British Pathe

London.

L/S of a high-rise tower block with red double-decker buses driving past, tilt up the height of the building - "one problem, now solved, was whether these modern homes incurred a greater fire risk than the normal house".

Boreham Wood (Borehamwood), Hertfordshire.

M/S...

London.

L/S of a high-rise tower block with red double-decker buses driving past, tilt up the height of the building - "one problem, now solved, was whether these modern homes incurred a greater fire risk than the normal house".

Boreham Wood (Borehamwood), Hertfordshire.

M/S of a man carrying a wooden lattice block. He places the block on a table next to two smaller blocks. Panning shot along the row of blocks, models of modern multi-skyscrapers. M/S of two researchers at the Joint Fire Research Organisation. A metal tank is suspended from a cantilever, one of the researchers places a block in the tank. The experiment records how rapidly the skyscraper model burns by how quickly it loses weight. C/U of the weighing device at the top of the cantilever. C/U of a researcher starting a fire at the bottom of the block in the tank. M/S of the cantilever and the block burning very fiercely. C/U of the block burning, tilt up to the cantilever cable. M/S of the researcher kneeling taking notes, panning shot to the other researcher watching some instruments. C/U of flames coming from the tank, tilt up to the cantilever. C/U of one of the researchers looking at the fire, the heat and flames cause him to squint, tilt down to the fire - the block is almost reduced to ashes.

M/S of another laboratory, flames leap from an open hatch in a large tank, two researchers are observing the experiment. C/U of the male researcher turning a knob that lets gas into the tank to control the rate of burning and discover if it is affected by the height or ferocity of the flames. C/U of the flames. C/U of a graph pen moving. M/S of the laboratory with the flaming tank.

M/S of the radiation room, a female researcher is putting on asbestos gloves. C/U of the researcher placing a piece of fibreboard in front of a "gas fired panel". M/S of the researcher watching as the board bursts into flames, tilt down to reveal a male researcher taking notes on a clipboard.

Exterior. M/S of a crowd of observers. M/S, looking through a window, of a researcher examining a pile of lattice wood blocks. Smoke rises from the bottom of the pile and the researcher exits. L/S of the four-storey building "specially constructed with fire-preventative material" that should limit any fire to the floor it started in. Tilt down the height of the building and the crowd. M/S of two men taking notes, panning shot to smoke coming from the windows. L/S of the crowd and the building. M/S of two men backing away from the flames leaping from the windows. High angle M/S of four official looking men observing the fire. M/S of the fierce flames, tilt up the height of the building. M/S of the burning building. M/S of a woman and a man using a cine camera to film the fire, panning shot to the fire.