[Sandwich]

Interesting... I never thought of the carpet factor. There's virtually no such thing as wall to wall carpeting here in Israel - stone tile floors are the norm, with perhaps some strategically-placed Persian rugs in the salon.

I've tweeted a real life fireman (JSano from the Minecraft scene) about this thread and asked if he'd be able to chime in.

[Blue Lion]

By the way, US fire statistics...

http://www.usfa.fema.gov/data/statistics/#tab-1

[Sandwich]

By the way, US fire statistics...

http://www.usfa.fema.gov/data/statistics/#tab-1

Exactly. In one single year (2003), the US had almost as many fire-related deaths (3,925) as it had earthquake deaths for the past 200+ years (4,032).

Economics or not, that just doesn't make sense to me.

[Polpolion]

In one single year (2003), the US had almost as many fire-related deaths (3,925) as it had earthquake deaths for the past 200+ years (4,032).

Economics or not, that just doesn't make sense to me.

You're comparing apples and oranges. I honestly don't think you can infer much of value by comparing those two statistics. 1) In 1810 the US census listed a population of less than 8 million. One hundred years later in 1910, 92 million. Comparing number of deaths alone in the past 40 years to the previous 160 is practically meaningless. 2) The majority of the US population does not live near fault lines. You would not expect to see many earthquake deaths in proportion to total deaths. 3) Dangerous earthquakes just aren't all that common (note SF 1906: fire). Earthquakes per se just don't kill a lot of people. 4) The most common causes of fires (heating, cooking, electricity, smoking, fires) are all much more common than earthquakes. You would expect to see many more fire deaths than earthquake deaths.

[Mongoose]

Not only that, but 4000 fire deaths out of a population of over 300 million is...what?  0.001%?  In that same year, almost 43,000 Americans died in automobile accidents, and even that is a tiny percentage of the population.  And according to the statistics I've seen, just having working smoke detectors in a house cuts the rate of fire fatalities in half.  It would be utter economic suicide to use a far more costly building material to prevent what is, in the grand scheme of things, a miniscule number out of all Americans that die in a given year.

And again, even if you build a masonry-framework house, much of the interior is going to still be flammable (see: the White House in the War of 1812).  Unless you're suggesting that the entire structure, interior walls and all, should all be stone, which is just crazy.

[Phantom Hoover]

By the way, US fire statistics...

http://www.usfa.fema.gov/data/statistics/#tab-1

Exactly. In one single year (2003), the US had almost as many fire-related deaths (3,925) as it had earthquake deaths for the past 200+ years (4,032).

Economics or not, that just doesn't make sense to me.

Yeah OK but most, perhaps even all, of those deaths would still happen in stone houses.

[NGTM-1R]

Exactly. In one single year (2003), the US had almost as many fire-related deaths (3,925) as it had earthquake deaths for the past 200+ years (4,032).

Economics or not, that just doesn't make sense to me.

This is because you don't understand that people pass out from smoke and choke to death rather than, you know, actually burn to death, so the majority of those deaths happened before their immediate surroundings were on fire, much less the structural material of the building.

But hey, I already pointed that out once and you're still acting like this.

I mean, even just closing a wooden door would delay a fire entering a room in a wooden house by a minute or more; usually more than enough time to allow escape out a window in most rooms.

[AdmiralRalwood]

I mean, even just closing a wooden door would delay a fire entering a room in a wooden house by a minute or more; usually more than enough time to allow escape out a window in most rooms.

By code, fire-rated doors are rated for at least 20 minutes. Yes, there are wooden fire-rated doors.

[Dragon]

It's all a matter of properly treating the wood. Impregnated wood is surprisingly non-flammable, by the time it does catch on fire everyone inside would be either dead or evacuated already. Fire mostly spreads through furniture (usually wood or plastic, both flammable), cloth, carpets (if present) and other interior fittings. Flats in huge concrete blocks that make up most of Poland's housing infrastructure can catch on fire just the same. I haven't seen a house (outside of military settings, that is) that would be just stone/concrete and metal. That would be pretty non-flammable, but not exactly homely. The amount of plastics we use is staggering, and most of those not only burn, they also do so in a very dirty way that produces a lot of poisonous smoke.