This is an interesting picture. How many inspections have you been on where a room was so full of stuff that you couldn't get in to look around.
That may be what happened here. A hoarder comes to mind too.
I also like that "everybody" wants to see what is going on. I can just see this fire getting going and starting to work it's way out of that room with smoke and gases filling that corridor.
This is an extreme example of why we need to do inspections and enforce fire codes, but it is a good illustration of how bad it could get if we don't do our job in regards to prevention.
Stay safe and be careful. Stay warm too, it's a balmy -1 this morning in Missouri.
LET IT BURN!!!!! your life is more important then the junk. you can do inspections but if the owner doesn't listen then you have to make the call your self. as an officer i wouldn't let my firefighters in side if we ran across sometime like this.
I do most of the fire inspections at the volunteer department I am on, and this reminds me of a place in that district. The fire load is very high in this building, so much so that I asked the chief to make this a "no entry" building if it ever catches fire. Paths all throughout the place. I have been able to get a cleanup started, but its a work in progress. The other question is, what else is under this stuff? I found half full cans of gasoline (quickly removed after finding them) under some stuff in a room like this. Like Kirk stated, let it burn, our safety comes first! Stay safe out there!
For any pack rats out there (and I confess to being a recovering one myself), I recommend Brooks Palmer's book "Clutter Busting." www.clutterbusting.com