This video from a recent fire in a dormitory at Idaho State University really shows the difference that a closed door can make.  What the firefighter does not mention is that these doors would typically be required to be self-closing, self-latching fire doors.  This is why I don’t support the idea of requesting a variance from the local AHJ to remove the self-closing requirement on dwelling unit entry doors.  While it’s nice for the students to be able to leave their doors open to foster a sense of community, and doing so in a code-compliant manner is expensive and the devices may be vulnerable to student tampering, the doors can not do their job if they’re standing open.

Unfortunately, the embed code is not working, so you will need to click this link or the image below to go to the news website and play the video.  Sorry!

Here’s a little more info about this fire.

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