The fire department study required taking
samples from all types of fires to
determine what poisonous gases were
present, synthetic materials emit
toxic gases when burned, and it was
believed those gases directly contributed
to fire fatalities comes now a researcher
who has been studying the fire
department's work.
He says most fires don't produce enough
poison gas to kill you.
He followed cyanide, hydrochloric
acid, aldehydes,
among others, and have not
found any fires to produce a lethal
quantity of these gases.
Only ten point five percent of
the fires produce a lethal
quantity of carbon monoxide.
What's more, it doesn't matter if the
fire's fuel is synthetic like this
plastic or natural like a wood house.
They're both just as deadly because
physical
factors, chemical factors, toxicological
factors all point
to a
deprivation of oxygen from the
blood. In other words, you'd
suffocate before you became a victim
of poisonous gas.
A fine line, admittedly, but there are
some far ranging implications here.
And we'll discuss those tomorrow.
Clip on Channel 5, Action News, Dallas.