Fire safety?

[The Borg Queen]

What kind of fire safety technology do they have on Earth that apparently doesn't alert the emergency services of a fire, but also has no suppressive ability in the case of an uncontrolled fire?

Or were Picard's relatives such Luddites they didn't even have a smoke alarm?

[Sandoval]

Gas explosion? The chateau's fusion reactor blew and torched them all in a few seconds?

Shit happens...

[Unicron]

Who says no one was notified of the fire? That doesn't mean they'd necessarily arrive in time to save the Picard family, or that fire suppression systems would be the same sort of containment that the Enterprise uses (force fields seem a very practical method, but also seems of higher importance on a starship).

[Sandoval]

Rene was probably messing about with a lighter and a can of aerosol. You know what kids are like.

Little bastards.

[Timo]

It's a Picard thing: Jean-Luc burned his starship.

And then tried to do it again in "New Ground". One begins to wonder if the wall-of-flame fantasy in "Where No One" was that crewman's, or Picard's...

It's pretty difficult to imagine an effective futuristic fire suppression system. Fire, after all, is too darn similar to humans: both are based on combustion and require oxygen, heat, and hydrocarbons or other energetic chemicals in abundant supply.

Timo Saloniemi

[The Librarian]

It is, however, pretty easy to imagine futuristic fire & rescue services. (1) Fire detected, (2) beam everyone out, (3) beam standby firefighters from anywhere in the world to the fire.

[Pavonis]

What are "transporter locks" based on, though? If "life signs" means "body warmth", fire would be an effective mask, preventing transporter lock and thus immediate rescue.

Though Picard said Robert and Rene "burned to death in the fire", it seems more likely that they succumbed to smoke inhalation. Perhaps they were dead long before there was any alarm tripped. I recognize that modern detectors can trigger on heat or smoke, so why don't futuristic systems do at least that much?

What would a civilian home fire suppression system look like? A force field generated around the fire? Would the Picard family chateau have a modern system like that? Would it have the power supply, the generators, etc?

And how or why did Marie survive?

[The Borg Queen]

I'd imagine instead of a sprinkler system, they'd have a super futuristic sprinkler system that... puts out fires with ice-cold water and/or non-electrically conductive foam?

[Tomalak]

The Borg Queen wrote:

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I'd imagine instead of a sprinkler system, they'd have a super futuristic sprinkler system that... puts out fires with ice-cold water and/or non-electrically conductive foam?

Maybe in an official building in a city. But in Robert's ancient Provançal farmhouse? He didn't exactly seem the type to go overboard with super futuristic stuff.

[Sandoval]

"Super futuristic?" What? Ice cold water and foam?

I wouldn't call that "super futuristic" in 2012, never mind 2371.

[Chemahkuu]

The Picard fmaily shrugged off all modern technology and lived more or less even more primitive a life than people today. So crappy old smoke alarms, the quiet of the farm, something burns away, smoke inhalation etc

[T'Girl]

Pavonis wrote:

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And how or why did Marie survive?

It's France, she was spending the evening with her lover.

[The Borg Queen]

Sandoval wrote:

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"Super futuristic?" What? Ice cold water and foam?

I wouldn't call that "super futuristic" in 2012, never mind 2371.

I was being sarcastic, you know.