How does smoke kill?
Direct video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BtNA3KGJKQ
If a fire starts in your home, you probably
won’t burn to death.
You’re more likely to be killed by the toxic fumes.
The chemicals carried in the smoke will disorientate you, so you
won’t know where you are. Then they’ll go to work on your body,
suffocating you, poisoning you and destroying internal tissues.
The only good news is that by the time the flames reach you, you
won’t feel a thing.
How does it happen?
Fire smoke contains a lethal cocktail of carbon monoxide,
hydrogen cyanide and hydrogen sulphide which damages cells and
stops the supply of oxygen to the body.
Sulphur dioxide, ammonia, hydrogen chloride and chlorine fumes
cause the airways to swell and fill with mucus.
If you’re asleep, the poisonous gases in the fire smoke will
numb your senses and put you into a deeper sleep.
The good news...
...is that this doesn’t have to happen. Kent Fire and Rescue
Service offers a wide range of advice and services to everyone in
Kent and Medway, all free of charge.
We also have special support packages for people with health
issues and sensory impairment, so whatever your situation, we can
make you safer at home.
For more information, call us on 0800 923 7000, or email
home@kent.fire-uk.org