Fire!!!

[Flatlander]

I work in a mall. 20 minutes ago, the fire alarm went off. As you can imagine, information flow through the mall is fairly inefficient, and so the result was people - shoppers and shop staff - standing around looking at the fire alarms saying things like "Oh, what's that about?", and "Is there a fire?", and "What's that noise?". Ridiculous. Brings to mind what I had read in the 9/11 report, and how people hadn't evacuated immediately, and the contribution that made to the death tolls there.

I began locking up immediately (could have been false, and I'm not abandonning the store for looters...) as I percieved no immediate threat. My intent was to finish locking up and get out. Shoppers were just standing around watching me.

Cattle. That's what comes to mind.

 

[Lisa]

That whole scenario is just plain scarry. I have to admit I have done stuff like that myself. It as if we wait for a tangible sign of danger. Wait to smell the smoke, see the fire, feel the heat. Unfortunately we all usually just think it is some kid playing a prank and setting off the alarms.

Cattle is a very good analogy and stampede as is for when the panic hits.

 

[kenpo tiger]

Not that it would help, because it didn't on 9/11, but were there any announcements made on the pa system to evacuate the mall? (Didn't help on 9/11 because the information wasn't correct - but that's another topic entirely) What happened when the fire trucks showed up - or did they?

The building I work in is 100 years old, and there is a fire alarm system in place. However, some of the wiring being what it is, there are a number of false alarms. The fire department responds to them all unless called by security. In the meantime, there is no pa system - security has to physically go up to the second and third floors to be sure everyone leaves. And yes, there are times I sit at my desk and wonder if it's really necessary to interrupt what I'm doing. Worse yet - there are visitors who try using the elevator (which is also 100 years old).

There are plenty of stories in the news about all sorts of fire-related disasters, and after 9/11 people SHOULD know better - but I think it's a case of "it's not going to happen to me". So, I guess the question here is -- how can the public be better educated?

 

[Bob Hubbard]

I used to work for Waldenbooks. 1 day the mall fire alarm went off. The procedure at that time was to chase the customers out, lock the gate then exit through the back door as a group.

Most of the customers were understanding, but a few were quite, well....stupid.

"I just want to buy this then I'll go"
"But I'm next in line"
"I'm just looking"

Were 3 of the responses I got when I said "Thats the mall fire alarm going off. We have to ask everyone to please leave the store now so we can evacuate the building."

My one ex said she encountered something similar at another mall. One customer refused to leave until she was cashed out. Mind you, they are pulling the security barriers down to lock the shop. Other shoppers kept trying to enter, and a few got rather snippy.

It's like "Hello Morons. The - Building - Is - On - Fire."

The genepool needs some chlorine, methinks.

 

[Baytor]

I like to use the word "sheeple". I heard it once from some anti-government guy describing the general public and their inability to think for themselves. I also liked to use it on my friends who were from Montana...

 

[Gary Crawford]

This is sorta off subject.I am in the one dollar store busness.One day about four years ago,I walked outside and looked up and saw a bright green wall cloud.I immeadiatly knew a funnel cloud was on the other side of it,so I told my retail neighbors to shut their doors.I went back into my store where I had about 20 customers inside and locked the doors.Within a few minutes,the winds kicked up to a hundred mph or so.All of the customers just stood there staring at the horizontal rain and hail.I told them in my loudest voice "get to the back of the store!You don't want to be this close to the windows if they suddenly shatter!"I had to phisically push some of them.Fortunatly,the full force hit us sideways and never hit the windows directly.The only damage to the shopping center was a couple of stores way down on the other end who did not get their doors closed and locked got them ripped off.

 

[Ping898]

A bunch of kids died at a college in NJ a few years back cause of the same thing. They heard the alarm, figured it was nothing and then klike 20 were injured and several died. Fire alarms have gone the way of car alarms, no one pays attention anymore when one goes off.

 

[kenpo tiger]

A bunch of kids died at a college in NJ a few years back cause of the same thing. They heard the alarm, figured it was nothing and then klike 20 were injured and several died. Fire alarms have gone the way of car alarms, no one pays attention anymore when one goes off.

Seton Hall fire. Horrible.

 

[OULobo]

This is so true. It really has to do with how readiness drills become routine, stale and stagnant. My company does fire system tests and often doesn't tell the employees. Everytime they happen everyone stands around deciding if they should go outside or not. The system has become a liability.

The same thing applies to MAs. Specific situation oriented drills are all good and fun, but if we continue with them for too long without change or real application, their viability becomes flawed.