Just learned about the Kaprun disaster in which 155 people lost their lives when an underground train caught fire.

There were only 12 survivors all of whom followed the advice of a retired firefighter who advised them to run downhill through the flames in the rear of the train.

The steep incline of the tunnel acted as a blast furnace that sucked in fresh air from the low end and funneled toxic smoke to the high end.

Not sure how applicable this will be to anyone here, but I thought it a great example of how a little more widespread knowledge of how fire works could have saved a lot of lives.

Tl;dr fire bad but smoke worse. Get to fresh air.

  • some_designer_dude
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    13
    ·
    15 hours ago

    So it’s really about getting under the fire, even if that means going through it first.

    • notabot@piefed.social
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      7
      ·
      14 hours ago

      Specifically, you want to be up wind of the fire, and it the fire is creating that wind in an inclined tunnel that might involve heading down, through the fire. Funicular railways and stairwells could both be places that’s necessary.

    • ReptilianCleric@lemmy.zip
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      7
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      15 hours ago

      No. Structures on fire tend to collapse, and then you have fire falling onto you. That sounds like a bad idea.

      • bbbbbbbbbbb
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        7
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        14 hours ago

        It may either be that or waiting at the top of a burning structure thats going to collapse?