There’s nothing like a fire at a television news station to make sure that it gets complete coverage.  After a 2-alarm fire at News 4 WOAI in San Antonio, Fire Chief Charles Hood said that the closed 20-minute fire door saved the building.

Here’s the report from WOAI:

“This is one of the best illustrations that I’ve seen, as to what a door can do, ” said Chief Hood.

A closed commercial door kept the fire from spreading to the rest of the building. “So potentially this building could have been lost if the person this morning would have come up and opened this door, ” added Chief Hood.

Chief Hood told News 4 WOAI the upstairs door “saved the building basically”.

Chief Hood went on to say everyone should sleep with their bedroom door closed, because your door will give you another barrier if there’s a fire in another area of your house. “Keeping a door closed could save your life, could save your property,” added Chief Hood.

This clip shows some of the fire damage including the condition of both sides of the fire door:

And here’s a short piece showing the door (also seen at the bottom of this page).  The aluminum closer must have melted into a puddle because you can see the arm and pinion hanging down into the shot.

This is why it’s important for fire doors to be maintained in operable condition, and annual fire door inspections can ensure that they are code-compliant!

UPDATE: As I watched the clip below, I noticed that the fire door to the news room is propped open…I hope it’s got an electric hold-open that will release upon fire alarm, or it won’t protect their building like the other door did!

You need to login or register to bookmark/favorite this content.