It may sound irrational, because fires in high-rise blocks are very rare, but the fact is that you're totally reliant on adequate fire-control measures that may or may not have been installed and may not be working when the need arises. You're also reliant on firefighters who may have no detailed, well-rehearsed plan for dealing with a high-rise fire (as was the case at Grenfell Tower).
At Grenfell the fire alarms weren't working properly, there were no sprinklers in the building, there weren't enough firebreaks to contain the fire, there was only one staircase, and of course there was highly inflammable cladding on the outside. Many high-rise blocks still have inflammable cladding that hasn't yet been replaced.
We've never had a flat above the first floor (second floor if you're American). I'd happily live on the second or third floor, which would be fairly easy to escape from, but any higher and I'd feel distinctly unsafe.
I'm not worried though about high-level hotel rooms. A huge fire in a hotel would ruin their reputation so I assume they have very strict fire-control measures, closely monitored by the authorities. In which case I'm happy to be on, say, the fifteenth floor a long way from street level. Also, I'm only in a hotel for a few days and it isn't my permanent residence.
If you live in a high-rise flat, you may have fantastic views, you may have exceptional privacy, you may be well insulated from the hurly burly of the city, but that wouldn't be enough if it might also be a death trap.
The percentage of fires in our high rise buildings is so low as to not worth the trouble of imagining living in one and suffering one. In any case, I live in a ground floor flat with a garden attached to it with an exit via the garden and have installed my own fire fighting equipment to take care of any eventuality. I have no intentions of moving to a high rise ever.
ReplyDeleteRamana: Well, you should be able to escape easily enough if there's a fire. And very sensible to have some fire fighting equipment on hand. Have to admit we've never taken that extra precaution.
DeleteOur first apartment together was a high rise. I think we lived on the 6th floor. Fire wasn't something I concerned myself with back then. However, I will admit it crosses my mind at hotels (especially in Vegas) and I do make certain I know where the stairs and exits are located.
ReplyDeleteBijoux: Very wise to memorise things like where the stairs and exits are. When we're in hotels, there are usually full fire instructions on the door of the room, with stairs and exits clearly marked.
DeleteI have lived in apartments since Bob died. (with the exception of the 10 years I had my own little home.)
ReplyDeleteI like being in an apartment. but they have always been on the second floor. I feel safer. nobody can just climb in through the window without a very tall ladder! and it helps with any bug situation too I expect! I love sleeping with the windows open. and I can do that.
did you ever see that OLD film 'The Towering Inferno'
it had many classic film stars in it... Paul Newman and even Fred Astaire (non dancing!) as I recall. that movie alone decided me on never being in those high rises. the fire commissioner made the statement... "you KNOW our ladders can't go higher than X feet (can't remember) and yet you keep building these things higher and higher!"
that really sunk in for me. I've always thought of it. but then seemingly ALL of California is burning right now! tragic and incredible to say the least.
I had to quit watching the news of late.
Tammy: Yes, I saw The Towering Inferno many years ago, so I can't remember much of it. The point about the ladders is a good one. The local firefighters only had very short ladders, and they had to get a longer one from Surrey, which took 30 minutes to arrive.
DeleteUnfortunately as the population keeps rising people have to live somewhere. California shows that moving out of high rises in cities doesn't solve the fire problem.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, we live in a second-story apartment with good exits, a fire extinguisher, and smoke alarms in most rooms, so we're not concerned about fires here. We are concerned about trying to get a 100-foot defensible space around our structures up on the land. All of our trees except one burned down in 2011 so we felt safe for a few years, but now the dead trees have fallen and fallen so there's a big fuel load on the ground.
Never a dull moment.
Jean: Sounds like you're well prepared for any fire breaking out. But yes, there's also the threat of wildfires where you are. I remember your posts about the huge destruction in 2011.
DeleteTowering Inferno was one of the scariest films ever!
ReplyDeleteLiz: Unfortunately it didn't stop the carnage at Grenfell Tower, which was due to the criminal incompetence of the builders and local planning officials.
DeleteI think the element missing in your post was that these tenants were marginalized/impoverished/emigrant people and had very little choice as to where they lived and how moral and ethical their landlords were in regard to safety measures.
ReplyDeletePrivileged people have choice. Unprivileged don't.
XO
WWW
www: Very true. People looking for council accommodation are often given little choice about where they live, and have to accept dangerous or unhealthy flats that you or I would never live in.
DeleteI lived in an apartment on the 7th floor my first year of grad school here. I never thought about fires, but didn't like sharing walls with other people.
ReplyDeleteAgent: Me neither. Most of my life I've lived in flats or semi-detached houses. It was only in 2009 that we moved into a detached house, and we do love keeping all the neighbours at a distance!
DeleteWe live on the 4th floor of our building. It's also the top floor. We know our fire alarms work because they test them regularly and they are VERY loud. We don't know if our sprinklers work because we'd prefer they NOT test them. :) There are multiple stairways with one being right next door to us but the rule here is to shelter in place. We are to stay in our apartment with the door closed unless there is actual smoke in our apartment. We know that works because there was a fire in the apartment two floors directly below us and we had no smoke. The local fire trucks have ladders that extend to the 4th floor. If there is smoke in our apartment and the front door is hot, we are to go out on our balcony and hang a sheet or something from the railing so firefighters know we are here. Our local firefighters win awards so we are confident in them doing what needs doing.
ReplyDeleteLinda: Looks like fire precautions are taken very seriously where you are. Hanging something from the balcony railing to get help is a good idea.
DeleteMy worry is a tornado, and I hope I don't encounter one.
ReplyDeleteJoanne: I'm glad we're not prone to tornadoes where we are. They're incredibly destructive. I also hope you don't encounter one.
DeleteNothing on earth would persuade me to live in a high rise as nomatter how gallant and well trained the firemen might be I am far from coinfident about the architecture and materials used in buildings...and that was well before Grenfell.
ReplyDeleteThe Fire Brigades Union was among my clients and listening to what their members had to say made me very aware of the hazards, both to them and to occupants.
Fly: The Fire Brigades Union must have had some revealing things to say about high rise blocks - and fire control in general. They must come across shockingly lax practices all the time.
DeleteI like to have my feet firmly on the ground. In our last house we had two stories and our bedroom was on the top floor. I worried in the middle of the night about how we'd get out if there was a fire. Now we live in a one story house and I am so glad we do.
ReplyDeleteColette: We've always made sure the first floor of our houses had large and openable windows in case of a fire on the ground floor. And we never ever lock them.
DeleteI think you're either the kind of person who likes to have a view or the kind of person who sticks close to the ground. I think I might be the first type. But having said that one of the things I disliked about New York and Tokyo was the feeling of being too high.
ReplyDeleteJenny: I do like high-up hotel rooms with a great view. If you're on a lower floor, quite often you're looking onto a brick wall or into an office block.
Delete