FIRE!! WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!!

[Sylvia727]

It was also set off on more than one occasion by microwave popcorn.

Last year in my dorm hall, at 1:30 AM during finals week, the fire alarm went off and we all trooped outside in our pjs. Our alarms are rigged so they know which room set it off; the girls had been making microwave popcorn. We all got a lecture about the microwaves and went back to bed. Months later, I was talking to one of the girls involved, and it turned out they deliberately set it off because "we were bored of studying" It was all I could not to kill her.

[BookstoreEscapee]

The fire alarm in my dorm used to be set off by the steam from the bathroom at the opposite end of the hall from me. I guess the alarm was set too close to the door. If anyone was in the showers they had to prop the door open a little bit, or else when they opened it all the steam would rush out at once and set off the alarm. (And guys, no picturing college girls stuck outside in their pajamas....)

It was also set off on more than one occasion by microwave popcorn.

[Andara Bledin]

no one left, no one left the machines, there was a ceiling show going on and those poor people had no way down from their mock floats, the thing they were on just stopped and they had to sit there,

That makes me wonder if the alarm had been going off for no reason recently. And I think I remember there being emergency stuff in the floats when I did the ride thing way back when it was still new.

I've been doing gaming conventions three times a year for the last 13.5 years, and at least once a year, if not more often, there would be a fire alarm. Sometimes it would be a full-blown problem (at least one was an instance of a bad circuit in the system and it went off about once every hour for almost a whole day), and other times it was an isolated situation. At no time did we (the conventioneers) ever leave the hotel. There were never any fire vehicles, either.

The only time there ever was an actual fire, there was no alarm, and it burned itself out. Some asshat set a fire in a hubcap in one of the stairwells. There was nothing else it could burn, so it went out on its own, but not before being reported to the hotel because the elevators sucked and a lot of people used the stairs at that point.

^-.-^

[crazylegs]

A fire doubles every 30 seconds.

Which is why sprinkler systems are so vital. IMHO all public buildings should have them fitted by law, irrespective of size.

[retaildrone]

Yeah. I guess the shower would have to be very hot to set of a heat sensor. I'd think there's something a little off there.

I had this problem at my old apt. I would take a nice, hot shower only to have it cut short by the fire alarm.

Yes. I'm with you 100% on that. We had CCTV footage from a cinema that burned down after a cigarette was left to smoulder in a bin. The place was a raging inferno in less than 10 minutes.

A fire doubles every 30 seconds.

[crazylegs]

We're thinking the thing "smelled" it, I guess.

All smoke alarms contain a small amount of radioactive material and it 'detects' smoke by the slight difference in the atmosphere, so something particularly pungent might be sufficient to set it off.

[retaildrone]

It's always been the opposite whenever I hear an alarm go. No one cares. Even if someone comes over and tells people to get their arses out, they still sort of meander towards the exits, browsing along the way.

I saw this once. My hubby, daughter and I just sat down at the food court in the mall when the fire alarm went off. Firemen burst in the door, you could see and smell the smoke (I even commented to hubby before that I thought something was burning but passed it off as someone burned some food) What did people do? Nothing. they continued to mill around, eat, etc... WE grabbed our food and walked out the door.

I am still amazed by all the people who just sat there with the loud alarm, firemen, and smoke.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

CRML, how does a shower set off a fire alarm?

I set off the fire alarm at my old place (a trailer) with a plate of dog food.

That's the God's honest truth. I walked past it with a particularly aromatic dish of dog food, and off it went right in my ear. Scared the bejesus out of me.

We're thinking the thing "smelled" it, I guess.

[crazylegs]

i think vegas needs to rethink their evacuation of casinos.

Easy, cut off the power to the machines when the Fire alarm goes off, if you can link in a Music sytem to a fire alarm I'm pretty sure you can link in certain electric sockets, hell an automated RCD would do the trick nice and easy!

[queenbb]

i was in a fire drill (i hope) in vegas at the rio

it was one of the most disturbing things i have ever seen

no one left, no one left the machines, there was a ceiling show going on and those poor people had no way down from their mock floats, the thing they were on just stopped and they had to sit there,

i looked at my friend i was with and said well i guess if this was really a fire we would all die. i feel bad for those people in the ceiling show.

did i leave, no, it was too interesting to watch to not leave. no one even payed attention to the evacuation notice. if it was a drill it was a complete failure.

i think vegas needs to rethink their evacuation of casinos.

maybe have people dressed up in fire costumes, running around saying if i were a real fire you would probably be dead now, from smoke inhalation, or actually burned,

i can see it now,

weewaaa weewaa weewaa

old fart at a hot machine, thinks, well if im gonna die i might as well die with the jackpot in my hand.

guy in fire suit, hey dude you need to leave now or your gonna die,

old fart, well if i die i will die rich this machine is hot

guy in fire suit, well that wont matter much since if you were to hit that jack pot no one would know and some one else would claim it so your family wont even get to have any of it, and more so it would actually BURN in my scary flames

old fart, eh, i just want to win who cares who gets the money. go a way flame guy you are bothering me.

guy in flame suit walks away dejected and tries to pry the next person off of the one armed bandit.

[Andara Bledin]

I used to live in a mobile home. One fun fact I learned during that time is that a mobile home can burn to the ground in about 8 minutes (!) and since there's so much synthetics in the construction, it's pretty toxic, too.

^-.-^

[Primer]

Fire alarms, what fun.

Just some trivia for you all: a fire doubles in size something around every 30 seconds. Less if there is accelerant (gasoline, etc) or high winds. More if there is some sort of obstruction.

We came way too close to witnessing this yesterday (Sunday). We live out in the booniesI think it was Rahotma that described the way our land is laid out as a "spaghetti farm," but the majority of the land is woods and scrub.We have a pit, about 10'x15'x7' deep that we burn scrap wood, dead branches, etc. in. We've been under a burn ban and/or had high winds and/or had too much rain for quite some time now.

Yesterday broke clear and calm, with no bans in place. Since we were going to be doing other work outside, we decided to burn the pit. Wouldn't you know, once we got it lit, the winds kicked up. The flames were shooting over 20' above ground level. There are 2 cedar trees about 8' from the edge of the pit, that at the first chance, we are taking down! We were damned lucky that the heat of the fire did not set them, and the rest of the woods, off too! Yes, we had the hose out, and were keeping everything as wet as possible. I have a mild "sunburn" today from being so close to the fire for so long wielding the hose. I'm just glad we mowed the area first!

I've never been that close to a fire that big before, and I hope I never will be again. If I hear a fire alarm, you better believe I'm evacuating!

[daleduke17]

Fire alarms, what fun.

Just some trivia for you all: a fire doubles in size something around every 30 seconds. Less if there is accelerant (gasoline, etc) or high winds. More if there is some sort of obstruction.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Actually, that's referenced in the video of "It's Getting Hot in Here" by Nelly.

And that version I am not familiar with, because I am not a fan of (c)rap.

The two versions I'm familiar with are the ones by Coal Chamber and The Bloodhound Gang (at least that's who I think they are)

[gunsage]

Actually, that's referenced in the video of "It's Getting Hot in Here" by Nelly.