DALLAS — While firefighters have been taught for years to close interior doors to slow fire spread, critics say national fire safety groups are slow to push that message to the general public.
NBC DFW reported that the research from the Underwriters Laboratories Firefighter Safety Research Institute shows a closed door blocks smoke and slows the flow of heat and toxic gas.
“Open door versus closed door could mean life or death,” Steve Kerber, UL Director of Firefighter Safety Research, said. “Lives will be saved if more people hear the message to close the door.”
The investigation revealed that the closed-door message is not being widely shared and is rarely mentioned in national fire safety education material. There is a mention of the message on FEMA’s website. FEMA officials conducted a focus group and found some people didn’t like it, so they decided not to include it.
NFPA said it hasn’t included the message because it thinks it’s more important to remind people to install smoke detectors, according to the report. The NFPA said it will reconsider adding the language to safety lessons next year.
“Based on this [new] research, and our constantly making sure the messages reflect current information, we will take a look at this,” a NFPA spokesperson said.
Some metropolitan fire departments are not waiting for the national groups. The Fort Worth (Texas) Fire Department plans on teaching everyone in the city to sleep with their bedroom doors closed.
“We now have that science … we can say this makes a difference. This is going to give you more time in a house fire,” said Fort Worth Fire Department Lt. Kyle Faulkner.
The Dallas Fire Department also has told people to close bedroom doors in some safety materials.
“The more you can have between you and the fire, the safer you’ll be,” said Dallas Fire-Rescue spokesman Jason Evans. “The bottom line is that closing your door to keep yourself safe does no good if you don’t have working smoke detectors and an escape plan.”