:quality(70):focal(2963x1288:2973x1298)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/shawmedia/EORO45T4NVDZLCVQEAMYOD6B4M.jpg)
We can all learn from tragedy.
In January, a Streator family learned an important lesson and the lesson saved two lives. The family was alerted to a fire in the kitchen by hearing a smoke alarm and smelling smoke. After attempting to escape, the residents closed the doors to their bedroom and stuffed towels under the doors to provide them with valuable time as their home burned. That valuable time allowed first responders to arrive and rescue them from their home.
A closed door can save your life.
The biggest advantage of a closed door is to keep smoke and heat out of the room. Smoke inhalation is the leading killer in house fires. Smoke is a toxic mixture of gases that is harmful and often deadly if breathed into the lungs. One toxic gas found in the smoke is carbon monoxide. In a fire, CO levels can increase to higher than 10,000 parts per million. CO levels that high are not survivable. Testing has proven that a closed door can keep levels at a survivable level of around 100 parts per million. A closed door can also keep heat out of a room. Testing has shown that closing doors can keep room temperatures below 100 degrees instead of the untenable 1,000-plus degrees from a fire.
Closed doors is a relatively new talking point in fire prevention lessons. Mostly, because fires in today’s homes are proving to be more severe and more deadly. Testing by consumer advocacy groups has shown that residents in today’s house fires have only 3 minutes to escape before smoke and heat create unlivable conditions. Forty years ago, residents had nearly 17 minutes to evacuate. This drastic change is a direct result of the materials used in our homes today. A majority of consumer goods are now made out of petroleum (oil) products that creates the toxic, black smoke and much higher heat. Closed doors prevent this smoke and heat from entering your room and can save your life.
In addition to a closed door, smoke alarms and fire escape plans are also vital to survive a fire in your home. As mentioned previously, the Streator family was alerted to the fire by a smoke alarm and the smell of smoke. That smoke alarm saved lives that day by notifying the family of the fire. After trying to escape through the door of the room, the family had two ways out of their bedroom. The second being a window. Knowing two ways out is always important no matter where you sleep.
We can all learn from tragedy. And we should all learn from this Streator family whose lives were saved by smoke alarms, closed doors, and a fire escape plan. When a fire breaks out in our home, we are now left with minutes to evacuate. Every second counts and a closed door can provide time. Always remember: Close before you doze.
- Bryan Park is a fire captain and public information officer with the Streator Fire Department. He’s been a firefighter since 2002.