Just a drill on Mort Street

EvanJames said :

Are those Mort St buildings Tax now? Back in the olden days, as they were building them, it was all DEET. The official marshalling area was Veteren’s Park, but I guess now everyone is in cotton wool, they can’t possibly cross the road. What a joke.

Nah, buildings on Mort street are them DEEWR

EvanJames said :

Are those Mort St buildings Tax now? Back in the olden days, as they were building them, it was all DEET. The official marshalling area was Veteren’s Park, but I guess now everyone is in cotton wool, they can’t possibly cross the road. What a joke.

Pretty sure the evacuation was of the tax buildings around the corner.

Are those Mort St buildings Tax now? Back in the olden days, as they were building them, it was all DEET. The official marshalling area was Veteren’s Park, but I guess now everyone is in cotton wool, they can’t possibly cross the road. What a joke.

Wow! That’s a REALLY crappy marshalling area.

scorpio63 said :

and it is about time some innovative Engineers put forth some concepts on some types of abseiling devices to swing a few people down at a time from top floors of these newer skyrises in Civic.

Or mandatory parachutes for the real thing, allocated to people between Floors 3-7 or 3-11.

Gone are the days relying upon timely evacuations via stairways, as the population is far too great amongst public servants in Canberra/Civic.

Some real engineers have been working on better options for people in high rise buildings in emergencies, though thankfully they’ve avoided such cartoonish things.

The major trend at the moment is improving evacuation routes while also providing non-evacuation alternatives such as safe rooms every few floors.

Making evacuation stairs wider with phosfluorecynt markings to mark the path even in blackouts are some easy to implement options as are providing portable breathing kits in stairwells. It’s always seemed crazy that with the equipment rescue crews carry, building stairs are still barely wide enough for them, much less taking firies up while people come down.

Safe rooms, or in some extreme cases safe floors (where whole floors serve the purpose) are also becoming more common. Strengthened with significant fireproofing in conjunction with a much more fireproof building core structure negates the need to evacuate, particular where evacuation routes are blocked.
Some have even been equipped with special single pane windows instead of the usual multilayer glass to allow for easier egress to the outside of the building.

Unfortunately this is a govie building, done on a budget and not really big enough to warrant such innovations I guess.

buzz819 said :

It’s good to see that as part of the drill they just stand at the bottom of the “burning” building.

A detonation of any sort (eg a briefcase full of HE) in the foyer would send glass and fragments scything through that mob like uh…well, like scythes through a mob of public servants. Falling debris would crush them etc…

I’m a fire warden at my workplace, and for reasons that I can’t comprehend, trying to move people to the actual evacuation point well away from the premises in order to avoid toxic smoke, flame, explosions etc is a herculean task.

Insufficient exits to that particular building for fire emergency or any evacuation.

Evan is it not the ATO Building as opposed to the DEEWR buildings?

People passed out during the six floor descent caused by overcrowding on stairwells, unlike any other Departmental evacuation I have participated in anywhere in Canberra 18 months ago.

The drills are far too regular, taking 2 hours out of each day and appear to cause more hazards than the occasional ‘real thing’.

The Government should by OH&S Law, put in another couple of exits/stairwells OR relocate some of their staff to other unused buildings around Canberra instead of overpopulating buildings and it is about time some innovative Engineers put forth some concepts on some types of abseiling devices to swing a few people down at a time from top floors of these newer skyrises in Civic.

Or mandatory parachutes for the real thing, allocated to people between Floors 3-7 or 3-11.

Gone are the days relying upon timely evacuations via stairways, as the population is far too great amongst public servants in Canberra/Civic.

Yep that was just the entire population of the two ATO Genge Street buildings flooding around the corners for a drill. Apparently crossing Mort Street is just too dangerous hence the footpath gathering rather than a crowd in Veteran’s Park.

It’s good to see that as part of the drill they just stand at the bottom of the “burning” building.

Good old DEET Street. The department has had so many name changes I guess it’s not called that any more. Interesting that they appear to have a uniform… Black. When they’re allowed back in, the smart ones wander off and get a coffee and avoid the crazy packed lifts.