Would You Feel Safe Living In One Of Them? (apartment, construction, rentals)

[tijlover]

I was on Skyscraperpage.com, looking at all the new apartment building developments going on across the country today, and I was shocked to see pictures of apartment buildings, where there's one floor of concrete above the first floor, and up to 5 floors of wooden construction on top!

I thought this was illegal! I thought wooden apartment buildings could only go 3 stories, max!

I have such a terror of fires, always have had, and I can't possibly imagine myself getting a good night's sleep living on the top floor of one of these buildings, unless I had an extra-long knotted rope by my bedside, in case a fire broke out some night.

I've read of enough fires in apartment buildings in this city, over the years, people getting displaced in the middle of the night by a careless smoker, someone leaving the stove on, etc., and I currently live somewhere, to ease my fear of fires, in a townhouse with concrete walls on both sides. A unit burned out in my complex some time ago, and the fire was contained to that unit!

Perhaps they've got some new fireproofing advancements in these buildings I'm unaware of, but it scares me to death even look at these buildings under construction!

Would you feel safe living on the top floor of one of these buildings, or anywhere else in these buildings?

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Yes, it is a legitimate worry. Many fires are in rentals and very often they are in apartment buildings and several units will be burned. Watch the news and you will see that very clearly.

If a new building is wood over concrete, then it has passed inspection and is built to code. I would expect any new building to have fire escapes if they were over 3 stories tall. So fire escapes would be something to look for.

I suggest that you do not rent a unit in one of those buildings since they make you uncomfortable.

Would I rent a unit? No, I don't like my neighbors on a common wall or over my head, so personally, I won't rent any sort of apartment of any type of construction.