the buxton fire
why did dennis quaid throw his helmet out of the building during the fire?
shareI wondered that myself ( just watched this movie again Friday night with my sisters ) until I saw the helmet lying on the ground a few minutes later... he kept a picture of himself with his wife & his son tucked inside ( for good luck, perhaps? )... that's the only thing I can think of as the reason he threw it out the window... he couldn't wear the helmet while he was sliding down the chute, but didn't want to leave it, along with the picture, to get burned up in the fire... maybe?
The hardest thing in this world is to live in it.
40 years ago. If a firefighter was trapped, the last thing he would do was throw his helmet outside
to signal his last known location. Hopefully, they would find a way to reach him, but at least they would know where to start looking.
Good point... and probably based on knowledge, rather than speculation the way mine was.
... the hardest thing in this world is to live in it...
Physics.
He broke a window with his helmet, so that the flames could divert to outside of the building (more oxygen), giving him more chances to escape the fire.
Surprised to see people speculating on this. apedros86 is right and should be pretty obvious. If you're in a room filled with smoke, wouldn't you break the window so the smoke would escape providing you with more breathable air?
shareThere are many factors involved. You may break a window to dissipate smoke, but not because 'breathable air' becomes an issue. The idea is that if you can breathe, so can the fire. Breaking windows or opening dorrs during a fire has been known to cause explosions, backdrafts or 'flash overs' due to the fire receiving additional oxygen.
shareA flashover occurs when there is plenty of oxygen already, and the fire is free-burning--it is the sudden ignition of all room contents once a sufficient temperature has been reached--been in one before with a ceiling collapse--helmet saved my head, but torqued my neck. A backdraft, or smoke explosion, is the sudden addition of oxygen to a fire that has already smoldered-down, but contents are still available to burn again. I've been in a few--they don't explode with as much force as seen in movies--windows blow-out, but that's about it. A firefighter won't open or break windows for ventilation, while inside unless they have a hoseline in operation--doing so without a hoseline could intensify the fire. 23-years in the FD--Line-of-Duty (LOD) retired. Never forget 9/11.
shareNo, apedros86 is NOT correct! The other posters who said it is a traditional fireman's signal of distress, and to signal his location to be rescued as a last alternative, is correct; the director and writer talk about it on the commentary.
shareI thought at first it was to let the flames out. Or to let them know where he was.
But then I knew that he did not intend that anyone rescue him.
So throwing the helmet off and out was a sign of distress and to preserve the picture, since they showed the picture as big as you please when the helmet landed on the ground!!