rail system in the world. but on the evening of november 18th, 1987, commuters are unaware that disaster lurks beneath them. at 7:30 p.m., a passenger at the historic king s cross station sees a flicker of flame underneath the heavily varnished, 50-year-old wooden escalator. the london fire brigade is dispatched. it seems to be a routine call. an everyday call to a fire in an escalator, something we were receiving probably 20 or 30 times a month. so, it was no big deal. fire captain roger kendall, one of the first to reach the scene, waits above ground for his supervisor to report. we were waiting for message to come back to say that we re all going home or we may need a bit of equipment. trains continued to come and go, despite the minor commotion. musician ron lipsius arrives at the station on one of those
escalator and into the ticket hall, incinerating everything in their path. this thing is like a monster. there was just a complete rush of thick, black smoke from the subways, and it was right at that moment we realized that a flashover had occurred. flashover is a virtually instantaneous spread of fire. everything flammable ignites simultaneously. so, from two minutes, it had gone from apparently the size of a cardboard box to a major disaster. firefighters tried desperately to get inside the station but are driven back by the intense heat and smoke. firefighters were collapsing left, right and center. the heat down there had made some of them urinate themselves with fear. and when they came out to the top, they weren t capable of moving again. a lot of them were collapsing into heaps. ron lipsius stumbles into the chaos outside, and for the first time, realizes he is badly
searing flames rip up the escalator and into the ticket hall, incinerating everything in their path. this thing is like a monster. there was just a complete rush of thick, black smoke from th subways, and it was right at that moment we realized that a flashover had occurred. flashover is a virtually instantaneous spread of fire. everything flammable ignites simultaneously. so, from two minutes, it had gone from apparently the size of a cardboard box to a major disaster. firefighters tried desperately to get inside the station but are driven back by the intense heat and smoke. firefighters were collapsing left, right and center. the heat down there had made some of them urinate themselves with fear. and when they came out to the top, they weren t capable of moving again. a lot of them were collapsing into heaps. ron lipsius stumbles into the chaos outside, and for the first time, realizes he is badly
rail system in the world. but on the evening of november 18th, 1987, commuters are unaware that disaster lurks beneath them. at 7:30 p.m., a passenger at the historic king s cross station sees a flicker of flame underneath the heavily varnished 50-year-old wooden escalator. the london fire brigade is dispatched. it seems to be a routine call. an everyday call to a fire in an escalator, something we were receiving probably 20 or 30 times a month. so, it was no big deal. fire captain roger kendall, one of the first to reach the scene, waits above ground for his supervisor to report. we were waiting for message to come back to say that we re all going home or we may need a bit of equipment. trains continued to come and go, despite the minor commotion. musician ron lipsius arrives at
this thing is like a monster. there was just a complete rush of thick, black smoke from the subways and it was right at that moment we realize that the flashover occurred. flashover is a virtually instantaneous spread of fire. everything flammable ignites simultaneously. from two minutes it had gone apparently the size of a cardboard box to a major disaster. firefighters try desperately to get inside the station but are driven back by the intense heat and smoke. firefighters were collapsing left, right and center. the heat down there had made some of them urinate themselves with fear. and when they came out into the top, they weren t capable of moving again. a lot of them were collapsing into heaps. ron lipsius stumbles into the chaos outside, and for the first time realizes he is badly burned. i looked at my hands and