FIRE!

[Donovan]

There is no item in the world that cannot be replaced.

True. It still doesn't hurt(unless your sticking your hands in the flames) to try and save what you can.

Edit: Actually there is an item that can't be replaced. Photos of friends and relatives who are now deceased.

Why don't you watch this training video developed by the fire safety board and tell me there's something worth going back for. The average time for a smoldering fire to catch until full room immolation is anywhere from thirty seconds to a couple minutes. With the construction of most houses toxic black smoke fills the room within about a half minute rendering the eyes useless. Within that same time frame of approximately two minutes, the average room temperature rises to 1,000 degrees. Which is hot enough to sear the lungs and cause painful, nearly instant death with a single breath. That heat and smoke is generally what kills fire victims, before the flames ever consume the structure.

Tell me again what's worth going back in for.

Well yeah in that case its not worth it. The scenario I was imagining was that the fire hadn't reached you yet and you had time to grab stuff and escape safely.

Most people do, my brother included, he nearly got his dumb ass killed running back inside to put out a basement fire his dog started by kicking a pile of dirty laundry into a pilot light. Hollywood makes us think running through a burning building is feasible and wise, and our testosterone backs that notion up that we'd totally be carrying armful of pets and valuables out...but the truth is, fire wins every time. It's a nasty bitch and will flat kill you. So the answer to the OP question as to what you save in a fire? Yo ass. Everything else is unimportant.

[HairOfTheDog]

In the OP scenario, the family and pets are safe and you're grabbing shit on the way out the door.

Going back into a burning house, or running around the house trying to gather up items, would be majorly foolish and dangerous.

Anyway, if I had to grab five things on the path to the door, I'd no longer choose the laptop since all my business and important personal files are now server-based. I'd grab the niece's inhaler instead.

[Donovan]

Still can't think of anything I can't walk away from. I've had occasion to basically lose everything I owned down to nothing more times than I care to think of in my life, through circumstances other than fire. And as much as I occasionally still remember something or other I used to have and miss it a little, I don't really NEED anything I've lost over the years.

[ZEROSPHERES]

George Michael and Elton John expressed what a liberating feeling it is to lose everything..."But losing everything is like your son going down on me"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggP08uNJUG4

[Duchess]

Still can't think of anything I can't walk away from.

With age comes wisdom.

There are things I'd hate to lose, things that can't be replaced but I doubt I'd be giving any of it a second thought if I were to awake and discover my home in flames.