We previously discussed fire safety in TV shows such as Seinfeld, The Flash, The Office, and more, as well as fire safety in movies such as The Naked Gun and Zoolander. Here are a few more TV shows we managed to pull some fire safety lessons from, as well as a video game. Obviously, these are all done in a comedic way, however, that doesn’t mean one still can’t learn from them. Check out these fire safety lessons from the likes of Frasier, Friends, Malcolm in the Middle, and Grand Theft Auto V.
Frasier
The Scene: Niles is in his apartment, starting to iron his pants. He leaves his pants and the iron unattended for a bit, comes back, and sees that a fire has started. He desperately attempts to put out the fire with a fire extinguisher. When he fails at that (clearly lacking the knowledge of how to properly use one), he takes a pot of water and extinguishes the flames. When attempting to whisk the smoke out of the apartment, he passes out, apparently due to smoke inhalation.
What We Can Learn: While in a show like this, this scene is hilarious, in reality, something like this happening is incredibly dangerous. Leaving an iron unattended is very careless, and not properly knowing how to use a fire extinguisher can end with deadly consequences. Lastly, as seen in 5 Common Myths About Fire Safety, smoke inhalation can be more dangerous than the fire itself. Again, this scene is a classic, but a lot can be learned from Niles’s mistakes.
Friends
The Scene: Joey and Ross get locked out on the roof of a building with seemingly no way down. The lack of cell phones in this period of television is extremely evident here. They notice the fire escape and attempt to exit via that route. The ladder at the bottom level of the fire escape is stuck, so they have no safe way down from that height. Eventually Joey lowers down and hangs on as Ross shimmies down his body, eventually falling to the ground, with Joey left hanging there as the credits roll. Again, another very funny scene, but with some real lessons that can be learned about the state of today’s fire escapes.
What We Can Learn: Not all fire escapes are fully functioning these days, as many are incredibly old and rusting. Make sure your fire escape is safe to use sooner rather than later, because if a fire starts, and you haven’t checked, you could end up being trapped like Joey and Ross. See “Are Fire Escapes Safe?” for more information on this subject matter.
Malcolm in the Middle
The Scene: Malcolm, Reese, and Dewey are just minding their own business when Lois comes raging in with a burned red dress that she accuses the boys of damaging. This accusation goes on for the length of the episode. At the end of the episode, (SPOILERS) Hal is seen smoking on the couch and causes a pillow to catch fire. He puts out the fire by throwing the pillow in the toilet and is heard screaming “Not again!”, implying that he did the exact same thing to the red dress.
What We Can Learn: Smoking indoors and not being careful about it is definitely a fire hazard, no question about it. See our blog posts about the top causes of fire here and here.
Grand Theft Auto V (Some Graphic Content)
The Gameplay: A new mod was created for Grand Theft Auto V that gives the player a new weapon: A Samsung Galaxy Note 7. This is essentially a grenade that explodes either on impact or after a few seconds. This new weapon was made in the wake of the Galaxy Note 7s wreaking havoc by catching fire and eventually being completely recalled by Samsung.
What We Can Learn: Always make sure to be aware of major recalls due to fire hazards and complying with said recalls because hanging onto your high-end gadget is not worth the fire safety risk. See 10 Products Recalled Due to Fire Safety Issues for more on the subject.
