A sombre reminder to be prepared

A horrible way to start the New Year but a grim reminder that it pays to be prepared. A fire broke out in a crowded disco in Bangkok on New Year's Eve. 60 people including one of my countrymen were killed and many more injured.

A quote from the article that appeared in my local papers, "At first, I thought it was a special effect, which looked like (the) real thing. Then, someone shouted 'fire, fire' and panic broke out and people ran for their life,' said one eyewitness. As revellers scrambled for the exits in the dark, the electricity went out."

The article in full is here

Who knows if more lives could have been saved if the staff had been equipped with flashlights and more emergency lights.

Condolences to the families of those lost in the fire and a grim reminder to be prepared.

What a horrible tragedy. My prayers go out to all of the family members of the victims. Indeed, perhaps a "flashoholic" on the scene could have helped more people get out alive.

and a fellow singaporean was died....i saw this on the news too...

it was a wake up call to think " that could have been me " , good thing i was prepared on new years eve anyway...

shouldnt bouncers all be equipped with lights anyway? i know i saw alot of flashlights around here

Crenshaw

Although in the linked article, the back exit was not known to the patrons, it is very common for people to go back to the front entrance where they entered, rather than go to the nearest exit.

There wasn't any emergency lighting in the building?
Overhere it's in de law that public buildings have emergency lighting.
Does anyone know?

These stories always freak me out!


And..reminds me of something I told my girlfriend last week..


We were driving and i said "If someone dropped a nuke Government Center (Boston), where would you run to? (clearly baiting)

Her Answer: "Far away..I'd drive as far away as I could!"


My Answer: "You see all this rush hour traffice?? it's nothing compared to what we'd see if EVERYONE was fleeing the city"..


Then there was scilence.. and the " We're all screwed" moment LOL



Very scary!!!

asfaltpiloot said:

There wasn't any emergency lighting in the building?
Overhere it's in de law that public buildings have emergency lighting.
Does anyone know?

Click to expand...

Glad someone posted it before I finished reading the thread, as I was piecing together my post on the *rigorous* chewing out we got by my local fire dept. when they realized one of our E-Exit lights was faulty (I'm on safety team at my place of employment)

The problems were:

The building was operating as a nightclub illegally
The people inside were playing with sparklers to celebrate the new year
There was no sprinkler system
There was only one exit

Thats all ive heard on the news so far. and the death toll it rising

Crenshaw

I'm thinking that the only defense for something like that is to not be there. Legality and licensing has a reason for existing, and even then you might want to do your own safety inspection of places you enter (exits? emergency lights?...).

Illegal venues all have this risk, EDCs or not.

nerdgineer said:

I'm thinking that the only defense for something like that is to not be there. Legality and licensing has a reason for existing, and even then you might want to do your own safety inspection of places you enter (exits? emergency lights?...).

Illegal venues all have this risk, EDCs or not.

Click to expand...

"its new years eve, jeez just relax! what could possibly go wrong, i never do this anyway, what are the odds of something happening on just the day i decide to do it?"

all respect to the people involved, thats what probably ran thru some of thier minds...

ALSO: you'd never know if a place youre going to was illegal, imagine, a day after and the police JUST found out....thats what thier saying on the news...

although of course i agree with you, best to avoid a hornet's nest if you can see it..

Crenshaw

I hate to be morbid, but this isn't a new situation - there was a club fire in Rhode Island that made the news some six years ago in the States.

A mass of panicked people become a stampeding mob - there isn't a lot you can do about that. Emergency lighting, clearly marked doors and people will still swarm towards the closest exit.

-Trevor

TMedina said:

I hate to be morbid, but this isn't a new situation - there was a club fire in Rhode Island that made the news some six years ago in the States.

A mass of panicked people become a stampeding mob - there isn't a lot you can do about that. Emergency lighting, clearly marked doors and people will still swarm towards the closest exit.

-Trevor

Click to expand...

Twelve years ago I lost a friend at the Ozone Disco Club fire. As has been mentioned, this is not the first time that a nightclub fire has claimed lives and it probably will not be the last time either.

Another difficulty with nightclub fires is that it may not be immediately obvious that a real fire has broken out. Patrons might see the sparks and smoke starting but could quite easily assume that the pyrotechnics are part of the show. By the time they realize that it is not fun and games but is a real emergency, it is already too late to get out.

For all the victims, may their souls rest in peace. For the families and friends they left behind, may they find strength in each other. :candle:

people need to remember that if theres a fire, they gotta keep as low as possible....

i think in a way every situation like that needs a flashaholic, or someone who posts on EDC forums...why?

simply because we're likley to be more mentally (borderline paranoid?) prepared...and would would likley have stuff WITH us that could help

i guess these kind of incidents get rarer as a country progresses

Crenshaw

We are not to far from that area. Yes it was very bad. They used pyrotechnics in a building that was a fire trap. At first most people thought that it was part of the show, until the band started running. People were just staring at the fire for several seconds until they realized they needed to move. They found the 100 or so dead, stacked like chord wood near the entrance. A very bad and perfectly preventable tragedy.

Always try to make sure you know where the exits are. If you see fire, get the hell out fast. Every second you wait, your chances of survival drop dramatically.

TMedina said:

I hate to be morbid, but this isn't a new situation - there was a club fire in Rhode Island that made the news some six years ago in the States.

A mass of panicked people become a stampeding mob - there isn't a lot you can do about that. Emergency lighting, clearly marked doors and people will still swarm towards the closest exit.

-Trevor

Click to expand...

Crenshaw said:

shouldn't bouncers all be equipped with lights anyway? i know i saw a lot of flashlights around here

Click to expand...

A flashlight would be an essential 'tool' for the Crowd Controller, checking IDs and so on... but if they were running an illegal nightclub operation in a building with sub-standard fire & safety fitments I wouldn't be surprised if they were also using unqualified/untrained CCs and/or unsafe CC-to-patron ratios

My condolences to all those families effected