Means of Egress

Fire and Egress Doors in the News

The surprising and sad thing about these news stories that came across my desk this week is that none of these fatal fires were first-time occurrences.  Four people were killed in the Ontario retirement home fire that is the subject of a current inquest, but a total of 45 people have been killed in Ontario retirement home fires since 1980 - the worst record in North America.  There were fourteen people killed in a Peru rehabilitation center fire this week, and 29 more were killed in another rehab center fire in Peru in January.  Nine people died in a karaoke bar fire in Busan, South Korea, and 15 more were killed in another karaoke bar fire in the same city in 2009. 

By |2016-06-07T22:56:39-04:00May 6th, 2012|Fire Doors, Means of Egress|1 Comment
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ICC Code Hearings, Dallas

I realize that not everybody is as excited about new code developments as I am, but some of you might want to take a look or a listen...the code development hearings for the IBC/IFC are going on right now, and discussion on the Means of Egress proposals will be starting soon.  The webcast is very clear and you can get a sense of what it's like to be at the hearings, if you're so inclined.  :-)

By |2013-05-01T19:49:20-04:00May 3rd, 2012|Accessibility, Means of Egress|6 Comments
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Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem

A story arrived in my inbox today, regarding the tradition of the Holy Fire at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.  The day before Easter each year, clerics emerge from the small room believed to be the site of Jesus' tomb with a flame which is then spread among the pilgrims crowding the church and out to those gathered on the street.

By |2014-04-26T19:37:19-04:00April 15th, 2012|Beautiful Doors, Historical, Means of Egress|3 Comments
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WW: Hockey Rink Egress

I was working on a different post but that one will have to wait.  I just received these photos, it's Wordless Wednesday, and I am wordless (yes, again).  This is an exit for a hockey rink, sent in by an anonymous reader.  Hockey rinks are notoriously tough on their doors and hardware, but this "solution" makes me want to cry.

By |2012-03-19T09:29:51-04:00March 14th, 2012|Means of Egress, Panic Hardware, Wordless Wednesday|2 Comments
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Battleship Cove – Fall River, Massachusetts

Whenever we're on a family road trip, we try to find cool places to stop along the way to break up the ride.  Today we went to Battleship Cove, the world's largest historic naval ship exhibit.  The museum is home to the destroyer USS Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., the USS Lionfish submarine, the battleship USS Massachusetts, and several other vehicles.  It's really an amazing place, and the kids loved looking at all the different rooms, many of which were set up as they would have been while the ships were occupied.

By |2013-02-08T23:32:19-05:00February 22nd, 2012|Door Closers, Locks & Keys, Means of Egress, Road Trips|0 Comments
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Prison Egress

Earlier this week I read several news reports of a disastrous fire in an overcrowded Honduras prison, where hundreds of prisoners died.  Many of them remained locked in their cells because there was reportedly only one staff member who had keys to the cells, and he left in the midst of the panic.  It made me wonder about the current code requirements for egress in prisons.  I know it's not something most of us encounter regularly, but inquiring minds want to know.

By |2014-11-25T23:25:43-05:00February 17th, 2012|Means of Egress|4 Comments
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FDAI – Florida

The 2010 Florida Fire Prevention Code, effective December 31, 2011, requires fire doors to be maintained in accordance with NFPA 80 and references the 2007 edition of that standard in Chapter 2 - Referenced Publications.  The 2007 edition of NFPA 80 requires fire door assemblies to be inspected annually as part of the maintenance requirements, and the requirements for annual inspections of fire doors are specifically indicated in the 2010 Florida Fire Prevention Code (see 12.4 below).  Fire door assemblies in new and existing facilities are to be inspected annually per the 11 criteria listed below, and a written record kept for review by the AHJ.  Any deficiencies must be corrected "without delay."  (Click here for FDAI FAQs.)

By |2015-11-25T10:06:16-05:00February 14th, 2012|FDAI, Means of Egress|0 Comments
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Panic Hardware Visibility

If you went to hardware school (like me), then you were taught that egress doors have to be visible and have an obvious method of operation, right?  Well, every so often the question comes up regarding visibility of panic hardware, usually because someone wants to match the finish of a Von Duprin Inpact device to the door.  Here are a couple of examples from one of my recent museum projects:

By |2019-01-04T10:26:58-05:00December 8th, 2011|Means of Egress, Panic Hardware|8 Comments
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“¿Donde estan los churros?”

