Happy Halloween!
Witches, ghosts, werewolves, and zombies are all terrifying, but we have some even bigger scares right here in the real world — and fire door inspectors may know them better than anyone.
We’re talking about blocked, fire-rated doors.
We’ve heard many stories from fire door inspectors of doors blocked in ways that could cause disaster if a fire were to occur…
In honour of Halloween, we thought we’d share some of the most shocking fire-rated doors horror stories we’ve seen and heard:
- Fire-rated door propped open… with a fire extinguisher.
It doesn’t get much more ironic than that. Many inspectors have told us they’ve come across doors being held open by none other than a fire extinguisher itself. This is doubly dangerous. Not only is the fire-rated door not doing its job, but the fire extinguisher is likely out of place as well…
- Chair legs through cross bars.
This share from Door Security + Safety on Twitter is undeniably horrifying. Who thought this was a good idea? Why would you even need to block the door in this way? So many questions, so few answers…
“What can we say here? Bring this to the attention of the local authorities and then they’ll figure out that the crossbars are the villains here and that outlawing crossbar exit devices will solve the problem” Photo Submission by Bill Nelson @SecuritechGroup #RealOpenings pic.twitter.com/oJ7dYWCxJ2
— Door Security+Safety (@DSS_Magazine) June 21, 2019
- The DIY exit sign…
Another one from Door Security + Safety – the emergency exit sign that wasn’t. This one seems like it was supposed to do double duty – to indicate the exit and alert those inside when it was used. It looks to us like it was failing at both…
“Someone at this convenience store had too much time on their hands. Instead of the word “exit” on the door, you have a collection of visual indicators (open pairs of doors made out of cans) to identify the doors role.”#RealOpenings pic.twitter.com/qPCkMR7pI9
— Door Security+Safety (@DSS_Magazine) October 26, 2018
- Stairway to… fire code violation.
With this ladder in the way, this fire door wouldn’t be much use in any emergency. Via SafetyPhoto on Twitter.
Do not block pic.twitter.com/lu3fVf194k
— safetyphoto (@safetyphoto) January 14, 2017
- Blocked fire exits lead to £100,000 fine for care home.
If the life-threatening risks of blocked fire exits weren’t scary enough, buildings found in violation can also face steep financial fines.
This care home in Somerset, England was fined £100,000 because its fire doors and escape routes were blocked. Some of the fire doors couldn’t be opened, and there weren’t enough of them to begin with. Escape routes were also blocked by cupboards.
Read the full article here from IFSEC Global: https://www.ifsecglobal.com/global/blocked-fire-exits-leads-100000-fine-for-care-home/
- Chained
Lori Green’s Wordless Wednesdays are always shock-worthy, but this one left us truly speechless. A fire door chained shut — to a ladder? There are simply no words, so we’ll let the photo speak for itself.
The creative security measures never end. #Wordless https://t.co/xWG1vpPyt2 pic.twitter.com/7Qy9kwogK6
— Lori Greene (@LoriGreeneAHC) February 27, 2019
Share your fire-rated door horror stories with us. Find mpengo on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
Are you dressing up for the day while you’re out doing your fire door inspections? If so, we want to see your costume!
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