Could This Rule Change make Apartments More Deadly?

Why are many concerned about single staircase apartments, and what can we do to make them safer?

About Here

Urbanarium

[tea]

2 videos in one week, we are blessed -w-

[Kumtuks]

BRAVO. We need more intelligent analysis like this.

[cooltwittertag]

The US has double the amount of fire deaths per thousand compared to Germany and Germany has more relaxed second stairwell rules

[worawatli]

Why won't people get it, smaller and denser residential units also meant everything get closer together, if you can't put fire out, smaller building meant it's very short trip downstairs.
And if it get bad, smaller buildings make city denser, so fire truck can get to you much faster. And they also get to the fire source faster than larger building.

[ConeMan]

One thing that gets overlooked in the debate is that a second stair doesn't mean a second means of egress from the unit, if a fire spreads beyond the unit it started in you're asking everyone on that floor to find their way through a smoky hallway to stairs that they may not regularly use. Whereas in a single stair building the units open right onto the stairway so there is no getting lost in the smoke on the way there.

[spicychashu]

Usually Uytae's got some smooth graphics going for visualizations, but weirdly enough I quite like the hand drawn on paper method of showing things. Feels kinda charming idk

[SisterSunny]

THE UKELELE LMFAOOO I love the humour in your videos so much

[StainerTheFirst]

Two About Here videos in a week? I'm here for it!

[owd]

Yeap - a holistic approach, guided by fire safety experts, is what is needed. Appreciate your level headed look at this.

[worawatli]

7:00 Most extreme measure I know of is in Taiwan, they have emergency escape ropes or ladder in every floor of low-rise buildings. If you can't get out via staircase, you could use the last resort of climbing down outside.

[stevarino]

One point that I think is missed is what is safer: the world's most fire-protected home that only 10% of people can afford, or ensuring everyone has a home?

But I strongly agree with this video and think its structure and focus is quite strategic. And as someone who was a trained firefighter, air pressure control cannot be understated.

[cashwarior]

Actually really glad this video was made because while I understood the premise of the rule, I've spent a lot of time since then thinking about if that's actually the right solution. Seeing that there's been a lot of recent research done on this topic makes me feel more confident in advocating for a change in the rule. Thanks!

[Sullyville]

Nuance upon nuance. It's something that comes up across so many urbanist topics. Induced demand, bike lane networks, upzoning, etc. Its so easy to focus on the little things and forget the bigger picture. Thanks for zooming out a bit--and nice job responding to the internet haters!

[WhiskyCanuck]

In Montreal, so-called single-staircase building are common - that is single INDOOR staircases. Outdoor staircases (technically not a fire escape) attached to the rear balconies are common for these types of low-rise buildings. That also gives people options to evacuate through the front of the building or the back, instead of only through an interior (potentially smoke-filled) hallway.

[jacktattersall]

Presurizing stairwells is very similar to what is done with tunnel fires. Imagine a fire in a train tunnel. A train is in a giant long tube, switches to other tracks don't exist or are very far apart. What happens is the ventilations fans start pushing air in the opposite direction of the fire to pressurize a part of the tunnel so passengers can walk from their train to the nearest exit. For example, if the back of a train catches fire, ventilation fans will push air the other direction so people can exit safely through the front.

[Joakim.Bengtsson]

In Sweden we have a minimum 60 minute fire rating on walls between apartments. This makes it unlikely that a fire will spread since it will probably have been out out before those 60 minutes elapse. (Doors have a 30 minute fire rating.)

[paulerichson]

By this logic every single family house should need 2 stair cases. See how fast these people will change their minds when they have to pay for those renovations

[xandertreelimb]

One more staircase will fix fire safety. Just one more staircase…

[TrevorAcorn]

Seattle's code has these safety features...but it also adds 1-hr corridor protection which is a nice cheap feature that improves the 1/2 hr rating required by the model IBC building code. 1-hr corridor means it takes longer for the fire to spread into the corridor from the unit of origin.

[cancerino]

Man, some youtube commenters really need to travel around. No double staircases in Europe, cause we know how to make buildings that don't burn.