Fire Doors – WIN!
I LOVE THIS PHOTO!
Edge Channels
Even though I risked being called a weirdo by my colleagues, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to try to learn more about the 5" wide edge channels that are sometimes required on fire-rated wood doors with concealed vertical rod exit devices. When these channels show up on the jobsite without warning, architects tend to be less than pleased. The interesting thing about these doors is that although they have the channels and fire exit hardware, there are no visible labels on the doors or frames. It's possible that the door label is on top, although the concealed closer channels take up most of the real estate up there. We explored ways to check the top of these super-tall doors, but it will have to remain a mystery unless we can sweet-talk our way onto the lift they use to change the lightbulbs.
Multiple-Dwelling Fire Safety
Last week I wrote about a tragic fire in Chicago, in which Shantel McCoy was killed. I provided links to several articles in my post, but in a nutshell...
Reader Photos
I have spent this entire week at our corporate office, so I haven't had a lot of time for posting. In return for your patience, next week I will post the third and final article from Lewis C. Norton's "How I Discovered Door Checks." That seems fair, right?
Apartment Fire – North Lake Shore Drive, Chicago
UPDATE: More articles added at the bottom of the post.
Social Media Roundup
There have been a lot of interesting door-related stories in the news lately. In case you missed my Tweets...
WWYD? Cross-Corridor Pair
Thanks for your patience, everyone. My week "off" was followed by our Thanksgiving holiday, so I haven't posted as much lately. But I'm back, and I saw lots of doors while I was away.
New York Minute
My coworker Don Cherry and I with special guests.
Fire Door Brain Teaser
Paul Goldense of Goldense Building Products showed me this pair of fire-rated doors last week. He mentioned that the architect had to change the arch to make it a "flatter" curve because of the rating, and that they had to use continuous hinges instead of butt hinges. Who can tell me why?
WWYD?: Back-to-Back Doors
Which product application do you use when you have doors that open back-to-back and need to close upon fire alarm? I was just explaining my preferred option to a specwriter last week, and then these photos arrived...perfect timing!
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.
Reader Photos
Here's the latest batch of photos sent in by blog readers. Thanks everyone!
Social Media Roundup
Here are some links to recent door-related social media activity. Enjoy!
Staples Center Follow-Up
I've obviously been slacking because this video was posted a month ago. It's a follow-up to a report about the flawed fire safety system at the Staples Center, including problems with their fire doors. Here's a link, in case you missed it too.
Lever Return
I originally published the post below in May 0f 2009, but I'm trying to gather some information so I've pulled it up to the front again. Please take a moment to answer the quick survey about lever return in your area. Thanks!Click here to take a quick survey.//
Doors in Pockets (not Pocket Doors)
Every time I specify hardware for a door that swings into a pocket, a little alarm sounds in my head because at least 50% of the time there will be a problem that urgently needs to be fixed at the end of the job. This application requires coordination between the architect designing the pocket, the contractor building the pocket, and the distributor supplying the doors and hardware, and that's a lot harder than it sounds. The other problem is that when one pair on a project goes south, in most cases ALL of the pairs are a problem.
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."
Door to Nowhere
This photo of a door in a city hall came from another blog, A Firefighter's Own Worst Enemy. The blog is written by Jason Hoevelmann, a Deputy Fire Chief / Fire Marshal with the Sullivan Protection District. Jason and the firefighters who frequent his site have a totally different perspective on doors than we do, but it's really interesting to read. Firefighters need to be able to get through a door during a fire, and do it safely. Imagine a firefighter with limited visibility forcing this door open from the other side. The results could be tragic.
Decoded: Opening Protectives (June 2011)
This post was printed in the June 2011 issue of Doors and Hardware
Yet Another Apartment Fire
How many more fires is it going to take before people understand that closed and latched doors save lives, code-compliant fire doors are self-closing and self-latching, and annual fire door inspections will make sure they stay that way?
Mag Holder Extensions
I'm getting ready to head to NYC to do a presentation for the DHI chapter there, so here are some quick photos of a cross-corridor fire-rated pair sent in by Andy Olson of Reliable Glass and Door. There has to be some sort of rule against this.
Fire and Egress Doors in the News
Feeling the Heat: Fire Doors - Building.co.uk
WW: Hollow Metal Doors (Literally)
I saw both of these doors today, in two different facilities. Yes, they are both fire rated. One is a cross-corridor pair and one is a stair door.
Reader Photos – 2 of 2
Here's the second batch of reader photos. My emailbox is empty now. Not.
Reader Photos – 1 of 2
I've received lots of reader photos lately...thank you, and keep 'em coming!
Decoded: Closers on Classroom Doors (April 2011)
This post was printed in the April 2011 issue of Doors & Hardware
Woodstock, Ontario Apartment Fire
When I lived in a condominium complex in the mid-90's, I don't think I gave much thought to fire safety. I remember hearing the fire alarm in the middle of the night and going out to my balcony to see if I could smell smoke. If not, it must be a false alarm. That seems CRAZY to me now. Luckily, I lived in a fairly safe building. The stair doors and the cross-corridor doors were never propped open. The unit entry doors had spring hinges so they didn't close as reliably as if they'd had closers, but thankfully we never had a fire while I lived there. Someday when I'm helping my oldest daughter look for her first apartment, you can bet that I won't be as lax about fire safety. I may just zip her up in a flame resistant jumpsuit before I send her off to college. :-)
Evelyn Gardens
I received an article today about a fire at the Evelyn Gardens apartment complex in Albany, California, which resulted in $400,000 in damage and one fatality. In the article, Fire Chief Marc McGinn is quoted several times in regard to apartment entry doors. Here's an excerpt:
Signage on Fire Doors
Just when I was wondering what I should post about tonight, I received this photo from Brendan Daley of SURV.
