The Roxboro Fire Department invited WRAL-TV5'sBret Baier to come along for ademonstration.
The fire set by firefighters was simulated to imitate a fire begun with acigarette smoldering in a sofa. Firefighters say the smoldering stage cango on for hours, but once the furniture starts to flame the beast isunleashed and residents have only a few minutes to act.
Firefighter Johnnie Gentry says people tend to think it's the flames thatkill, but in most cases, it's carbon monoxide.
Within four minutes after the smoke alarm sounded in response to thisfire, the sofa was engulfed and flames were scaling the wall in search ofoxygen. Within a few more seconds, flames shot to the ceiling and fierypieces began to fall back down into the room. A few more seconds pass andthe heat has become so intense it causes windows to explode, letting inmore oxygen which further feeds the frenzy.
At that point, a tidal wave of dense smoke and flames turns the livingroom into a deadly inferno with temperatures surpassing 1,000 degrees.
Firefighter Michael Rogers says going inside an inferno like that can bevery disorienting.
After 15 minutes, the living room is reduced to smoldering wreckage.Anyone who had been in that room would undoubtedly be dead. Gentry saysthe deadly carbon monoxide lulls sleepers even deeper into sleep when nosmoke detector soundsto alert them to the danger.
But even in the rubble, there are lessons. Gentry says you can see markson the walls delineating where burning took place and, farther down thewall, where smoke was suspended. That, he says, indicates that the loweryou get in the room, the better your chances of avoiding the deadly smokeand fire as you attempt to escape. And, if you're below the smoke line,you have some visibility.
The point of the demonstration? To show that people need to have workingsmoke detectors installed in their homes and a plan for getting out incase of a fire. Smoke is the first warning of a fire when there is a smokedetector, and it's the first thing to kill when there is not.
Firefighters recommend that you buy smoke alarms with lithium batteries.That way, you don't have to worry about changing the batteries for 10years.
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