Am, I certainly agree with using some sort of barrier-I just cannot bring myself to think that soaking myself down would be safe...I have visions of poached veggies in my head!!!

Arney, I agree with you there as well-I think the post its were purely for them. However, I would think in the heat, the glue would liquify & run-taking the note with it. And, finding them again, in a likely near-panic, blinded by smoke (lets face it, you will NOT be able to see, and, as sight is our primary sense, most of us would likely be borderline panicking once lost), may be near impossible. MY opinion is that its more of a placebo than anything else. I have been inside a couple of burning buildings, one an apartment directly above me, where only curtains were on fire. The whole apt was filled with smoke. Even with being familiar with the layout, crawling through thick smoke is VERY intimidating & disorienting. I foolishly went in to get their cat-who, as soon as the bedroom door opened, took off running....

Wetting down bunker gear is apparently the wrong thing to do. But most of us don't wear bunker gear to work.

If it is hot enough to boil the water in your street clothing, it is hot enough to melt synthetic clothing, and it is certainly hot enough to boil the water in your SKIN!

Fortunately, wool isn't synthetic, neither is cotton. The synthetic clothing I wear at work is nomex with nomex, cotton or wool underlayers.

Bunker gear has a vapor liner and insulation, and routinely get wet. Most artificial fabric has a low melting point, and it tends to turn into burning goo that melts into your flesh.

But wool, silk or even cotton is surprisingly thermally resistant, at least for very short exposures. Water reduces that resistance and wetted out fabric transports thermal energy through the fabric faster and more efficiently than the dry fabric fibers and the air pockets between them do. The moisture can convert to steam, as well. Wet fabrics are slower to ignite for precisely these reasons.

There is a simple experiment you can do. Take two identical fabric samples and wet one of them. Place them in a very hot dryer or under a very hot iron for an equal length of time, then drape each one over opposite forearms. While not a perfect model, it will adequately convey the idea.

So, would anyone else prefer to bust out a window and rappel down several floors using ethernet cable to reach a jump-able height or would you shelter-in-place, stuff wet rags under the door, wet down the door/walls, telephone or signal to fire fighters, and wait for rescue? (And we're assuming that both emergency exits are blocked at this point)

This is certainly one aspect of the episode that reminded me of something Bear would demonstrate, like using thick jungle vines to rappel down a waterfall.

I love it when he gets all Bear-y on us! I'm inclined to shelter in place until that becomes completely untenable. I'm also more likely to try dangling outside below the window, if that gets me clear of enough heat and smoke, than rappel. But I'm much more likely to just be another casualty if trapped in a hi-rise fire.

I wouldn't have thought that those little plastic clips on the RJ45 connectors that keep the Ethernet cable in the Computer NICs from falling out would be able to take the strain.

I was just reading a brief news report about this AeroMexico hijacking that is resolved. Apparently none of the passengers even knew that the plane had been hijacked until they were on the ground and saw all the police vehicles.

Well, that's one way to avoid an angry uprising of passengers--hijack the plane quietly. Shhhh.

Yes, I saw that as well. Apparently they let all the passengers off before announcing their intentions...

The full episode of "Surviving Disaster: Fire" is online aT Spike TV.