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INDUSTRYNEWS • 19
KEEPING FIRE DOORS OPEN – FINALLY A SOLUTION THAT MAKES SENSE …
As thousands of new students prepared to begin university life in Sheffield, South Yorkshire Fire Service was on hand with some valuable and – potentially life saving – advice.
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WITH ROOMS IN THE HALLS OF Residence blocks teeming with new faces, there would be a temptation for students to wedge open fire doors to help them meet everyone and make new friends, but at Student Fire Week- held between October 23rd and 29th- the region’ s fire service was there to remind students that those very doors could only work properly if kept shut …
Amy Jenkinson, business fire safety manager, said,“ Fire doors are a crucial part of the passive fire protection of every commercial, public and multiple occupancy building. They save lives and property and should never be propped open. They are designed to stop a fire spreading as fast.”
This life-saving design only works of course if the door is shut and sealed in its frame when a fire takes hold. The problem with fire doors, as we are all aware, is that in many cases they are placed in parts of a building that become traffic routes. A typical door closer will attempt to shut the fire door as soon as it is opened, making transporting goods, or awkward items, awkward and frustrating.
So the age-old trick, to wedge or prop a fire door open, is almost second nature to many people. In schools, hospitals, and public buildings across the land wedges and chairs are routinely shoved into place to stop a fire door closing – and then not removed, which puts people and property in immediate danger should an alarm sound.
The obvious answer then is to consider using a system that can hold a door open when required, and release the fire door back into the frame when alerted by an alarm. That’ s fine in theory but in practice there can be may reasons why this is not feasible. Budget is always a factor – the cost of installing a typical hard-wired system can be in four figures – but there can also be issues such as lack of nearby mains wiring, the building may be listed, or nearby walls are not suitable to take the additional fixings.
The answer is to use the DoorSense standalone hold open device along with a UNION door closer. DoorSense is a battery powered door control unit that features a foot operated stop to keep a fire door open, and release it when a fire alarm sounds. As it does not depend on mains wiring to power it, or alarm cabling to activate it, installation can be done in under five minutes. Furthermore, as it has been tested
‘ Compared to a door wedge and the chance of a hefty fine if they found in use during a fire inspection, DoorSense is a much more attractive, and practical proposition’
to over 50,000 alarm cycles, it can be relied upon to release a fire door when it hears an alarm being sounded. The independent door closer will then shut the fire door into the frame to protect against fire.
Compared to a door wedge and the chance of a hefty fine if they found in use during a fire inspection, DoorSense is a much more attractive, and practical proposition. For students in Sheffield, or any University, DoorSense would allow them to throw their doors open and make new friends, and keep them safe if the unthinkable should happen and a fire breaks out.
LOCKSMITHJOURNAL. CO. UK | MAR / APR 2018 Sponsored by Lockex 2018- Security & Fire Safety