inhalation will kill you in seconds, even if the first lungful of superheated air doesn't sear your lungs. That's why stories of guys like that SEAL who died trying to go in after his kids, or the mom who couldn't get back in the window, usually end one way.

I used to think I was pretty prepared for a fire. Now I'm paranoid as hell.
What they teach us as first-responders is a two-step process:
1) get everybody the fuck out, FAST. Get fire crews onscene ASAP.

2)did I stutter?

Post: #72

(03-07-2012 06:02 AM)Lady Cop Wrote:  a hero. a daddy. RIP




A Special Forces soldier who recently returned from Afghanistan died while trying to rescue his two young daughters from their burning home, who also perished in the blaze.

Green beret Edward Cantrell, 36, from Cumberland County, North Carolina, and his wife Louise escaped from the early morning blaze by jumping from the home's second floor. Realizing their daughters Isabella, six, and Natalia, four, were trapped inside, Cantrell wrapped himself in a blanket and reentered the home, which is close to the military post near Fort Bragg.

Sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Tanna said: 'He never made it back out.'

Firefighters found their bodies inside the home, Ms Tanna said. The three died from smoke inhalation. The century-old home's timbers were likely very dry, causing a fast-moving blaze, Ms Tanna said. The cause of the fire was under investigation.

Don't know how I missed this story.

Seeing those little girls reminds of my little one so much. For a dad, there's nothing quite like a daughter. Never thought I'd say that after having 2 boys.

RIP, dad, you did right. You'd never be able to live with yourself if you hadn't tried to get in and save them.

What a horrible tragedy! :(

Post: #73

AP
An upstate New York woman reportedly told investigators she accidentally started a fire that killed four of her children by burning pictures of her boyfriend inside her home, WUHF/Fox Rochester reports.

31-year-old Bobbie Kugler allegedly told Rochester authorities she lit pictures of her boyfriend on fire and threw them on top of a dresser full of clothes, which apparently started the deadly blaze on February 18.

Kugler was able to escape with her baby and several others who were inside the home. Her four children, Gage Reavey, Greg Kugler, Kandee Kugler and Kaiden Kugler, perished in the fire.

Kugler was arrested Friday and has pleaded not guilty to fourth-degree arson and four counts of second-degree manslaughter. She's being held in Monroe County Jail on $300,000 bail.

Kugler is due in Rochester City Court on Wednesday.

"They used to argue a lot, constantly. All the time in front of the kids in the house and you can hear it when the doors were closed...after the fire he sat there and told me 'I don't know why she's burning these clothes because I can go out and buy more clothes.'"

Post: #74

Four unattended children died in a mobile home fire and their mother was charged on Sunday for allegedly leaving them alone, authorities said.

The children who died were ages two, five, seven and eight, according to Captain Doug Cain, a spokesman for Louisiana Department of Public Safety.

Their mother, 26-year-old Shaqueta McDade, was arrested and charged with four counts of negligent homicide.

The fire began just before midnight on Saturday in the town of Rayne, about 70 miles west of Baton Rouge in southern Louisiana, according to authorities.

McDade was being held at the Acadia County Jail.




before

Post: #75

(04-23-2012 08:40 PM)Lady Cop Wrote:  

Who hit that?

You can't trust people without eyelashes. I learned that here.

Post: #76

from the original topic of this thread, Matthew Badger speaks about his loss. and more photos of the girls here:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...-fire.html

Post: #77

God, it's like an epidemic. :(
cause unknown at this time, the house did have wired smoke detectors.


NYPost
A horrific early-morning fire killed a Westchester police captain, his wife and teenage daughters yesterday — but the cop’s son, amazingly, was able to escape.

“There’s a fire in the house!” yelled Thomas Sullivan, 48 — a former Bronx cop — after the blaze broke out at around 2 a.m.

Thomas Sullivan Jr., 20, was awakened by the screams and managed to crawl down the stairs and out the garage door as the inferno spread and filled the house with smoke.

Moments later, the two-story yellow colonial collapsed — burying the elder Sullivan, his wife, Donna, 48, a nurse, and high-school students Meaghan, 18, and Mairead, 13.

Four dogs also died in the inferno, including Mairead’s two pets.

“My dogs Pepsie and Metsie,’’ she had posted on Facebook. “I love them so much.’’

Patti Maguire, 51, a neighbor on the quiet street in the Putnam County town of Carmel, said, “Within five minutes, I heard a crackling and then all of a sudden the house just came crashing down.”

The heat was so intense it melted the siding of two nearby homes and prevented firefighters from going inside.

“The whole house was engulfed in orange fire and smoke,” Maguire said. “I could feel the heat from where I was. It was horrible.”

It took three hours for the units from Carmel and three other Putnam towns to put out the stubborn fire, and investigators had to use cadaver-sniffing dogs to find the charred bodies.

The fire does not appear suspicious, officials said, though investigators were checking for accelerants. The house had eight smoke detectors, but it was unclear if they went off.

Thomas Jr. was treated for smoke inhalation at Danbury Hospital and released hours later. He was taken to his grandfather’s house in Dutchess County.

“It’s just a nightmare,” said Sullivan’s cousin, Patrick McHugh.

Sullivan worked as a cop for 26 years, moving to the Larchmont PD in 1992 after working as community-affairs officer in the NYPD’s 47^th Precinct.

“He had a fantastic personality. He could charm the birds out of the trees,” said McHugh, 55. “He had that Irish smile with a twinkle in the eye. He was unbelievable.”

He was remembered in Carmel as a dedicated leader who coached youth baseball and football.

“It’s a sad loss for those who knew him and also the community,” said Richard Fehn, 50, who grew up with Sullivan.

“They’re hard people to replace.”

Meaghan, a senior at Carmel HS, was scheduled to graduate next month and planned to become a nurse like her mom, said best friend Tammi Booker, 17.

“She liked to be around little kids and enjoy life. She was always a happy person,” said Booker, who wept outside the destroyed home as she released a balloon with words “Class of 2012.”









Dead in yesterday’s fire are dad Thomas Sullivan Sr. and (front, l-r) Meaghan, mom Donna and Mairead. Son Thomas Jr. got out.

Post: #78

England...SIX kids die in fire that was set by gasoline poured in mail slot. Jesus!!
story:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...-time.html