Anderson Island Fire/Rescue is warning people to shut their doors before they go to bed in case there is a fire in their home while they sleep. 50% of house fires happen between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. Closing your doors before you hit the hay helps keep you safe.
Closing your bedroom door at night can help save your life, but the reason may surprise you. More than a decade of research conclusively shows that simply closing your doors can slow the spread of fire giving you and your family precious time to escape, or to be rescued by the fire department if you cannot get out safely.
During a fire, closing the door could have a potentially life-saving impact. Today, there’s an average of three minutes or less to escape a home fire due to synthetic furnishings, open floor plans and lightweight construction materials that can combine to accelerate the spread of a fire.
The Fire Safety Research Institute’s (FSRI) exploration on fire service horizontal ventilation, begun in 2008, analyzed the effect of doors and windows on a fire’s spread. Bedrooms on the first and second floor of a home were tested during the scenario.
Using thermal imaging cameras, researchers found that closed-door rooms on both floors during the fire’s spread had average temperatures of less than 100 degrees Fahrenheit versus 1000+ degrees in the open-door rooms.
Gas concentrations were markedly different as well. The open-door bedroom measured an extremely toxic 10,000 PPM CO (parts per million of Carbon Monoxide), while the closed had approximately 100 PPM CO.
Based on these findings, ‘Close Before You Doze’ encourages those both trapped in a room during a fire as well as those who can safely leave a home to close as many doors as possible. With the doors and windows closed, the fire won’t have oxygen to burn and it’s going to stay right there, giving other people in the house more time to get out and also helping protect your property.
You should also create a fire escape plan. It should include two ways out of every room, and a meeting place outside. And you should practice it. A surprise drill is a great way to teach your children what your smoke alarms actually sound like.
Credit: fsri.org, closeyourdoor.org
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