Skyscraper on fire in China

[WLJ]

42 floors, 715ft (seems tall for the number of floors) owned by  China Telecom, looks like the entire building is in flames.
State media is saying zero casualties which is hard to believe IMHO. Hope everyone got out safe.

Major fire engulfs skyscraper in Changsha, central China
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/16/major-fire-breaks-out-at-skyscraper-in-changsha-china

Video

 Huge fire engulfs skyscraper in China
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QA96fCpHiR8

[Brad Johnson]

Holy (insert choice of expletive here).

Brad

[MillCreek]

The Towering Inferno in real life.

[K Frame]

Same builder who built Grenfell Tower?

[WLJ]

Same builder who built Grenfell Tower?

Yeah I was going to say it reminded me of that in the way it was burning

[Ben]

One might call me a wimp for having a fear of living at the top of a tall building (and I'm not afraid of heights). Then you might watch this video.

I could never live in an average NYC apartment building, and not just because of the shitty living conditions.

[bedlamite]

Cha Bu Duo

[WLJ]

Cha Bu Duo

Loosely translate to "close enough" or "almost"

[HankB]

One might call me a wimp for having a fear of living at the top of a tall building (and I'm not afraid of heights). Then you might watch this video.

I could never live in an average NYC apartment building, and not just because of the shitty living conditions.

Your daily safety depends on WAY too many people you don't know.

I'd want a parachute and a way of getting out and away from the building so the chute could open.

[dogmush]

Chute's take practice and can take a while to open.  You'd be better off with a rappelling rig bolted to the wall ready to go.

[HankB]

Chute's take practice and can take a while to open.  You'd be better off with a rappelling rig bolted to the wall ready to go.

Good idea - rappelling doesn't take any practice at all. 

Valid point about taking time for a chute to open, though - you're probably better off using a chute from the 70th floor rather than the 5th.

Hmmm . . . hang glider . . .

[tokugawa]

Some years ago in a thrift store I came across a suitcase, with a harness , and about 500 ft of line in it, and instructions- it was, as far as I could tell, a ready made high rise escape kit.

[WLJ]

Some years ago in a thrift store I came across a suitcase, with a harness , and about 500 ft of line in it, and instructions- it was, as far as I could tell, a ready made high rise escape kit.

That's great if the 30 floors below you aren't engulfed in flames

[BobR]

Chute's take practice and can take a while to open.  You'd be better off with a rappelling rig bolted to the wall ready to go.

Below 200 ft AGL you really don't want to try a parachute jump unless you are very experienced at BASE jumping and have the correct gear. But hey, death by burning or death by a sudden stop at the end of a fall, each one ends the same.

bob

[dogmush]

Good idea - rappelling doesn't take any practice at all. 

Valid point about taking time for a chute to open, though - you're probably better off using a chute from the 70th floor rather than the 5th.

Hmmm . . . hang glider . . .

Decenders are pretty idiot proof.  Besides a rope gives you the option of going out Aussie and doing a superhero landing at the bottom.  Way cooler than being pulled down the street be a car when your chute blows into traffic. 

[Hawkmoon]

The Towering Inferno in real life.

You beat me to it. I was going to say, "Life imitates art": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nch1URmJvMA

[French G.]

I dunno, after WTC 1993 I thought that BASE jumping would be a necessary hobby if I worked in a building like that. Then again I make a career out of not going past the second floor if I can avoid it.

[Hawkmoon]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cphle9wkjCE

According to multiple articles, the fire was reported at 3:48 p.m. and was out by 4:20 p.m. I'd love to know how they put out that fire in half an hour.

[MechAg94]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cphle9wkjCE

According to multiple articles, the fire was reported at 3:48 p.m. and was out by 4:20 p.m. I'd love to know how they put out that fire in half an hour.

In that video, you can see water spraying on the building and it only reaches several floors up.  The only way I can imagine it is if there was fire water nozzles along every floor up to the top that were not in operation (left off?) and were suddenly turned on and were able to put water to every floor up the building. 
Only other thing that comes to mind is if the fire didn't reach into the building very far and it burned off whatever it was on the outside that was fueling the fire.  That assumes something external was burning.
Just guesses.

[ConstitutionCowboy]

In that video, you can see water spraying on the building and it only reaches several floors up.  The only way I can imagine it is if there was fire water nozzles along every floor up to the top that were not in operation (left off?) and were suddenly turned on and were able to put water to every floor up the building. 
Only other thing that comes to mind is if the fire didn't reach into the building very far and it burned off whatever it was on the outside that was fueling the fire.  That assumes something external was burning.
Just guesses.

The orange flames and thick black smoke looked like an oil fire. The fact that it was out in half an hour could be explained by a big oil spill down the side of the building hence the quick burnout/extinguish.

As far as escaping such a fire, I'd recommend a rocket pack ejection seat aimed at a nice big window with a clear path beyond.

Woody

[RocketMan]

From the video it looked like mostly an exterior cladding fire.  There were quite a few flaming chunks drifting off the building down to the ground a ways from the base. The fire had penetrated into the building proper on some floors.

[Hawkmoon]

From the video it looked like mostly an exterior cladding fire.  There were quite a few flaming chunks drifting off the building down to the ground a ways from the base. The fire had penetrated into the building proper on some floors.

Yepp. I'm guessing flammable foam insulation on the exterior. Same thing that created the problem at that English public housing tower that went up like a torch.

[bedlamite]

Loosely translate to "close enough" or "almost"

It's an attitude there.

"They are literally making them out of freaking cardboard"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XopSDJq6w8E

[JTHunter]

Your daily safety depends on WAY too many people you don't know.

I'd want a parachute and a way of getting out and away from the building so the chute could open.

A "wing suit" will let you get far enough away to open the chute safely and not get it on fire too.