This is actually a pretty good idea. Most people from each floor wouldve survived if there was an external stair on each floor as the fire had spread on the staircase inside preventing them from escaping.

As usual though with everything, there are pros and cons to consider

Reply 24

Good bloke

19

Original post by karl pilkington

Or this could be used

Take a look at this picture of the Grenfell Tower fire and tell me where your staircase would be safe for a barefoot, summer-clad sleepy resident.:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06/28/baby-among-dead-grenfell-fire-death-toll-reaches-80-police-say/

Reply 25

Meany Pie

5

Original post by karl pilkington

Well then why do they have them in so many apartments in New York then?

Probably due to poor fire containment as they all seem to have been retrofitted.

Reply 26

Good bloke

19

Original post by Fermion.

This is actually a pretty good idea.

Like the internal staircase, such a stair would end up being used as storage by the residents (old mattresses blocked the internal stairs) and such stuff would be a danger to passers-by as well as a means of spreading the fire.

Reply 27

difeo

18

Original post by Good bloke

Take a look at this picture of the Grenfell Tower fire and tell me where your staircase would be safe for a barefoot, summer-clad sleepy resident.:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06/28/baby-among-dead-grenfell-fire-death-toll-reaches-80-police-say/

It doesn't take long to put shoes on, and I imagine the adrenaline of nearly dying wakes you up pretty quickly

Reply 28

username1842595

6

Original post by Good bloke

Like the internal staircase, such a stair would end up being used as storage by the residents (old mattresses blocked the internal stairs) and such stuff would be a danger to passers-by as well as a means of spreading the fire.

I know, I did say there are pros and cons to consider with each idea and even though there are more cons its still a good proposed idea.

Reply 29

Meany Pie

5

Original post by Good bloke

Like the internal staircase, such a stair would end up being used as storage by the residents (old mattresses blocked the internal stairs) and such stuff would be a danger to passers-by as well as a means of spreading the fire.

Which should be picked up on the regular inspections.

Reply 30

Good bloke

19

Original post by karl pilkington

Well then why do they have them in so many apartments in New York then?

Because they were built without any fire safety structures and had to retrofit them as the only means of meeting new regulations. New buildings don't use them.

https://www.quora.com/When-do-buildings-need-outdoor-fire-escapes-in-the-US

Reply 31

Good bloke

19

Original post by difeo

It doesn't take long to put shoes on, and I imagine the adrenaline of nearly dying wakes you up pretty quickly

The fumes kill you while you are asleep actually, which is why the emphasis is on containment.

Reply 32

Good bloke

19

Original post by Meany Pie

Which should be picked up on the regular inspections.

That worked well, didn't it?

Reply 33

difeo

18

Original post by Good bloke

The fumes kill you while you are asleep actually, which is why the emphasis is on containment.

The vast majority of people were woken up and got out

Reply 34

Good bloke

19

Original post by difeo

The vast majority of people were woken up and got out

Hmm. I think we are concerned with those that didn't, aren't we?

Reply 35

difeo

18

Original post by Good bloke

Hmm. I think we are concerned with those that didn't, aren't we?

Point is that there was plenty of people who woke up but couldn't get out. All those flashing their lights, throwing babies and jumping

Reply 36

karl pilkington

OP

20

Original post by Good bloke

Because they were built without any fire safety structures and had to retrofit them as the only means of meeting new regulations. New buildings don't use them.

https://www.quora.com/When-do-buildings-need-outdoor-fire-escapes-in-the-US

Yes but even with an egress staircase the smoke would have stopped people using it. The building was not properly designed to have an internal fire escape there was only one staircase. Therefore they should have retrofitted another one like ones in NYC,

Reply 37

Meany Pie

5

Original post by Good bloke

That worked well, didn't it?

I think it was a case of mismanagement.

Reply 38

23 and Grey

1

Original post by 999tigger

Except how many floors is that and how tall is Grenfell tower?
Maybe if they hadnt had the defective cladding then they wouldnt have had the problem in the first place.
On the night in question the outside is where the fire spread fastest.

It should have had fireproof cladding, working sprinklers, outside fire-escape stairs and a central fire-alarm system.

The cladding was one failing among many.

Had there been adequate cladding and an outdoor fire escape, then people above whose escape was blocked by the fire in the (only) stairwell would have been able to get out without getting burned by the flames outside. In the same way this country's pathetic memeing about environmentalism lead to buildings getting covered in petroleum based cladding to save energy, I can imagine the cladding issue will be resolved but some other disaster will have to happen before people realise that having one stairwell only should also be illegal.

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 39

Good bloke

19

Original post by karl pilkington

Yes but even with an egress staircase the smoke would have stopped people using it. The building was not properly designed to have an internal fire escape there was only one staircase. Therefore they should have retrofitted another one like ones in NYC,

Your argument appears to be They made the building combustible so should have provided external fire stairs.

The better answer is Do not make the building combustible.

Grenfell tower escape

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