. this is "nightline." >> she was rescued as her house went up in flames. but do you know how best to survive a fire in your own home? we're with the experts finding out what to do to beat the blaze. we're with a teen-ager who has already won a world championship as he faces off against the best of the best in a red bull competition you have to see to believe. and mega stars, you've heard a coma-con. welcome to bid-con.

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good evening. you're about to see for yourself what it's like to be in a raging inferno. tonight finding out what you need to know to escape the

flames. >> do you see flames or smoke? >> a woman hysterical as she's trapped, flames ripping through her home at an apartment complex in nashville, tennessee. >> the thing is burning down! >> get out of the building! >> the fireman helped rescue the woman and pull her to safety. >> she froze just standing there looking at it. >> listen to me, you need to go. >> at that point i just pushed her along and explained to her if she hurries up, she'll be safe. >> oh, my god! >> this time a construction worker trapped in houston, texas, taking this leap of faith. >> oh, no, oh, no! >> seconds later the construction site up in flames. >> i said i'm going to die right here. i said, god, you got to help me out here. >> reporter: more than 2,700 americans killed in house fires

in 2013, more than 360,000 homes consumed. ground zero for most of these fires, the kitchen. >> you used to have as much as 17 minutes to get out of your home. now we're looking at three minutes or less. >> reporter: the reason could be your furniture. >> our homes are filled now with plastic synthetic materials. >> reporter: watch as laboratory tests show how quickly a fire can spread in an open floor plan house. in just nine minutes, temperatures spike to 1,400 degrees. taking notes, dozens of firefighters across the world, giving them important data and a vital message. >> the critical component is oxygen. as soon as you close that door, you shut off the source of oxen. >> reporter: to understand the dynamics of a fire, i joined the pros at the training field in

college station, texas. how hot is it going to be? >> anywhere from 400 to 6 hoon00 degrees. we're not here to kill you or to melt you. we're here to teach you something. >> reporter: it's hot all right. look at our thermoheater at 900 degrees. >> now stand up. it's a lot different, isn't it? we're going to take the available oxygen in the room and replace it with whatever is burning. >> reporter: experts say if you're ever in a fire, get low, crawl on your hands and knees. the ground will be cooler, visibility better and more oxygen, something firefighters do. >> you crawl in and you see and you feel. when you can't see, you have to rely on your field and your hearing.

you have to feel for that heat. if you don't feel the heat, you're not in the right spot. >> reporter: we crawled towards the kitchen where so many fires start. the heat and the weight of the hose nearly debilitating. sparks shooting everywhere. if you're a victim of a fire, you're in that house, waiting for you guys to come in, what's the most important thing you can tell one of those people. >> stay calm and get as far away from the fire as possible. >> reporter: a few miles away and a couple of hours later, our cameras are rolling as the bryan fire department is dispatched. this is no ordinary call. they're working with us to simulate a house fire. >> structure fire. >> reporter: this time i'm the one caught in the fire trying to figure my way out, going through doors, windows and avoiding the red tape that means fire.

the smoke suddenly fills the room. i can't see past my hands as i try to reach my kids, simulated by these pillars. >> go right. >> reporter: i make it out but not without mistakes. >> when you got to the door, did you feel it? >> reporter: i did not. i just opened it right away. also, never take anything with you. >> whatever think you want to grab, that's a mistake. >> reporter: we did it and the team reset. this time the crews made it a little bit more difficult. i'm going to try to apply the lessons that john just told me. >> fire, fire, fire! >> reporter: it's really thick right here. i quickly make it around a few obstacles, check the door handles and grab the kids. >> susie. jake. jake, i got you, buddy.

come on, kids. oh, man. all right, there's another fire. >> reporter: remember, the red tape means fire. that's blocked off. i have to find another way out. maybe the way i came. all the exits are blocked. the smoke drives me to my hands and knees. i feel trapped and freeze. right now i'd be dead. >> normal exit points are closed. these windows here in the living room have been blocked off by fire. other bedroom has two points of exits but there are other exits that we need to consider. >> reporter: come on, kids. ah, the windows in the kids' rooms. i panicked. even knowing this wasn't real. i was thinking about doors but out. >> and that was the closest to where you were at the time. >> right. >> it's a common mistake. people want to get out the door they use the most, whether they

come in the garage or the front door. the closest exit is the one you want to take. >> reporter: the biggest lesson is know your exit drill. it will save you time and safe your life. >> up next, an american trip lining prodigy takes on the competition from around the globe. plus, our katie couric goes inside bid-con. they're names might sound silly but internet fame is serious business. connections you almost miss. and ones you never thought you'd make. we help connect where you are. to places you never thought you'd go. this, is why we travel. and why we continue to create new technology to connect you to the people and places that matter.

