Importance of self closing devices
Today I thought I would take a little look at the importance of something that many people find such a hinderance in their everyday lives. But in terms of fire safety, can prevent huge amounts of unnessecary damage and most importantly save lives... self closing devices.
Many of us loathe doors that close on their own. We wedge them open with door stops, use hooks and chains and use all manner of devices to hold doors open. After all, who wants to have to constanlty open a door every two minutes when you're in and out of the room constantly. I can also tell you now, that some of the worst offending places I've come across when it comes to this, is indeed operational fire stations!
But these simple devices, are in my opinion, possibly the most important part of a fire door set. What would be the point of an all singing, all dancing fire door that could have cost up to £1000 (and more in some cases) if that door is not fit snuggly into its frame, preventing fire, heat and smoke from spreading throughout the premises.
As an operational firefighter, I have seen the consequences of even small fires within a building where doors have been left open, and let me tell you, you would be extrememly surprised. Smoke particularly causes an incredible amount of damage throughout the premises. But also your precious possessions will remind you for many months of the fire as the smell of smoke is incredibly difficult to remove.
These inexpensive devices (if installed correctly) will close a door when a person has a left a room and help to contain the fire in that compartment. They are essential within blocks of flats on each flat entrance door and must close the door fully to help contain a fire within that particular flat. This helps to protect the egress route for all occupants to ensure the escape route is free from flame, heat and smoke assisting firefighters to gain entry and assisiting occupants with their egress.
As operational firefighters, we always advise a person to close their internal doors at night protecting their egress route in the case of fire, which effectively provides a manual function of the humble self closing device, allowing a person to escape the premises safely and quickly.
In summary, yes, they can be annoying, they can cause problems. But this inexpensive piece of kit can not only protect your precious possessions from damage in the case of fire, but also save you and your loved ones if the worst does happen. As always, if in doubt request a fire risk assessment or a fire door survey from Opex Fire Safety to make sure you're compliant.