On 4/6/2015 3:58 PM, Tekkie® wrote:
Ralph Mowery posted for all of us...



"Gil" wrote in message
...

And someday maybe we'll make buildings out of materials that don't burn.


They already do in many cases. The problem is the contents that burn.


That is one thing that puzzles me. The way some of the buildings burn.
They seem to be made of concrete and steel. I guess that the inside walls
are made of materials that do burn ? It does look like they should be
designed so a fire would not spread from one floor or area to another.
Living in a small town, I just can not think how it would be to live in some
of the buildings that hold almost as many people as a small town would have.
Staying in a hotel for a week or so is one thing, but not living there all
the time.

Paint, plastic, carpets, paper all go. Masonry block walls become unstable
when exposed to fire and ff's must set up a collapse zone. Wooden trusses at
the joint plates fail catastrophically. Sometimes you will see a triangle by
the main door with a R or F in it showing trusses.


Yup, that's the sad fact that most people don't realize. Despite
building construction standards most materials will deteriorate when
exposed to intense heat for a prolonged period of time. Having been a
full time firefighter for 28 years (now retired for some years) I'm a
strong believer in automatic sprinkler systems in all buildings
including single family residences. The NFPA standards are there and
have been for years. What needs to be done now is to convince people
that it's in their best interest to have sprinklers which would prevent
a hell of a lot of residential and other fire related deaths each year.

Gil