Voodoo Ritual (& Open Fire Door) Results in Fatality
It's tough enough to get anyone to pay attention to fire doors, but when a fire is a result of a "voodoo sex ceremony," there's little to no chance that anyone will take note of the role played by the propped-open fire door. In a 5-alarm fire in Brooklyn on February 20th, the door to the apartment where the fire originated was propped open in an attempt to dissipate the smoke. A window in the apartment was also opened, and heavy winds blew the fire out into the corridor. Other open doors in the corridor allowed the fire to spread and the 7-story building was destroyed.
Ballroom Entrance
The hotel in Las Vegas where we had our sales meeting had a Moroccan theme...I felt right at home since my husband is originally from Morocco and I love that style. The entrance doors to the ballroom had a pattern created by contrasting stain and oversized metal brads. They're labeled doors so I wonder whether the brads were considered plant-ons or whether they required any special testing or approval.
No Wedging Allowed
The suit was in regard to the breach of security caused by wedging open the fire door, but I thought this was kind of interesting:
More Doors After Fires
Judging from the photos, these doors may not have been code-compliant, but they were still able to hinder the spread of smoke and fire, at least to some extent. That does not mean that any old non-compliant door will be fine so we might as well stop worrying about them...one of the biggest issues with fire doors is finding them propped open with a wedge or a more creative device. If the doors are open, they're worthless.
Hospital Stops
Every so often, I wonder what I'm going to write about on this blog after I've covered all of the code requirements for doors and hardware. I mean, it's a very specific subject area so at some point I could run out of questions. And then something comes up that I've never looked into, and I stop wondering. There will always be more questions. If hardware was easy, it would be called "easyware," right? :-)
Decoded: Single Operation Egress
This post was printed in the February 2011 issue of Doors and Hardware
The Rest of the Story…
The other day I posted some photos of a fire door that had done its job and prevented a fire from spreading. Several of you emailed me about the photos, because they're SUCH a great illustration of what a fire door is for. It's easy to imagine what would have happened if it was propped open. Well, this morning I received even more photos of the same building (the Robert Moses Nature Center), from Bill Johnson of the Door Security and Safety Foundation, and this afternoon I received a link to a news article from Jerry Heppes of the Door & Hardware Institute. Thanks guys!!
$63,000 Fine
Sometimes I feel like a broken record. Like maybe people are sick of hearing me talk about fire and egress doors, how they protect us, and what happens when they are disabled or neglected. When I meet someone, I don't immediately launch into a discussion about doors because I'm pretty sure they'll think I'm a weirdo from the start and probably avoid me the next time.
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.
Faulty Fire Doors in the News
I've been doing some research for my FDAI presentation, looking for specific examples of how the inspection of fire doors and correction of deficiencies can have a direct impact on life safety as well as the protection of property. It's not very often that you see fire doors in the news, but these two recent examples showed up over the holidays:
Top Hinge Retrospective
We're back from our vacation, but I have some more photos to share before I finish up this unplanned series on hotel doors. As I mentioned in an earlier post, our hotel was a series of buildings connected by propped open, non-latching, damaged doors which were originally fire rated (as indicated by the painted labels). Based on the condition of the doors, particularly the top hinges, I'm going to make the educated guess that these doors used to be operable, until the facility experienced trouble with the top hinges.
Another Hotel
I don't stay in flea-bag motels - I really don't. That's why it amazes me that almost every hotel I stay in has extreme issues with their fire doors. I'm on a short vacation with my family, and as you can see from the graphic on the right, the resort consists of several connected 2-story buildings with a total of 256 guest rooms. The only rooms that are equipped with sprinklers are the rooms that have fireplaces - if I had known that I might have sprung for the upgrade.
Reader Photos
I'm in the mood to clean house (figuratively speaking only), so here's the latest collection of reader photos to hit my inbox. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to send them. More, please. :-)
Cocoanut Grove & Our Lady of the Angels
When I teach a code class, I often begin by talking about some of the tragic fires that have shaped today's codes. Because of the lessons learned from these fires and the code changes that resulted, the safety of building occupants has been greatly improved.
Movie Night
A couple of weeks ago someone asked me whether the exterior exit doors for a movie theater required panic hardware, and in my opinion, the answer is a resounding YES! Movie theaters are considered assembly occupancies, and the occupant load is well over the limit (50 or 100 occupants depending on the code) that would require panic hardware.
NFPA 80 & NFPA 105
Next Tuesday is the proposal closing date for the 2013 editions of NFPA 80 - Standard for Fire Doors and Other Opening Protectives, and NFPA 105 - Standard for the Installation of Smoke Door Assemblies and Other Opening Protectives.