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de la. slack lining or trick lining is all performed on an oversized rubber band. and it's 30 feet up in the air. it a hot new extreme sport that attracts prodigies, but it can also be dangerous. we got an inside look at one jaw-dropping competition. >> trick lining is the fast

growing extreme sport where athletes walk, bounce, flip and spin on a strap just 2 inches wide. >> 2two inches wide. unbelievable. >> alex mason is about to take on one of the biggest challenges in his young career. >> reporter: are you nervous? do you feel there's nothing to lose? >> i'm absolutely nervous about it. >> reporter: the red bull competition is jacking up the hype factor. these lines are 30 feet off the ground. surprising what being high off the ground can do to your mind, even if you know you're not going to get injured, you're afraid of getting injured. >> i usually don't fall. >> reporter: easy for you to say.

in a sport dominated by europeans, alex mason is one of the only americans taking part in bay lines. they call him the machine, moving like clockwork through tricks with their own imposing names. >> that's a freefall. >> reporter: tell me about the mason flip, this trick that's named after you. >> i actually didn't name the mason flip the mason flip. >> reporter: that makes it better. >> i resisted it, i took this front flip to butt bounce, front flip. nobody had done that rotation before. it's really cool to have your name on something like that. >> reporter: alex won his first world championship the day after his 16th birthday. >> i have always been the shortest kid in my class. basketball never really worked, football never really worked either. >> reporter: so you just decided

to be a slacker. i love that term. >> yes. >> reporter: very shortly after being a slackliner, she did tricks i couldn't do. >> reporter: he knew all the while these literal leaps of faith come with real risks. >> last summer i broke my wrist pretty badly. completely broke this bone and then fractured this bone. concussions are pretty common. it can get dangerous. >> reporter: on the morning of the event, ten of alex's competitors put together make up the best trick liners on the globe ready to push the sport to new heights. >> it's a good day. all of the slack liners are being goofy. it makes my toes cringe. >> reporter: each has five

minutes to show their tricks on slack lines. the judges are legislateends in their own right. pierre has wowed crowds around the world in circue du soleil. because it's so new, they only have hours to get familiar with their routine. >> >>i didn't practice at all. i just see the line and see if i can go there. >> reporter: finally, alex is up. after a series of flips, alex failed a back flip attempt and hit the air bag. he'll get one more attempt to wow the judges. alex starts his second try off

strong but slips on a landing. for what feels like an ecertainty, he dangles backwards but then digs deep, finding the strength to pull himself back up to the line. >> i could have got pretty injured. didn't go great but could have been worse. >> 6, 7 and andy gives a 6 as well. >> got scores lower than i wish i would have. didn't land everything i tried. >> reporter: only six of the athletes can move on and alex doesn't make the cut. narrowed down to three, two showstoppers, along with american mickey wilson, who is nursing an injury from the last round. >> now i just have to figure out how to trick line with a broken finger.

>> yeah! who needs fingers! >> reporter: mickey, one of the oldest in the competition at 26, manages to stage an upset. it's a welcome victory for the scientist who put his career on hold for a life of slacking. >> i told myself i'm never going to have an opportunity to do this again ever so might as well do it now. >> reporter: for alex mason, the loss fuels his passion do his best. >> going into the future i'm going to train in a much more controlled way and really try to adjust to slack lining that high. >> up next, our katie couric takes us inside bid-con where some of our biggest celebrities

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is it me or does the world seem divided between those obsessed with buying videos and youtube channels and those who rarely dabble? increasingly the online superstars are crossing over into mainstream stardom. tonight katie couric gets a behind-the-scenes look behind bid-con. >> reporter: they're the biggest names you've never heard of if you're over a certain age like

me, modern day celebrities like smosh. >> this is freaking me out. >> and he can't even show his face without being recognized. more than 300 of these superstar creators are getting face to face with 20,000 of their biggest fans. >> bid-con is where the fans and creators can finally meet each other. so there is just tremendous energy. >> we love getting to meet the fans. it's so crazy and fun. >> it's my third year coming here. >> okay, jeff jarvis, media guru, what do you make of the whole scene? >> it's the future. tv is dead. this is about relationships. >> reporter: a variety study finding the five most influential figures for american kids between the ages of 13 and 18 are all youtube stars.

>> we live in a world now where a kid in the middle of the country could make a video and build an audience and a brand behind it. >> i didn't have to ask ooub permission to upload a video. it became a really great source of creativity for me without gatekeepers to have conversations with the people i would have wanted to watch me in tv and film but have it directly with them. >> reporter: in a landscape chockful of content, 300 hours of video are uploaded to youtube every minute. but how long will it last? are these going to are flashes in the pan? there's no guarantee they're going to continue to have the level of fame they have now. >> you really have to hope there's good structure in those kids' lives. it's not about loving the thing that the content gets you but