Don't laugh, but I love watching Worst-Case Scenario on TBS every Wednesday at 9 PM. One episode turned upside down what I thought I knew about escaping from buring buildings. According to the show, you should NOT sink to the floor and crawl out because that's where toxic gases often settle. You should simply walk out as quickly as possible.

Gosh! thats new to me too. My thoughts were that you should stay near to the floor as thats where the most oxygen is. Better re-think.

I too saw that segment. As a firefighter, we have always been taught to crawl. Heat and smoke rise and displace air from the upper portions of a room. Before changing escape procedures based upon that show, I would suggest contacting your local fire agency or the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Maryland. Pete

I've been a firefighter for 15 years. I've been a certified State of Virginia Fire Instructor for 8 of those years. We teach to stay low and go...that's where the good air is. In a fire environment, the superheated gasses collected UP HIGH can kill you in an instant. Even with self contained breathing equipment...we stay low to the ground. It's cooler....and the visibility is better (non-existant up high in most cases). <br><br>Not sure where this show is getting their information...but it's apparent that it isn't coming from anyone who has been in a burning building!<br><br>Kev

Hi Craig,<br><br>I was an industrial firefighter for a number of years. What we were told was, yes, toxic gasses collected low -- very low. Like, "on the floor" low. That's why you don't lay down and put your face next to the floor. CO and heat collected up higher. That's why you don't stand up. The place they wanted our heads to be was just about knee level, or right where it was going to be if we were crawling on all fours anyway. I'm neither a chemist nor physicist, and anything but an expert, but that was what we were taught.<br><br>Of course, once we got air on, the only thing that really mattered anymore was the heat, not the gasses.