One way to mitigate risk is to set up a fire watch and have extinguishers on hand for all hot work (not just nearby somewhere). Also, keeping things clean and not having piles of easily combustible material is a good thing. Also, also site could be non-smoking, which does happen, believe it or not.
Plumbers use torches, electricians make sparks, etc.
Construction is a fairly dangerous occupation. Many more carpenters die on the job every year than police officers.
A few month ago when this hurricane happened I said something similar: Iām not surprised at all. I donāt get it why you people over there build most of your houses out of wood, plaster and dry wall. When something bad happens like a flooding or a fire (hurricanes/tornados seem to happen a lot in certain parts of the US) this is bound to end in tears. Where I live most houses and buildings are constructed with brick and concrete and I doubt such collapse would happen so quick here.
God (and by association the Fire Department) helps those who help themselves: that was an impressive move to get to the next level down. Alsoā¦kudos to the sturdy construction of those new windowsā¦if they had failed any earlier the outcome might have looked very different.
Brick and concrete has their own weaknessesā¦ earthquakes are an easy one but itās far from the only.
The basic rule is that nature will always have something in its pocket to trump whatever we humans come up with and itās not an āus smart folkā versus āthem dumb folkā problem. This is why thereās building codes, so that when something does go wrong, it maximizes the chance that the inhabitants can escape.
In this specific case the building wasnāt completed and probably didnāt have all of its fire protection features installed or functioning.
Concrete might be more prone to earthquakes than a wooden structure perhaps, but if designed properly can withstand several and very large earthquakes. Of course it is costly but then nothing comes for free.
On another thought, since he was able to go down one floor, I bet he could go down several more the same way.
Anyone else surprised at how un-responsive the ladder operator was? The fireman at the top was making frantic arm motions that werenāt making much of a difference to whoever was down below.
I heard a lot of horn honking - I wonder if the truck was blocked, and the ladder extended as far as it could go?
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While I agree with what you say, this fire impacted the structure more quickly since the building was unoccupied. The only fuel the fire had was the structure itself.
Unoccupied, and more importantly unfinished. It likely did not have all of its fire safety construction completed yet.
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Thatās why we little piggies only live in nice safe houses of straw.
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Yeah, I wasā¦ but perhaps thereās some kind of mechanism that prevents a truck from moving with the ladder extended and it had to be overridden. It was certainly suspenseful.
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āā¦so, honey: how are you? anything interesting happen today at work?ā
O_O
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When someone says ādammit,ā do you think they are literally calling upon God to condemn an obstacle to an eternity of torment?
See at how flat the angle of the ladder is? They put down struts before extending the ladder - otherwise it would just tip over, especially with the second guy getting on it - once itās extended like that, there is no moving the truck.
edit: see the first fireman waving frantically at the second one? He doesnāt want the truck to back up, he wants the second guy to get down so the ladder doesnāt tip as it is extended further from the vertical. The horn might actually be a load/balance warning. Thatās why the ladder movement is interrupted - the control unit recognizes it is near the tipping point and refuses to extend further. As the second fireman climbs down, the load decreases and the ladder can be extended further.
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I have to turn off sound on most youtube videos of live action. People donāt know when to shut up.
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That makes sense why they canāt back up the whole truck. I guess I was expecting them to swing the ladder away from the building. They eventually did it, but it seemed like they should have been prepared to retract or swing the latter the second the person climbed on.
Exactly - I donāt know how many stories up the dude was, but Iād have tried to pull the balcony-move a few more times and just hit the ground running instead of waiting for the ladder!
He could have easily fallen to this death the first time. I know I would have, if I had attempted that.
The fire was already licking at the glass door next to him. He didnāt have much time until it failed and maybe fell on him. I agree that it was a scary jump, he landed right on the edge.
