Fire Safety Advice

[Sheriff Buford T. Justice]

Why do the fire services advise people to close their internal doors at night time?

 

My 5 year old has come home from school having been told that it is the safe thing to do at night. I don't really agree.

 

In my house, the smoke detectors are all in the hallway, 4 of them, one on each floor.

 

I don't think I've ever seen a house that has one in every room.

 

If I close all my internal doors and a fire breaks out in one of the rooms, the first thing anyone's going to know about the fire is when it burns up through the ceiling into the floor above which is probably a bedroom and whoever is in there either get's burnt to death or dies of smoke inhallation in their sleep, meanwhile the whole housefire is well underway by now, completely unnoticed by everyone else asleep.

 

However, if I was to leave my internal doors open at night time (which I do) and a fire broke out in one of the rooms, the smoke would escape into the hall and set off one of the smoke alarms.

 

Surely a closed door is only any good to choke a fire until the fire brigade arrive. Personally i'd rather be aware that there is a fire and get the feck out of my house - rather than hope a closed door will keep a fire under relative control until I wake up in the morning - with a warm arse if I'm lucky.

[mojomonkey]

Normally the smoke will kill you long before the fire does. A closed door will slow down the spreading of smoke and therefore hopefully increase your chances of survival. Smoke detectors are designed to be audible through standard internal household doors.

[Slim]

Why do the fire services advise people to close their internal doors at night time?

My 5 year old has come home from school having been told that it is the safe thing to do at night. I don't really agree.

In my house, the smoke detectors are all in the hallway, 4 of them, one on each floor.

I don't think I've ever seen a house that has one in every room.

If I close all my internal doors and a fire breaks out in one of the rooms, the first thing anyone's going to know about the fire is when it burns up through the ceiling into the floor above which is probably a bedroom and whoever is in there either get's burnt to death or dies of smoke inhallation in their sleep, meanwhile the whole housefire is well underway by now, completely unnoticed by everyone else asleep.

However, if I was to leave my internal doors open at night time (which I do) and a fire broke out in one of the rooms, the smoke would escape into the hall and set off one of the smoke alarms.

Surely a closed door is only any good to choke a fire until the fire brigade arrive. Personally i'd rather be aware that there is a fire and get the feck out of my house - rather than hope a closed door will keep a fire under relative control until I wake up in the morning - with a warm arse if I'm lucky.

 

Put a smoke alarm inside the bedrooms? They're only a few quid.

[Sheriff Buford T. Justice]

Normally the smoke will kill you long before the fire does. A closed door will slow down the spreading of smoke and therefore hopefully increase your chances of survival. Smoke detectors are designed to be audible through standard internal household doors.

 

Smoke alarms need smoke to work.

 

 

Put a smoke alarm inside the bedrooms? They're only a few quid.

 

I could and should do. But why isn't this part of the fire safety advice? Rather than ahh just close your internal doors...and you'll be right.

[ans]

http://www.google.co.uk/search?aq=f&hl...earch&meta=

 

Listen to your five year old.

[Tempus Fugit]

use interconnected alarms where they all sound if one trips

[Sheriff Buford T. Justice]

Yep. I've got 4 of them right up the stairs.. all linked together so they're my only hope in the event of a fire in any room of the house. Which is why I don't shut the doors.

[slinkydevil]

Are you deaf?

[mojomonkey]

Why do the fire services advise people to close their internal doors at night time?

 

My 5 year old has come home from school having been told that it is the safe thing to do at night. I don't really agree.

 

In my house, the smoke detectors are all in the hallway, 4 of them, one on each floor.

 

I don't think I've ever seen a house that has one in every room.

 

If I close all my internal doors and a fire breaks out in one of the rooms, the first thing anyone's going to know about the fire is when it burns up through the ceiling into the floor above which is probably a bedroom and whoever is in there either get's burnt to death or dies of smoke inhallation in their sleep, meanwhile the whole housefire is well underway by now, completely unnoticed by everyone else asleep.

 

However, if I was to leave my internal doors open at night time (which I do) and a fire broke out in one of the rooms, the smoke would escape into the hall and set off one of the smoke alarms.

 

Surely a closed door is only any good to choke a fire until the fire brigade arrive. Personally i'd rather be aware that there is a fire and get the feck out of my house - rather than hope a closed door will keep a fire under relative control until I wake up in the morning - with a warm arse if I'm lucky.

 

At the end of the day all they are offering is advice, it is your choice whether you follow it.

[Bombay Bad Boy]

Chez moi in Ramsey, where I used to live, had an alarm system put in, due to fire regs for rented flats. This included sprinklers, smoke detectors, and fire doors which were sprung shut. Unintentional experiments with toast showed that smoke alarms could be heard even through 2 or 3 closed fire doors, and the sprinkler system could probably deal with a fire even before I woke up.

[jimbms]

Even with a closed door the smoke will filter through a door unless it is a sealed fire door and trigger the smoke alarm, in theory the one at the top of the stairs should go off first as hot smoke rises.

[triskelion]

You could install a heat alarm in the kitchen as an alternative if you are worried about that. But yeah, the smoke is usually the killer so best to keep internal doors shut.

 

Also prevents the fire spreading to the hallway or something.

[alph3]

Sound advise really, keeping all internal doors shut at night. Any of you here that are as talented in the kitchen as myself will know that it rarely takes much smoke for an alarm to sound. And as the majority of fires will start in a kitchen it is a good idea to have a heat sensor in the kitchen, with a smoke alarm in the hall closest to the kitchen and one at the top of your stairs. Reasoning behind keeping doors closed at night is fire spread prevention. Although your standard internal door will not put up much of a fight against a roaring fire it will keep the oxygen supply to a minimum in the beginnings of a fire thus affording extra time to get out, get the fire brigade out, and stay out! The regulations pertaining to flats and such are alot more onerous than those dealing with normal domestic dwellings, hence the whole sprinkler system and compartmentalisation stuff!