Why are there no back doors in HDB flats for fire escape?

[Ramseth]

Neither is it advisable for you to sleep naked. If there's a fire in the middle of the night, you may be dancing as a streaker with firemen.

It is important that when staying is such places, it is not advisable to put on your 'birthday suit' when going to bed. Even after you have your 'celebration', it is best, that you change.

You pay for what you get, what!...

 

[Zombie]

But hotels have water sprinkler system that hdb flats don't.

Look at the hdb corridor.. there is almost nothing that can catch fire... unless you treat the doorway as a storeroom.

Look at the hotel corridor... wall fixtures, wall paper, false ceiling, carpet etc... all can burn.

HDB is very safe if you know how to keep your doorway clear.

 

[Zombie]

but again, they are usually not too tall. a jump from the window or balcony will most likely break a bone here and there.

cut the bedsheet into strips and made a rope.. tie one end to the leg of the bed...

 

[kingrant]

Look at the hdb corridor.. there is almost nothing that can catch fire... unless you treat the doorway as a storeroom.

Look at the hotel corridor... wall fixtures, wall paper, false ceiling, carpet etc... all can burn.

HDB is very safe if you know how to keep your doorway clear.

I am not talking abt fires outside the flat. Havent you rread all those reports of fires inside the flats and the occupants had to leap out of the windows?

 

[Zombie]

I am not talking abt fires outside the flat.

Me too.

 

[Zombie]

Havent you rread all those reports of fires inside the flats and the occupants had to leap out of the windows?

Frankly, I have heard none from hdb yet. Maybe you can share.

 

[0939]

I am not talking abt fires outside the flat. Havent you rread all those reports of fires inside the flats and the occupants had to leap out of the windows?

Nothing is safe when there is a fire inside your home. Probably you will be sleeping in your masterbed bedroom. You have no choice but to jump out of the window. Ist, inside the house, the doors are not fireproof. It doesnt make sense to have another door in your bedroom. So the 2nd door that you have mentioned wont be applicable to you.
Remembered few years ago, in one of the HDB estate. A provision shop was caught fire because of unnecessary items were placed along doorway or stairway. 2 occupants were killed because they could not get out. Thus, HDB
enforced rule that nothing to be outside the shop after closing hours,

 

[kingrant]

TS,

i dunno where u get the idea that all pte condos have backdoor...

due to nature on my previous work, i have visited many condos. These condos are everywhere in spore.. i will list a few to prove my case..

signature park (bukit batok area) : dun have
hillington green and glendale park (both hillview area) : dun have
gardenville (steven road) : dun have
even newer ones in joo chiat also dun have.. my fren bought a few units so I know lah..

i also staying in 1. also dun have.. so i really dun understand why u say all condos have. but i do not disagree it is necessary to have 1 lah.

You shld relook at signature park and hilington green. They all have, maybe except those less than 100 sqm. I hve checked their floor plans and certainly in sign park, those above 125 sqm have and in hilington, those bigger than 95 sqm have. The back door is just next to the main one. I couldnt get hold of gardenville. So it may be that apartments smaller than 100 sqm were exempted--hmm I dunno.

Those at Laguna Pk, Lagoon View etc I talked abt -- yes they were 1750 sqft and Neptune Ct 1250 sqft..so all bigger than 100 sqm. They all have.

 

[kingrant]

We should really ask the question:: are HDB flats fire-traps because there is only one main door to ecape a fire inside the flat? And if so, why has there been no notice and link its significance to hdb fires?

Many private condos I have seen have a second exit, usually in the kitchen. The design of the escape is important on the floor plan so as to provide a parallel escape route besides the front door. In other words, if the fire is in the kitchen, you run thru the front door; and if it is in the living/dining area, and the front escape is not possible, you run thru the back door in the kitchen. Both doors lead out back to the lift lobby to safety.

I guess because bedrooms are by their nature sited further inside and there's no direct connection to the lift lobby usually, the back door cannot be in the bedrooms. Tiong Bahru ( former SIT flats) flats e.g. those on the second level and above in Lim Liak St. actually have two doors that connect the front bedroom to the balcony. I suppose you can escape a fire by running to the balcony and thence to yr neighbour's house for refuge if need be. Those on the ground floor have a back door each that leads to outside via the kitchen.

 

[kingrant]

Frankly, I have heard none from hdb yet. Maybe you can share.

Not from hdb. From the newspapers.

 

[Zombie]

Not from hdb.

good to know that none from hdb had jumped down the window because of a fire....
Happy New Year

 

[eatshitndie]

Doesn't it gives you the same regardless whether HDB or private?

You trust private architects? Ho Ho Ho! Merry Christmas and a bottle of rum. :p

there's a huge difference in the quality of architects when it comes to tall buildings. of course, in any private undertaking, there will be developers who will hire cheap architects and not even bother with soil engineering. however, with hdb, it's always cheap "architects" without the proper training and experience, especially missing the soil engineering and seismic part. a good private condo in a good tall building with a good foundation can be found more frequently in sg than a "good" resident-safe hdb. the codes are night and day between the two. happy new decade!

 

[Zombie]

Many private condos I have seen have a second exit, usually in the kitchen.

the 2nd exit at the kitchen is actually meant for maids and kitchen helpers to go in and out of the house, without disturbing the guests at the living room....

true fire escape is a separate enclosed route leading straight to ground level, not to the lift lobby shared by the main entrance...

 

[eatshitndie]

cut the bedsheet into strips and made a rope.. tie one end to the leg of the bed...

too time consuming and troublesome. moreover, when travelling, most do not carry knives or scissors. and hotel rooms don't provide. just roll the sheets into rope and geronimo!

 

[eatshitndie]

the 2nd exit at the kitchen is actually meant for maids and kitchen helpers to go in and out of the house, without disturbing the guests at the living room....

true fire escape is a separate enclosed route leading straight to ground level, not to the lift lobby shared by the main entrance...

not worried about hdb for its fire safety. it has a pretty low record historically about morons dying in trapped flats due to fire. however, can't say the same things about its shoddy design, material and construction. i've examined the level of designers, contractors and workers working on some of the projects. they won't pass code in many 1st world cities which have tight rules on buildings going over 5 stories. in other words, it's still 3rd world in sg.

 

[shelltox]

Can the HDB, SCDF or MND clarify why there are no back doors in HDB flats? All private condos have them except HDB flats. In a high rise environment, surely this is a very important thing to have. The many lives that were lost to fiires in HDB flats and shophouses could have been saved if they all had a fire exit. Why did the SCDF/FSB not insist it as a mandatory requirement for HDB? Instead, they got the town councils to divert attention by pointing to obstructions to fire escape staircases in HDB corridors.

bcos once you are in a hdb , there's no escape

 

[kingrant]

good to know that none from hdb had jumped down the window because of a fire....
Happy New Year

Don't bring yr daftness into yr new year. Reports of people jumping from windows were from ST lah. You just trying to be a pain in the ass or what?

 

[kingrant]

the 2nd exit at the kitchen is actually meant for maids and kitchen helpers to go in and out of the house, without disturbing the guests at the living room....

true fire escape is a separate enclosed route leading straight to ground level, not to the lift lobby shared by the main entrance...

Oh is that right? where is yr source from?

 

[po2wq]

install smoke detractors?

wat r smoke detractors? ...

 

[kingrant]

typo mistake?

He meant smoke detectors. There are portable battery-operated types which you hang on the wall, pref around the kitchen area. You changed batteries every time daylight savings time is changed. Nothing related except it tends to be forgotten so resetting daylight time is a reminder tool.

They are requirements in households in the West. In SIN, a good habit to have.