Every day I read news articles about fires, looking for references to fire doors or egress doors.  I'm sure you can imagine my reaction when I see an excerpt like, "The bar was open and occupied at the time of the fire and a fire wall and fire door stopped any fire damage from occurring there, according to the report."

Yesterday was the 98th anniversary of a tragic school fire that took the lives of 22 children between the ages of 7 and 17, who were burned or crushed to death while trying to escape.  The 3-story brick and wood building was engulfed within 5 minutes, and it's miraculous that more of the almost 700 children and staff in the building were not killed.  The fire began in the basement, and traveled through the building as the basement doors were left open.  The oil finish used on the wood floors contributed to the toxicity of the smoke.  The stairs were not enclosed, and did not discharge to the exterior.  Almost all of the victims were found just inside the main entrance.  As a result of this fire, Peabody became the first city to pass a law which required egress doors in public buildings and schools to swing in the direction of egress.