The Guardian: Channel tunnel fire

The fire broke out 7 miles from the French end of the tunnel and 24 miles from the English end, and took 16+ hours to put out. No deaths, but 14 people in hospital from smoke inhalation.

"... the emergency exit jammed, and one passenger had to take a hammer to a window to get people out."

I read that description earlier today, too. However, considering how new the system is, I was wondering if those truck(lorry) drivers were trying to open an exit that was designed to stay closed in just such a situation?

This is completely conjecture on my part, but in a tunnel fire, there is going to be massive amounts of smoke and the only places with air will be inside the train or in the adjacent service tunnel that passengers can escape to. If the emergency procedure is to wait for train personnel to direct you to the best exit, then smashing out windows wherever you are could just be letting smoke into the train unnecessarily.

Again, just total speculation on my part. I'd love to hear any comments from the authorities regarding these "jammed emergency exits".

You may be right. From other reports: "Eurotunnel's Gounon said people suffered smoke inhalation injuries because they evacuated the train themselves before tunnel operators had ventilated away the smoke, as safety procedures call for."

And: "Gounon said safety precautions had worked "perfectly," and he dismissed the matter of truck drivers smashing windows as a "normal" reaction by men who "perhaps wanted to get out faster than necessary from the pressurised cabin."

He told French radio the automatic doors on the shuttle only function when it is certain that safety fans are working so there is no risk of anyone being overcome by fumes."

Although I doubt anyone EDCs a hammer, so presumably it was provided in the train specifically for the purpose of breaking windows in the event that the emergency exit failed. (Unless it wasn't actually a hammer but a multitool or something carried by the passengers.)

There is another report of other passengers forcing a door open. Maybe it just opened on its own after the fans started.

I believe that the fire started in the freight section, where heavy trucks are ferried under the Channel. I think it's logical to assume that the truck drivers had tools in their vehicles that they grabbed to smash the window(s).

I was just reading another update on this fire. There have been a few tunnel fires since the Eurotunnel service started, and all of seem to have originated with trucks catching fire. I wonder if the owners of these trucks are ever held responsible for these fires that started with their vehicles?

At first, I was thinking about how frightening it seems being stuck under the Channel during a fire. But, on second thought, it's not quite as scary as I thought when I remembered that you're always going to be on a train with trained personnel who have presumably been drilled on what to do, there are onboard safety systems, and you are hopefully only a short distance away from safety in the adjacent service tunnel. That's a far different situation than, say, the Mont Blanc tunnel fire where everyone is driving their own vehicle deep inside some tunnel. In that case, it's every person for themselves and if you don't know what to do or where to flee to safety, you're out of luck.

I hope the trained personnel in the Chunnel aren't trained by the same people as our airline TSA people...

Sue