Did you know that a housefire can start in as little as 30 seconds? In fact there are more casualties by house fires in the United States than all natural disasters combined. The other extremely difficult thing to wrap your head around is how quickly a fire will spread in your house in 2020 versus 1920. You would think that materials are being created with fire safety in mind. However, 40 years ago you had about 15 minutes to escape your home. In 2020 you have about three minutes.
It only takes a few seconds to a few minutes to go from bad to worse in a house fire so let’s walk through the timeframe of a housefire.
The Start of The Fire
Being a good cook is no easy feat. You have to be a master at multitasking. You take the pan off of the stove heat and place it on a cooling rack. However, you forgot that you needed to dice the onions so you jump to that behind you. 30 seconds later you experience a strong smell. You turn around and the fire is roaring.
You accidentally placed a towel on the hot stove and it eventually caught fire. The heat was off but you didn’t realize how hot the stove still was.
Smoke starts to take over but the fire is spreading quickly. The fire catches the oil and other flammable items near your stove.
Less than ONE minute
The fire is getting bigger and bigger. The flames are starting catch the cabinets above your stove and the smoke is becoming overwhelming.
At this stage the smoke is even poisonous. In Fact most people who die in house fires die due to smoke inhalation.
It only takes a few breaths of this poisonous smoke and you’ll be passed out.
Less than TWO minutes
The flames are still starting to become more and more intense. The air is starting to become VERY hot and the smoke is starting to become very thick.
Carbon monoxide and cyanide are starting to heavily increase. You need to be out of the house for sure at this point. Your survival time is less than a minute at this point.
Less than Three minutes
At this point the fire is completely starting to consume the kitchen cabinets, table, the pantry, food, and anything else in the kitchen. In fact just the temperature in the room is getting hot enough to kill people.
The gas is rising to around 500 degrees and the fire now has the ability to spread by direct flame or automatically igniting due to the intense heat.
Less than Four minutes
Flashover starts to take place. When the heat in a room reaches about 1100 degress then there is what’s called “flashover”. Flashover occurs when the internal temperature of a room gets so hot that everything just automatically ignites.
At this point flames are spreading to other parts of the house, other rooms etc. The walls and ceilings of the kitchen are not caught on fire.
Less than FIVE minutes
At this point the flames are so intense that they are most likely visible on the street and to the neighbors. Fire fighters are most likely on their way.
Hope fully you made a safe escape. The fire fighters will use thousands of gallons to water to make sure the fire is put out. The fire fighters will vent out the smoke and make sure the gasses are released. The fire fighters may also use specials chemicals to make sure the fires are out!