To flee or not to flee, this is a decision that must be made as quickly in any fire outbreak.

There is no absolute answer or pattern for making the choice during a crisis. People need to be highly circumspect and responsive to different situations.

Under most circumstances, people should flee as soon as possible. In the case of the Garley Building fire, for example, some failed to respond quickly before the fire started to spread. By the time they realized the fire was serious, they were trapped and eventually died in the flames, or even jumped from the building. Nonetheless, to flee does not work in all situations.

In the 1997 Mei Foo Sun Chuen fire, while memories of the Garley Building fire were still fresh in the memory of Hong Kong people, and some residents did flee to escape their burning building but the hallways already were choked by thick smoke. Many of the victims prove to have died from smoke inhalation.

Had they stayed inside their flats and waited for rescue, they might have survived.

Indeed there were some who survived the Mei Foo fire who stayed in their rooms, using wet towels to block openings under the doors to stop the smoke from pouring in.

It is a fact that most victims of fires succumb to smoke inhalation, rather than being burnt to death by the flames.

Guidelines from the Fire Services Department in case of fire: http://www.hkfsd.gov.hk/home/eng/source/safety/what_to_do.pdf

(HK Edition 12/16/2011 page4)