25 years ago, Dutch researchers tested how fast fire can spread through a flammable ceiling in a café or bar setting.

It seems to start slow, and then it spreads at an exponential speed. Explains how it went from teens filming the fire to teens being trapped in a burning room in mass panic. Very sad event.

Faster than I expected 😱

holy shit needs to be shown in schools so not to stand around filming it if in this freakin situation

Water delivery truck is faster than the fire department!

This is one of the best visualizations of exponential growth.

We studied flammability in architecture school and it is one of the courses that I will never forget. Everyone should take fire safety, seriously.

This is 16 seconds on Jan 1st, at the bar in Switzerland. That ceiling fire isn’t “flames.” It’s burning polyurethane gas. That’s why the air disappears. If you see fire — leave immediately.

This is exactly what happened to those who died in Switzerland RIP💔

This what happened to swiss club

This is a simulation from the fire in ‘t Hemeltje (Volendam, the Netherlands in 2000) where dry pine branches on the ceiling caught fire due to the use of sparklers.

as part of an investigation after a dramatic fire in a bar that killed 14 young people on New Year’s Eve

Fun fact: Fires double in size every second. Another fun fact: Recording a fire does NOT help you survive.

One minute. You would have had one minute from ignition to leave that building before you were engulfed in a fireball.

25 years later and we haven’t learned our lesson

*casually puts out fire. Continues to boogie.* 🤣😭

I’ll always remember seeing experiment videos like this and take fires seriously

@Claudio52420330 And sadly humanity didn't learn 😢

Kind guy prepared a small puddle in the forest and recorded the creatures that came to visit

Fire brigades in the UK used to go round schools and give talks on what to do if there is a fire . Our kids never had anything like this .

what the hell, it's so fast

Momentum seemed slow at first and then super fast. Terrifying to try to escape.

A farmer trying to save his neighbor's field from fire in Weld County, Colorado.Once alarmed, he ran home and grabbed his equipment to help out.

Japanese firefighter

Apparently the kids in Switzerland didn't see that video on tiktok.

my feed is totally gonna love this one

creepy experiment but kinda needed tho

This nightmare repeats itself with alarming frequency despite the past fires. Flammable ceiling tiles are easily identified so why used in a basement bar in Switzland? The same applies to using combustible materials on blocks of flats as we saw at Grenfell Tower in London during 2017..

This video proves one thing: fire does not give you time. In enclosed spaces, seconds decide who lives. A harmless spark becomes a death sentence in under a minute. People don’t die because they panic. They die because safety was ignored, exits were blocked, and “it’ll be fine” was trusted. This isn’t footage. It’s a warning. See fire? Leave. Don’t film. Don’t hesitate. Fire moves faster than regret.

Unsurprisingly, given that the Dutch had their own experience of a New Year’s Day bar fire in Volendam on January 1 2001. Fourteen young people died, primarily from smoke inhalation, burns, and crush injuries. More than 200 people suffered serious injuries (many with severe burns requiring long-term treatment, skin grafts, and multiple surgeries), and around 241 were hospitalised in total. It is very similar to the recent fire in Switzerland, in that it was an accident waiting to happen. Overcrowding, lack of exits, inadequate governance by the local authorities and the fire service, and negligence by the cafe owner(s) all contributed to the disaster.

Foam is hyper fuel. Why they don’t use rockwool instead baffles me. It’s also better for room acoustics

Holy crap! That’s insane! You literally have seconds to get out to get away from the smoke. If you don’t get out in a minute the fire will finish you off

you mean when “cafe het hemeltje” (ironic name) was on fire and ppl died?

This happened 25 years ago.

i worked in a Hotel for almost 20 years in Hungary! we had 2 fire drill every year and the fire department come to check every 3 month......and this is fkng eastern europe! NOT the WESTERN EUROPE and on the top of that SWITZERLAND!!! the land of precize and strict laws....shame

Your context is missing and is very important to this test. Speed of flame spread all depends on the material from which the ceiling is constructed. This specific test was related to the use of EPS as a decorative ceiling lining following an earlier night club fire