Today my office building caught fire

[PEU]

It was around 4PM when I started to see fumes at my window, not even a couple of minutes later the fumes where very dense and they intrigued me, so I went to a one of the windows and looked up, I saw a fire flame bursting from the top floor.
Closed thar window and the curtains on all three windows and called 911, I was on hold for a minute (silly isnt it?) and I started to hear sirens, so there was no point in waiting more for then so I hung up.
Shutted down the PCs and then the office main electrical switch, closed the door and off to the streets I went.
The minute I took my car off the parking after me came the firesquad, the street was already blocked by the police, but of course they let me go out.

Here is a photos link from a local newspaper
And the information (in spanish)

My office if you count from the fire (8th floor) going down is the third set of windows (5th floor)

From what I know at this moment, no one was injured.


Pablo

 

[Bullzeyebill]

Re: Today my office building catched fire

PEU, any more info? It is good you noticed the smoke when you did. Also good that the fire was not below your office.

Bill

 

[jayflash]

Re: Today my office building catched fire

Wow! Hope no serious damage occurred. As a former FF I know that water damage can ruin what the fire didn't. Good luck to you PEU.

 

[THE_dAY]

Re: Today my office building catched fire

glad your safe, how's the building?

on the bright side, maybe you'll get some time off and have more time to surf cpf..

btw, was there a fire extinguisher in your office or any where close?

 

[chmsam]

Re: Today my office building catched fire

Glad you are alright.

However, I have just got to say it for those who don't get it or want to play hero -- if you smell smoke or the fire alarm goes off, just drop everything and get out. Do not panic. Do not go back for anything. Do not stop to take care of things or to grab stuff. Plain and simple, get out as fast as you can. In ideal situations in a house fire (and office fires can be as bad or worse) you might have as much as three minutes to get out but NEVER count on that much time and NEVER go back inside a burning building.

For those with some training, the philosophy is R.A.C.E.:

- Rescue those who are disabled (get them outside or in a room with a fire door that can be closed)
- Alert the fire department (call 911 - from outside the building if need be)
- Contain the fire (close doors and windows if you can do so safely but your first duty is to get yourself out)
- Evacuate (get yourself out and if you can do so safely get everyone that you can outside)

My personal thought is that if you have not already been trained on the use of an extinguisher, do not try to use one. Some are made only for certain types of fires and all that I have used have not been as intuitive to use as most people think (an extinguisher in untrained hands can easily spread a fire). During a fire is a bad time to do on the job training. Far better to just get out. Better yet, leaqrn how to use a fire extinguisher before you need to use one -- check with your local fire department or the security in your building to see about lessons.

If you are trapped, close the doors and windows, block any cracks around the door as best you can, and make someone aware of your location. Use the phone, cell phone, or make some sort of sign or signal at the window. Get down and stay down since heat and smoke rise. You cannot tolerate the heat and smoke of a fire that is more than a minute or so old.

The fire department does not need to add you to the list of people to search for or to count as a victim. Remember that the heat and smoke are deadly in a matter of seconds and the vast majority of people are utterly and totally clueless as to how deadly a fire can be and how fast it spreads, even a fire with little or no visible flames. Fire and smoke will not respect your good intentions.

I hate to discourage people from trying to do good deeds most of the time, but this really is a job best left to the professionals. Instead use your good impulses to check the smoke alarms and replace then about every 10 years (they do wear out) and to learn how to protect yourself from fire hazards in the first place.

 

[jtice]

Re: Today my office building catched fire

oo: Sorry to hear that Pablo !
Glad to hear no one was hurt, hope your office didnt get any fire or water damage.

I know you like BBQs, but Damn :green:

~John

 

[PhotonWrangler]

Re: Today my office building catched fire

YOW!!! Pablo, I'm glad you're ok. That was quick thinking on your part to shut off the electricity on the way out.

Phew! I hope that everyone else got out ok also. :sweat:

 

[PEU]

Re: Today my office building catched fire

I will return to my office tomorrow as usual, my guess is I will be without internet conection because the cable runs near where the fire was burning, being 3 floors below the fire hopefully I wont get too much water damage, but only time will tell for sure.

By intuition, I followed almost to the letter what chmsam said, Im glad I still have some common sense left

I will update you guys tomorrow, thanks for the comments.


Pablo

 

[LuxLuthor]

Holy Smoke! That looks horrible. Hope things work out ok for you!

ps) Friendly correction since I know English is not your native language, so please don't take this in a bad way....but in your subject it should be "caught" instead of "catched" fire. I say it humbly, since I only know English and "entiendo espanol un poquito." Again, I hope everything turns out well after this fire.

 

[PEU]

Reporting from my office

Absolutely no harm done to my office and to most of the building, no people were injured. The only victims were 3 angora kittens (out of 4, one escaped)

No problems with water damage and I have water/telephone/elevator/light/internet/gas services OK.

Thanks for the comments, this event only made my anecdotary richer


Pablo

 

[LuxLuthor]

Great news given the circumstances, Pablo. :thumbsup:

 

[PhotonWrangler]

Gppd news, Pablo. Thank you for the update. I'm sorry to hear about the kittens though.

 

[roadie]

oh my ..... great to know that u are fine

 

[Fallingwater]

The only victims were 3 angora kittens (out of 4, one escaped)

It probably means there's something wrong with me when I'm sadder for dead kittens than for dead people...

 

[PEU]

Took some pictures of the top floor today while the cablemodem guys replaced the burnt cable:

Pablo

 

[Changchung]

Menos mal que nadie sufrio heridas, será que el incendio comenzo desde esa cocina? No he leido las noticias aún... Yo tengo en mi casa siempre a la mano un extintor...

 

[PhotonWrangler]

Wow, amazing pictures, Pabnlo. So there used to be an office on that floor?

 

[Danbo]

You didn't see a guy running around looking for a red stapler, did you?

Ok, seriously. Glad you're ok.

 

[PhotonWrangler]

You didn't see a guy running around looking for a red stapler, did you?

It looks like all the TPS reports burned up also. :huh:

 

[Monocrom]

Definitely glad to hear you're okay.

As a flashaholic, I must ask.... Which lights did you have with you. Just in case you needed them to light your way through the smoke.