Quote:
Originally Posted by Fish
The amount of time you have to escape a house fire has greatly decreased in the past few decades:
30 years ago you had about 15 to 17 minutes to escape a house fire.
Today, you have about 3 to 5 minutes to escape a house fire.
The reason the time to escape a home fire has decreased so much relates to changes in the types of furniture and other contents in today’s homes, including more plastics and petroleum based products. Changes in how homes are designed (open floor plans, larger rooms and higher ceilings) have also changed the chemical composition of the fire and greatly increased the speed at which it grows.
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I'd guess building materials have changed, too. Lots of hollow walls with nothing but 2x4s and drywall today where you'd often see brick, plaster, or wood paneling in older homes.