Fire is a crucial element that enhances domestic and industrial processes that are necessary for economic and social development. In as much as fire is so central in everyday life, failure to follow precautionary measures could cause massive disasters, which include loss of lives, property, and vegetation. It is important to note that the extent of damage associated with fires is dependent on how people react in case of fires. Firefighting agencies have outlined standards and precautionary measures that ought to be put in place to contain the fire and reduce damages. The centrality of fire is evidenced by numerous movies and films with fire disaster scenes aimed at establishing fire-related human behaviors. A comparison of Towering Inferno (1974), City on Fire (1979), and In Old Chicago (1937) assesses how people react to fires and how their actions accelerate or reduce injury, deaths, and losses. Towering Inferno is a disaster film with most of the scenes depicting how fire consumes a 138-story building in San Francisco. Doug Roberts the tower's architect who has been hired by James Duncan, the developer, had returned to San Francisco to dedicate the tower. However, during the testing, a fire starts in room 81 owing to an electrical short, which Doug connects to substandard electrical work. Roberts calls for the shutting of the tower's lights to reduce electrical load and at the same time calls in the San Francisco Fire Department to put out the fire (Guillermin, 1974, 12:45). The fire triggers a series of events, which leads to the injury, and death of many guests in the hotel in addition to the destruction of property.
City on Fire depicts a city that is engulfed in flames following a malicious act by a disgruntled employee who is working in an oil refinery. The refinery was built at the center of the Midwestern US city since the city’s mayor William Dudley is corrupt and risks the lives of the entire population. The fire starts a chain of reactions causing massive explosions at the refinery before engulfing the entire metropolis (Rakoff, 1979). The high number of casualties overwhelms the city’s hospital, which is poorly equipped. In Old Chicago is a film that depicts the aftermath of a fire that was caused by a cow that kicked a lit lamp, which had been left in the barn. The whole town is engulfed in flames and the city authorities must find a way of dealing with the fire and taking care of the homeless residents. The people in the three films are overwhelmed by the fires, and they do all they can to stop the fire before they could cause more damage. Towering Inferno is indicative of people who bypass construction regulations, as the electrical system is faulty, putting the lives of the guests and workers at risk. When Roberts, the architect, realizes that Roger Simmons, the electrical subcontractor had done defective work, he orders Dan Bigelow to turn off tower lights to avoid an electrical overload. This action is right, as an overload of a faulty electrical system could have made the faulty electrical system worse. On noticing that there was smoke on the 81st floor, the San Francisco Fire Department was summoned to contain the fire. This action is indicative of people who understand that firefighters are in the best position to deal with fires of high magnitude as they have the skills, capacity, and human resources. The guard on the 81st floor tries to open the door through which the smoke is coming out, but Will Giddings stops the guard and ends up fatally burned. The guard does not adhere to fire safety standards since one is not allowed to open the door to a burning room, as doing this adds oxygen to the already burning fire. Roberts and the guard wrap up Will in a dry window curtain and smother him in an attempt to stop him from burning. This action is commendable as it reduces the chances of further burn though it would have been better if they had used a wet fabric as the dry one could accelerate burning. City on Fire portrays how people react to disaster, with many fleeing in panic and eager to save their lives. The fires expose the corrupt city authorities, which have allowed an oil refinery to be built at the center of the city away from rivers, reservoirs, or lakes. A disgruntled refinery employee opened the valves to the storage vats, which flooded the area with gasoline and flammable chemicals. The city authorities do all they can to deal with the fire and its aftermath, which includes dealing with the casualties who are admitted to a poorly equipped hospital. One man enters a burning house in an attempt to salvage some documents and ends up engulfed by fire. The man foregoes precautionary measures, which warn people to avoid getting into burning structures unless they have protective gear. However, firefighters help the man by advising him to roll on the ground in an attempt to put off the fire. In the end, Risley, the city’s fire chief, creates a water tunnel that allows for the evacuation of casualties from the hospital. This action establishes the need to contain a fire to reduce the number of casualties when the property cannot be salvaged. Old Chicago depicts how people react to fires with others worrying about their property as opposed to their lives. Mrs. O'Leary leaves a lamp in the barn where she had been helping a calf to suckle only for a cow to topple the lamp, igniting a fire that spreads quickly (King, 1937, 45:34). Most people keen on saving their items of value scramble to get into their houses oblivious to the danger the fire poses. In case of fire, people ought to think about their lives as opposed to the property as property can be replaced. However, the residents rally each other so that they can bring water to put out the power and to ensure that it does not spread to the gasworks. Jack, one of the townspeople, hopes to create a firebreak by dynamiting some buildings so that the fire does not reach the gasworks. This action is commendable since firebreaks help to reduce damages as well as reduce the number of casualties. The city's authorities ask for help from the federal government and the National Guard to contain the fire as well as offer relief to the homes, which is the right thing to do given the situation. The people in the three movies depict common fire-related behaviors with most of them engaging in life-threatening behaviors. Fire disasters cause panic as individuals run to save their lives, those of their children, and pets as well as salvage valuable items. Most often than not people will be overwhelmed by the fire that they may accelerate it as opposed to mitigating it by getting into houses or opening doors. Additionally during the panic individuals may trample over each other, which would increase the number of casualties. Haggai et al (2019) asserts that during disasters people tend to the panic, crowd, and even act irrationally something that escalates disasters. Despite the panic, people always try to rescue others to contain the fire and call in the firefighters to deal with the fire. The movies are accurate since they establish that human error is the main cause of fires. Towering Inferno is an example of infrastructural failure considering that the electrical subcontractor bypassed construction regulations leading to electrical shorting. In the same breath, City on Fire shows a corrupt mayor who allows a refinery to be built at the center of the city. The study of fire-related human behavior is essential for reducing accidental deaths, injuries, and loss of property. During fires, most people tend to panic and in their panic aggravate an already dire situation by foregoing safety standards (Kuligowski, 2016). An understanding of why people panic could inform authorities of the best way to handle fire disasters. For instance, the concerned authorities may teach populations to remain calm so that they are in a position to deal with the fire and the aftermath. Communities could be empowered to take charge of dealing with disasters after being taught ways of dealing with fire. Most people are not aware of the strategies for dealing with different types of fires and may use water to contain electrical or chemical fires, which could be dangerous. However, by knowing how people react in case of fires, the concerned authorities can organize workshops that address how to deal with fires to reduce damages and loss of lives.
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References
Guillermin, J. (Director). (1974). Towering Inferno. [Film]. 20th Century Fox; Warner Bros; Irwin Allen Productions.
Haghani, M., Cristiani, E., Bode, N. W., Boltes, M., & Corbetta, A. (2019). Panic, irrationality, and herding: Three ambiguous terms in crowd dynamics research. Journal of Advanced Transportation, 2019(1), 1-58 . https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/9267643
King, H.(Director). (1937). In Old Chicago. [Film]. Darryl F. Zanuck Productions.
Kuligowski, E. D. (2016). Human behavior in fire. In Morgan, J. Hurley (Ed .), SFPE handbook of fire protection engineering (pp. 2070-2114). Springer.
Rakoff, A. (Director). (1979). City on Fire. [Film]. Astral Bellevue Pathé.
