You've probably seen the standard fire door sign - a blue circle on a white background - thousands of times. But how often do you think about fire doors and the damage that they can prevent in the event of a blaze? More importantly, how many times have you ignored that little blue circle and left a set of fire doors open?
If you don't understand why fire doors are legally required to be kept shut, consider these two stories:
- In August 2012, Sophie Rosser returned to her flat in Canary Wharf to find that the building was on fire. She rushed inside to find her fiancé Oscar Silva; in the end, he managed to survive by escaping to a nearby balcony, but Rosser was not so lucky, dying in hospital after collapsing and getting badly burned by the fire. An inquest found that Rosser's death could have been prevented were it not for a fire door that had been left open in the building.
- More recently - earlier this month, in fact - a fire broke out in Summerlands, a care home in Portsmouth. The blaze began in the laundry room (it was seemingly caused by one of the tumble dryers), but a pair of properly-secured fire doors prevented it from spreading to the rest of the building. The home was evacuated upon discovery of the fire, and two residents were treated for smoke inhalation, but thanks to the fire doors, there were no fatalities.
These two starkly different reports really illustrate the importance of fire doors, and if we want to see fewer stories like Sophie Rosser's, it is crucial that we all start taking these safety measures more seriously. A large part of the problem is information-based; all too often, people either don't notice the fire door signs at all, or they ignore them because nobody has explained why the doors should be kept shut.
We think it's time for a change. We can all take responsibility for keeping fire doors shut, and now that you've read about Summerlands and Sophie Rosser, you can explain the importance of fire doors to other people: they keep fire and smoke contained, preventing blazes from spreading and causing even more damage. Ensure that all of your fire doors are fitted with the proper fire door signs (or, if this is not your responsibility, talk to the person in charge) and if you ever see anybody propping open a fire door, tell them exactly why this is such a bad idea!
