I just wanted to pick up on the smoke colour.
I happened to be reading a guide to the United Kingdom Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety)
Order yesterday (don't ask!) The one I was reading was for producing a Fire Risk
Assessment for Small And Medium Places Of Assembly.
Link
http://www.communities.gov.uk/pub/426/SmallandMediumPlacesofAssemblyfullguide_id1500426.pdf
At the bottom of page 16 (document page) is this paragraph.
Smoke produced by a fire also contains
toxic gases which are harmful to
people. A fire in a building with modern
fittings and materials generates smoke
that is thick and black, obscures vision,
causes great difficulty in breathing and
can block the escape routes.
This fits with my experience, and it has been mentioned by other posters here, the smoke
colour is mainly influenced by what is burning, and is not indicative of oxygen
starvation.
Dave
Edited to change Entertainment to Assembly in the document name