Fire safety should be of paramount importance when living or working in a high rise building. Getting stuck with no way out should never happen, yet sadly, even in today’s day and age, people still get trapped in fires. There were many deadly fires over the course of 2015, throughout the USA and the entire world. These types of tragedies are ones that should and can be prevented. As we advance more and more technologically, hopefully death by fire becomes a thing of the past. As the statistics on fires of 2015 have not been put out by the National Fire Prevention Agency just yet, here are five of the many deadly fires that happened in 2015.
Tianjin, China
On August 12, 2015, an explosion hit a warehouse in Tianjin, China. This warehouse contained “dangerous goods.” Over 50 people were killed, including 12 firefighters and over 700 were injured (70+ of which were injured seriously). It was reported that there were 2 explosions, which were tracked by seismologists. The first was the equivalent of 3 tons of TNT, while the second was the equivalent of 21 tons of TNT. The explosions could be felt from miles away. About 100 fire trucks were sent to the scene. Canadian teacher Monica Andrews told the BBC “I … looked out the window and the sky was red … I just watched a second explosion go off and (it was) just pure chaos, everyone leaving their apartment buildings thinking it’s an earthquake, cars trying to leave the complex and …it was crazy the amount of light that this explosion and fire lit up.”
Brooklyn, New York (USA)
Tragedy struck on Friday night, as the deadliest fire in New York City since 2007 killed seven children, ages five to sixteen. An Orthodox Jewish soma order from usa mother was using a hotplate to keep food warm on the Sabbath for her family. A malfunction of the electric hotplate caused the fire which only had two survivors, the mother and one of her daughters. They managed to jump out of the second floor windows to safety. Mayor Bill de Blasio arrived on the scene on early Saturday afternoon and said “You can literally see what was a home for a large, strong family and now it’s wiped out, every room empty, burned and charred…This is a tragedy that has very few examples to look at, it’s so painful, it’s so difficult.”
Paris, France
On an early Wednesday morning, a fire broke out in the 18th district of Paris. Over 100 firefighters were needed to contain the fire which killed eight people, including two children. There were four survivors of the blaze. Some reportedly tried to escape the building via the windows. About fifteen other buildings were said to have been affected by the fire. This fire is believed to be one of the deadliest in Paris in the last decade.
Maysville, Kentucky (USA)
A Tuesday morning house fire in northern Kentucky killed five, including three children. The mother and three children were found in the same area of the apartment, possibly indicating that they were trying to escape or make a plan to escape together. “It’s just a tragedy,” said Ron Rice, the Maysville fire chief.
Uijeongbu, South Korea
Four were killed and more than one hundred injured in an apartment fire in a town north of Seoul, South Korea in January 2015. It started in a 10-story apartment block and spread to neighboring buildings. About 160 firefighters were needed to bring the fire under control. At least seven were left in critical condition, suffering smoke inhalation.