This weekend I left my computer at home (yes, really!) and headed to Cape Cod for my brother's wedding.  The wedding was held in North Truro, and the kids had heard me say several times that we were going to "Truro."  Well, my kids go to a bilingual school and are fluent in Spanish.  All along they thought we were going to "Churro," and expected to see a slew of the cinnamon-sugary donut-stick type pastries on arrival.  The disappointment didn't stop there - we didn't see any sandwiches in Sandwich, and luckily - no obvious pee in P-Town (the common nickname for Provincetown, Massachusetts).

By |2017-01-04T21:43:47-05:00September 25th, 2011|Beautiful Doors, Means of Egress, Road Trips|2 Comments
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Shiloh Baptist Church Panic, Birmingham Alabama

On this day in history, September 19th, 1902, a stampede at the Shiloh Baptist Church resulted in the deaths of 120 people.  The church was clearly over occupant load capacity with thousands packed in to hear Booker T Washington speak, but I wonder about the available exits.  Did the occupants rush the entrance door because that was the one they were familiar with?  Were other exits marked and operable?

By |2012-01-27T21:57:05-05:00September 19th, 2011|Means of Egress|0 Comments
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9/11

I can't believe it has been 10 years already.  I've seen a lot of remembrances in the media this week...it's one of those moments in time when we'll never forget where we were, what we were doing, who we were with, how we felt.  I was about 6 weeks away from having my first child, and I first saw the television coverage at the midwife's office.  They had turned off the TV in the waiting room, but had it on in an inner office...I guess it was best to keep the pack of pregnant ladies calm and deal with our anxiety one-on-one.

By |2016-05-18T09:23:35-04:00September 11th, 2011|Fire Doors, Means of Egress|1 Comment
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WW: No Exit

These are the photos that I referred to in my post about Imperial Foods and the locked/blocked exits there.  These photos were taken last week, illustrating that there's still work to be done in awareness of egress requirements.  This is a 7-story office building, and one of the two exits was closed off because of construction on the decking outside the door.  The photos were sent to me by Peter Jordan of Jordan Consultants.

By |2012-01-27T21:57:05-05:00September 7th, 2011|Means of Egress, Wordless Wednesday|1 Comment
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Imperial Foods Fire, Hamlet NC

Twenty years ago today, a fast-moving fire at the Imperial Foods chicken processing plant killed 25 and injured 54 of the 90 workers in the plant.  Although I think egress conditions and awareness have improved in the last 20 years, there's definitely room for continued improvement.  I frequently receive photos of appalling egress and fire door modifications, including some photos that I received this week of an office building exit that was blocked for construction, leaving only one exit for a 7-story office building.  I'll post those photos here soon.

By |2021-09-08T23:13:57-04:00September 3rd, 2011|Means of Egress|4 Comments
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WW: Doubly-Safe? Or Double-Trouble?

Today's Wordless Wednesday photo was sent in by David Sochaczevski, an architect with the Soltron Group in Montreal.  David saw this door near the Stitch ride in Disney's Magic Kingdom.  At first glance this application clearly looks like a code problem, but I just couldn't imagine Disney purposely installing hardware that would require two motions to exit.  I asked Disney about it but I was told that any information about this door was proprietary.  I asked the local fire marshal and received this reply:  "Thank you for bringing this safety concern to our department.  The configuration in the picture you provided is not as it appears and the door does function according to code requiring only one motion to open the door."

By |2013-02-09T00:01:27-05:00August 31st, 2011|Means of Egress, Panic Hardware, Wordless Wednesday|15 Comments
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WWYD? – Police Station

One of my favorite job-related activities is going into a facility and helping with their hardware problems.  This week I was called into a police station to look at a door that had allowed several escapes, as well as the main entrance.  I thought it would be fun to see what you all would recommend in these situations.

By |2012-01-27T21:57:28-05:00August 25th, 2011|Electrified Hardware, Means of Egress, Panic Hardware, WWYD?|5 Comments
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