In a previous blog post, lessons were learned about fire safety from popular television sitcoms. Now let’s learn from the big screen. The National Fire Protection Agency reports that there are about 1.2 million fires reported EACH YEAR in the USA. Now, what can we learn from the likes of Frank Drebin of Naked Gun, Derek Zoolander of Zoolander, and Barry Allen of The Flash?
The Scene: Police Squad Lieutenant Frank Drebin has just found a major clue in the case he is pursuing in the form of a note. He uses a lighter to read the note in an unlit room. Upon his realization of this game changing clue, he gets careless with the lighter and all mayhem ensues. The fire destroys the office (as well as the clue) but Frank manages to escape out the window.
What we can learn: Fire is not something to be careless with. When using a lighter or matches you must always be attentive to what you are doing with them. Looking away for a few seconds can result in catastrophic consequences. In addition, you should escape the fire and not be so concerned with saving items in your home. What good are they if you’re toast? Being without a fire escape, a SkySaver would have come in handy for that apartment.
The Scene: Derek Zoolander and his friends have just stopped off to get some gas. They begin fooling around with the squeegees at the gas station when Derek sees someone throw out a Time Magazine insulting his modeling career. He walks over to pull the magazine out of the garbage. Meanwhile, his friends start using the gas pumps to spray each other in a playful way. One pulls out a cigarette to light, while entirely doused with gasoline, causing the entire station to go up in flames. Derek is the only survivor.
What we can learn: While this movie is obviously making out male models to be incredibly dumb, doing things not many people would do, there is still something to be learned here. Gasoline is very flammable. Most people have flammable products in their home. A lot of cleaning products contain flammable chemicals. Fire must be always kept away from such products. Always be sure to check the label on items which may contain flammable contents.
The Scene: We’re going to cheat a little here and go back to television just because this is such a fantastic show. In this scene an apartment building is on fire. Barry Allen, also know as The Flash, uses his super speed to race into the building. He saves a two people in the blink of an eye, all while the fire department is still making its way over.
What we can learn: It’s too bad superheroes don’t exist in real life because without The Flash, those people he saved would have likely been goners. The area of the building they are in is engulfed in flames and there don’t seem to be any means of escape at their disposal. A SkySaver would have been a good option had Barry Allen never been struck by lightning.
