When I announced that I would be posting photos to celebrate the 3,000-post milestone on iDigHardware, Leo Lebovitz of M&D Door & Hardware sent me a link to his entire photo gallery. There were lots of great pics, but the door in the photos below caught my eye – or brought a tear to my eye, actually.
After writing countless times about fire doors needing to close and latch, and hearing about the impact of open fire doors during a Bronx apartment fire earlier this year, seeing a stairwell fire door permanently prevented from closing is just too much. Seriously, what’s it going to take for people to understand the risk to human life, and the potential liability they could face for making a modification like this?
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Sad
My vote for best of week is
“””””WW: 3-Point Locks + Delay”””””
It’s a great example of “it-won’t-happen-to-me” syndrome. Which works great … until it does.
I’ve heard some version of the following used in a number of different fields and settings, and it holds true here too – that is, “Complacency kills.” Bad things happen to those who get complacent, which is simply a corollary to Murphy’s Law.
This is a direct result of uneducated maintenance, or tenant abuse . The only way to prevent this from happening is a new law ,or amendment to NFPA that all fire door be connect to the fire alarm panel to sound an alert when propped open
Being retired for over five years, I can’t remember all the intricacies of fire codes, but man, oh man, there’s a lot of stuff going on here. Looks like we have a fail-safe electric strike on a fire door opening. How did that get by inspection? I also question the electric strike prep on the HMF. Does the large cut-out on the strike jamb’s face void the rating on the frame? Are terminated stops approved for fire frames? Even if they are, what was the point? It doesn’t appear that cleaning the floor is a priority. The improvised hold-open, a piece of metal jammed between the door and frame, defeats the purpose of the access control system and the fire rating. The door should be equipped with fire exit hardware instead of a mortise lockset, but this being New York, it might be approved and acceptable by the LAHJ. There are penetrations (holes) in the HMD. If not properly filled, they void the label. Good old wire glass… I’ll bet it’s not the expensive UL approved and impact approved type.
This one door opening showcases the need for competent inspectors from the Fire Marshall’s office and Dept. of Labor & Industry’s office. People’s lives are at risk. Our industry’s FDAI’s need to seize this opportunity to prevent disaster and save lives, as well as generate income for themselves or their employer.
What a mess. The government officials in New York City need to focus on serious issues like this instead of their petty political issues of the day.
It will only stop when they are held accountable. Then others will pay attention.
A few decades ago, NYC had a law which said the City couldn’t be sued for trip and fall accidents on public sidewalks (uneven surfaces, holes, etc.) unless they had been notified. There was a certain group in the legal clan which created a way to map sidewalk problems, preparatory to such suits. They prevailed, a lot.
Imagine the same approach to fire doors. While it would be useful to document every door, that’s not going to happen. But, enough of them could be photographed, and the evidence/locations sent to the property owners, property managers, their insurers, and the relevant city agencies, pointing out the failure to have safe doors, and the consequences “now that you can see what your building looks like” if there was a problem that wasn’t cured.
Attacking pocket books and balance sheets may be the only way to get the attention of some parties.
Hi Joel –
NYC has a system for reporting these violations…I will find the link and do an update soon. Of course, this is only one city, but it’s a start.
– Lori
Lori, our office is a 4 story building with 8 fire doors. our company provided a free fire door inspection report to the property management company, which is a national player.
out of the 8 doors many would not self latch or even get to the point of closing. one door had an electric strike installed and then removed, leaving a massive opening in the frame.
sorry to say the national property manager has done nothing about the recommendations and repairs we offered in the report. the town inspector didn’t pay much attention when we talked with them as well. it is really a shame.
Yes, that’s a real shame. I thought we would have to wait until tragedy struck before people started taking fire door inspections seriously, but even with tragedies demonstrating the effects of non-compliant fire doors, it’s hard to get some jurisdictions to pay attention. 🙁
– Lori
If you ask me this is a Hospital.
I see the Hospital Stop at the last 6 inches.
Cost to fix this opening $5000.00.
99 Rim Exit Device $1,220.00
Request to Exit Switch $200.00
E996L R/V Elec. Lever Trim (Fail Safe) $1,010.00
Smoke Seal $30.00
Fire Rated HM Door $500.00
Closer LCN 4040XP $370.50
Fire-Rated Glass, 12×12 90-Min $200.00
$3530.00 Parts
Plus markup Plus Labor