• Welcome to The Building Code Forum

    Your premier resource for building code knowledge.

    This forum remains free to the public thanks to the generous support of our Sawhorse Members and Corporate Sponsors. Their contributions help keep this community thriving and accessible.

    Want enhanced access to expert discussions and exclusive features? Learn more about the benefits here.

    Ready to upgrade? Log in and upgrade now.

Closed Bedroom Door

LGreene

REGISTERED
Joined
Oct 20, 2009
Messages
1,165
Location
San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
I saw 2 news stories today about the value of a closed door during a house fire. For those of you involved in the fire service, is this something that is currently taught in schools along with stop-drop-roll? My kids still get up during the night and open their bedroom doors. How do we get families on board with this simple but potentially life-saving practice?

http://idighardware.com/2015/11/close-the-door-2/
 
I have seen it happen. The grandson was in a guest bedroom with the door shut and lived. The rest of the building was pretty much gone.
 
Require self closing bedroom doors??

I know they are taught to feel a closed door
 
That has to depend on the door. Seems like the standard hollow core kindling style door wouldn't do much good at all.

Brent.
 
MASSDRIVER said:
That has to depend on the door. Seems like the standard hollow core kindling style door wouldn't do much good at all. Brent.
The UL guy said even a hollow core would give you an extra 5 minutes and a solid 10 minutes
 
Even the flimsiest doors seem to make a difference. I've been meaning to put together a folder of picts from the fire investigations where I had decent examples of this since I came up to our bureau. The sad thing is that the housekeeping in a lot of the places I investigate fires is such that most of the doors in the house won't close because of the piles of stuff on the floor.

My kids doors are shut. I catch myself closing doors around the house when we leave. Subliminal compartmentalization? or maybe a little OCD. :)
 
Truck3capt said:
Even the flimsiest doors seem to make a difference. I've been meaning to put together a folder of picts from the fire investigations where I had decent examples of this since I came up to our bureau. The sad thing is that the housekeeping in a lot of the places I investigate fires is such that most of the doors in the house won't close because of the piles of stuff on the floor.
I'd love to use some of your photos for educational purposes!
 
Let me see what I can put together with the other investigators. The files for fires that are classified as incendiary or undetermined are usually not released unless part of discovery in an ongoing case or through requests by the private investigators for the insurance company they work for.

I think the boss would be Ok with using some photos from the accidental fires. Our Public Education Officer makes shutting doors part of his presentations, but I'm not sure if he uses any pictures from our fires. I'm fairly new to the forum, but I'm assuming you can PM me your email address.
 
LGreene said:
My email address is lori.greene@allegion.com. I have spent a lot of years educating people about fire doors, but even non-rated doors will provide some protection. Any photos showing the effects of a closed door would be very helpful.
Facepalm on my part. I'm a little slow sometimes. :wink: Links to your articles get shared around our bureau quite a bit I could have just looked for your info there. I've been out of the office the last couple days but I'll check with the other inspectors/investigators in our office and a few privates I know to see if we can come up with a few examples.
 
Truck3capt said:
Facepalm on my part. I'm a little slow sometimes. :wink: Links to your articles get shared around our bureau quite a bit I could have just looked for your info there. I've been out of the office the last couple days but I'll check with the other inspectors/investigators in our office and a few privates I know to see if we can come up with a few examples.
Nice to know someone is reading them! :D
 
A most relevant topic, however with a person's home being their castles and with homes growing smaller every day, a bedroom door serves many purposes other than privacy.

A mounting face for mirrors, a hanging point (over the door top and door handles for clothes hangers).

Swinging doors being replaced with barn type exposed sliders, etc.
 
Back
Top