why no fire exits in houses?

.jacksparrow. · 07-10-2012 09:08AM #1

Every building is required by law to have an exit in case of a fire,but why not houses?like if there is a fire downstairs in a house,you're pretty much stuck with nowhere to go if you're upstairs,this is what happens when I cant sleep on a sunday morning....

mattjack · 07-10-2012 09:10AM

Call the fire brigade , they might be able to tell you.

.jacksparrow. · 07-10-2012 09:12AM

mattjack wrote: »

Call the fire brigade , they might be able to tell you.

Yes but by the time they arrive it might be too late.

Reindeer · 07-10-2012 09:12AM

Because every exit in a house is a fire exit unless you have a 3+ story house. In which case, yer fvckt.

.jacksparrow. · 07-10-2012 09:14AM

Reindeer wrote: »

Because every exit in a house is a fire exit unless you have a 3+ story house. In which case, yer fvckt.

What about a separate stairway at the back of the house,which is fireproof and accessible from the landing upstairs.

Reindeer · 07-10-2012 09:19AM

.jacksparrow. wrote: »

What about a separate stairway at the back of the house,which is fireproof and accessible from the landing upstairs.

I like that idea - but mostly so I can go out on it and have a smoke at night. Anywho, it's prolly more likely to end up getting someone hurt outside of an emergency than saving them in a fire, I'd bet.

DonLimon · 07-10-2012 09:21AM

.jacksparrow. wrote: »

Yes but by the time they arrive it might be too late.

By the time you get an answer on this thread it might be too late, I'd say jump out the window while you have the chance

mattjack · 07-10-2012 09:23AM

.jacksparrow. wrote: »

Yes but by the time they arrive it might be too late.

I think you misunderstood me, I meant give them a call now and ask them. Tell us how you get on.

jessiejam · 07-10-2012 10:24AM

Good god is this what sunday morning boards has come to...:pac::pac::pac:

kneemos · 07-10-2012 10:28AM

That's why every house built in the last twenty years or so has to have combined fire alarms in every room.

Bruthal · 07-10-2012 10:32AM

.jacksparrow. wrote: »

Every building is required by law to have an exit in case of a fire,but why not houses?like if there is a fire downstairs in a house,you're pretty much stuck with nowhere to go if you're upstairs,this is what happens when I cant sleep on a sunday morning....

Sleep downstairs

mattjack · 07-10-2012 10:32AM

kneemos wrote: »

That's why every house built in the last twenty years or so has to have combined fire alarms in every room.

every room ? hall and landing I thought.

daenerysstormborn3 · 07-10-2012 10:33AM

My parents renovated an old farmhouse in 1991/92 and they installed a fire escape window in one of the bedrooms, above the porch. The whole window opened out and you could climb onto the porch roof and there was a short drop down to the ground. I'm almost certain they were required to do this by law so maybe things have since changed or maybe, there's nobody to enforce the law.

Bruthal · 07-10-2012 10:33AM

mattjack wrote: »

every room ? hall and landing I thought.

Minimum of living room, kitchen, hall and landing these days for new installations.

jessiejam · 07-10-2012 10:34AM

First i've heard about combined fire alarms in every room!
4 or 5 Exits down stairs between doors and windows. Windows in every other room upstairs... plenty of escape routes.
I suppose if you really wanted to you could fit those yellow escape shoot things (don't know the name) to your upstairs windows like the planes have?

Maybe keep some life jackets in case there is a flood at the same time as your house burning down and sure why not throw in a couple of parachutes too. You can never be too safe

ted1 · 07-10-2012 10:34AM

All upstairs window have to have a large opening so that it may be used as an exit and that a fireman with a B.A may enter.

Your question is obsolete, hang your head in shame

mattjack · 07-10-2012 10:35AM

robbie7730 wrote: »

Minimum of living room, kitchen, hall and landing these days for new installations.

Hard wired ? heat detector in kitchens ?

RobbingBandit · 07-10-2012 10:35AM

By any chance are you an out of work contractor OP, I thought all builders were cowboys not pirates.

I'll just get my coat.

.jacksparrow. · 07-10-2012 10:36AM

ted1 wrote: »

All upstairs window have to have a large opening so that it may be used as an exit and that a fireman with a B.A may enter.

Your question is obsolete, hang your head in shame

Ok so just jump from the window and gracefully land like a cat?

jessiejam · 07-10-2012 10:36AM

robbie7730 wrote: »

Minimum of living room, kitchen, hall and landing these days for new installations.

The kitchen?
Ah come on... everytime you cooked something the alarm would go off!
I could see the batteries being taken out of the kitchen one on a regular basis!

ted1 · 07-10-2012 10:49AM

.jacksparrow. wrote: »

Ok so just jump from the window and gracefully land like a cat?

A two storey house is about a 15 jump from a upstairs window, far less painful than being killed in a fire.

IvySlayer · 07-10-2012 10:54AM

I have a front door and a back door why do I need another door?

If I'm upstairs I can hop onto the extension or conservatory.

kneemos · 07-10-2012 10:57AM

IvySlayer wrote: »

I have a front door and a back door why do I need another door?

If I'm upstairs I can hop onto the extension or conservatory.

Fun for everyone there Ivy.

Jhcx · 07-10-2012 11:03AM

jessiejam wrote: »

robbie7730 wrote: »

Minimum of living room, kitchen, hall and landing these days for new installations.

The kitchen?
Ah come on... everytime you cooked something the alarm would go off!
I could see the batteries being taken out of the kitchen one on a regular basis!

Some sort of law does require alarms in all rooms except bedrooms r close enough. All are wired through the electricity in our house we have a heat detector One in the kitchen, heat one in the living room, smoke detector in the hall, smoke detector in the sitting room and 2 smoke ones up stairs. All painfully annoying when they go off cause that's 5 going off together.

07-10-2012 11:08AM

I lived the past year in an apartment that I was sure a deathtrap if there was any possible fire -

The apartment was on top of a single-storey ground floor apartment, so our sittingroom was already one storey up. It was a very narrow house, with a tight winding stairs and my bedroom was on the third storey of the apartment (so it would have been the fourth storey of the building) and my bedroom window was one of those that didn't even open up fully -- and there was no fire alarm.

Had there been a fire in the kitchen, my only escape route would have been right passed it, because there was no way I could jump from any of the windows, without risk of causing serious damage to myself. Just delighted I have now moved out of there.