PIF: Fire Safety - Shut It Out (c.1986)

Easily one of the creepiest fire safety PIFs ever created, and one that gave me nightmares for years. Also, one of my first uses in anger of a TV capture card. Featuring a perverse cat-and-mouse chase (or, small-girl-and-big-tank chase) and a very graphic demonstration of how simply closing a door can hold off even a flamethrower long enough for you to hug your woobie. Or escape, if you prefer. The concept is extreme. The photography and the soundtrack make it chilling.

This version, recorded off-air from ITV Central in 1986, carries the Derbyshire County Council logo. It was also networked and rebranded by other local authorities.

Original footage: Off-air recording from ITV Central, 1986. Originally encoded in Indeo. Re-encoded uncompressed for compatibility.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• PIF
• fire
• safety
• girl
• tank
• doors

[Duvmasta]

Scare Factor: 9/10

[TashkentFox]

Probably depends on the door, I doubt one of those nasty 1960's plywood doors would keep you safe for very long.

[TheRANDOMKid9]

@Duvmasta more like 12!

[alexiscortez]

why is this ad supposed 2 b scary?

[Mamacita8701]

It just makes you want to rescue the little girl! It's so creepy!

[nick987789]

@LordlyJeremy The US used flamethrower tanks in the Pacific (against the Japanese) in WW2.

[Duvmasta]

I was never in a fire, but i've dreamed that i was in one.

[spy4863]

I notice that the VO's script was changed from "It will give you 10 precious minutes to get out." to "It will give you precious minutes to get out." Did they change it because they realized that how much time you have to get out depends on the thickness of the door? That's what I figure.

[spy4863]

I like this ad because it IS scarey and informative. I've been through two fires in my life-the first back in '79. Luckily my family and I were on vacation at the time, so no one was in the house. The second in 2005 was a grease fire that started in my apartment kitchen when I made the dumb mistake of turning my back on a pot I was trying to fry chicken in. Luckily, nobody was hurt in either fire. But I can safely say tyhat while this ad is scarey, a real fire is even scarier.

[LordlyJeremy]

Hey, Army scientists! Flamethrower tanks! Get on it!