Marcus L. Rowland <forgottenfutures@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> Your original message described the fire alarm going off in a brand
> new building. This does not seem to be quite the same situation
> as a place with hundreds of hoaxes. There is no history of hoaxes
> there, and presumably no reason to assume that the equipment is
> faulty. And you are not there every day, and have no information
> on how likely a hoax is.
> Or am I missing something?
I generalized from my experience with other large buildings.
Also, I had noticed several doors that were marked that the fire alarm
would sound if they were opened. I thought it far more likely that
someone had opened one of those doors than that there was a real fire.
Also, the building has, as I mentioned, a large central atrium in
which smoke from any non-trivial fire would be evident, and I saw no
smoke there or anywhere else, nor did I smell any.
Also, the building is made of concrete and glass, not wood, meaning
that there is little chance of a small fire spreading.
Also, there were stairways in both directions, and there was access to
the roof, so I figured even if a large fire suddenly appeared, there
would be little chance of my being trapped by it.
Was I taking a risk? Sure. A very, very small risk. I was far
more likely to be killed crossing the street to get back to the
Metro station.
--
Keith F. Lynch - http://keithlynch.net/
Please see http://keithlynch.net/email.html
before emailing me.


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