Means of Egress

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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Hotel Vendome Fire, Boston

Today is the 39th anniversary of the fire at the Hotel Vendome, in which 9 firefighters lost their lives when the building unexpectedly collapsed during mop-up operations.  Stephanie Schorow, author of 4 books about Boston, spoke about the Hotel Vendome fire, the Cocoanut Grove fire, and the Great Boston Fire of 1872 in this video made in conjunction with the NFPA.  There was also an article in the May/June 2011 issue of the NFPA Journal - "The Boston Fire Trail - A walkable guide to the city's fire and disaster history." 

By |2016-05-18T09:18:56-04:00June 17th, 2011|Fire Doors, Means of Egress, Videos|2 Comments
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Rainy Relay

<---  You know what that's a photo of???  Rain - torrential rain, at our Relay for Life event this weekend.  It rained on and off for most of the relay, but it was REALLY bad at night.  Even the die-hard high school kids in the campsite next to ours ended up sleeping in a friend's living room (all 24 of them!!).  Because we didn't sleep overnight in our soaking wet tent, there were a couple of hours that we didn't have someone walking the track, but I think we had people walking for more hours than any other team.  There were several hours that our team was almost alone on the track.  Yes, we're crazy!  :-)

By |2013-03-01T11:16:59-05:00June 12th, 2011|Means of Egress, Panic Hardware|4 Comments
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WWYD? – Pediatric Unit Egress Doors

Last week I posted a photo of a deadlock on a pair with panic hardware, and I included a poll to find out what you all thought should be done about the problem.  I received some photos yesterday that gave me the idea to make this a regular feature of the blog - "What Would You Do?" (WWYD). Check out the photos, the code excerpts, and scroll all the way down to vote in the poll.

By |2014-10-09T18:51:38-04:00June 3rd, 2011|Means of Egress, WWYD?|4 Comments
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Town Hall Entrance

Can you believe I'm STILL attending town meeting 3 nights per week for 3 hours each?  This was our 10th night and it will take a few more to get through all of our warrant articles.  I'm sorry if I've been less productive than usual - I'm spending my blogging hours doing my civic duty.  Feel free to talk amongst yourselves.  :-)

By |2014-04-29T12:14:41-04:00May 18th, 2011|Means of Egress|22 Comments
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An Army of Minions

Since I started this blog I've often thought how great it would be if JQP (John Q Public) knew the basic requirements of fire and egress doors.  What if everyone who saw a locked egress door or a propped-open fire door had a way to change the situation?  Imagine the effect this could have on life safety!  In my imaginary world, I think of these informed people as door minions, except instead of serving an evil SuperVillian, they're helping to save the world.  OK, it might be a stretch, but I saw this article the other day, giving me hope that there ARE door minions out there...

By |2016-05-18T17:02:53-04:00April 7th, 2011|Means of Egress|2 Comments
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Theater Egress

Today I went to a performance at a theater on a local college campus.  The theater has 650 seats, so all of the required egress doors are supposed to have panic hardware.  There are 4 pairs in the main lobby, all equipped with paddle devices which don't qualify as panic hardware.  One of the requirements for panic hardware is that the actuating portion has to cover at least half the width of the door, and these paddles clearly do not.

By |2020-03-05T10:10:42-05:00January 31st, 2011|Means of Egress, Panic Hardware|6 Comments
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Casino Wrap-Up

Considering how many photos I took of doors during my Mommy's weekend at Foxwoods, it's a good thing I'm not a gambler.  I wouldn't have had any time to check out the doors if I was stuck at the slots.  I can't imagine what Las Vegas will be like...I hope I don't get arrested like this guy.  Now go get a cup of coffee while these 22 photos load.

By |2013-06-02T19:32:07-04:00January 20th, 2011|Beautiful Doors, Fire Doors, Funky Applications, Gates, Means of Egress, Road Trips|13 Comments
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Connections

When I started this blog, my goals were to organize all of the code information I had into a searchable database, and to offer a more painless way to learn about hardware.  I think one of the hardest things about starting out in this industry is the way most of us learn about it - at the School of Hard Knocks.  There are some great classes available through DHI and other sources, but it can take a very long time to attend them all, which gives us plenty of opportunities to make mistakes.  I know I've made my fair share over the years, so I wanted to help people learn a little bit at a time and hopefully make it as painless as possible.

By |2014-10-08T09:10:36-04:00December 5th, 2010|Door Closers, Doors & Frames, Doors Gone Wrong, Means of Egress|0 Comments
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Exit? Really??

I received these photos from a fire inspector in Texas who shall remain nameless so he'll keep sending me the crazy stuff he sees in his travels.  If you recall from earlier posts, an egress door has to look like a door, and can't be disguised in any way.  This egress door is in a restaurant that seats 200-250, and the second photo is what the means of egress looks like after you go through the door.  Nice.

By |2012-01-27T22:01:42-05:00December 3rd, 2010|Doors Gone Wrong, Means of Egress|0 Comments
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