So I am back at school for my senior year, and my roommate and I decided to go to this demonstration for fire safety (mostly because we got to watch a room burn... and the ice cream. There was ice cream involved too.). Though I couldn't record the whole demonstration because of lack of memory on my phone, I got the most exciting and most important part on video. We got to watch the fire happen in real time (obviously), from the moment the fire marshal lit it with a flare. Within only TEN minutes, the room was completely engulfed in flames. The fire and police departments stress how important it is to leave the building the moment the fire alarm blares. In the ten minutes it takes for the fire department to confirm the fire and send help, the flames are already devouring everything. More than 12 students die in fires in a year across the nation. Most of them die from the smoke before the flames even get big like this. Several others are critically injured from the flames and sent to the emergency room. It may be only twelve out of several thousand students, and it may not seem like much, but most of these deaths can be prevented. Demonstration courtesy of the Shepherdstown Fire and Police Departments.

• published: 25 Aug 2014
• views: 6