Fire Safety Tips
Fire Doors
Not all doors are fire doors.
A fire door is designed to hold back heat and flames for a specified period of time. These doors are listed by a nationally recognized testing agency and are given a rating based on a time factor. The door and the door frame are an integral component and cannot guarantee fire resistance unless used together. Either the door or the door frame on a listed, one hour or greater rated, fire door may have a gasket that is referred to as a smoke seal. This seal is fire resistive and is intended to slow the progress of smoke from one space to another. A small label can be found on the inside hinged portion of the door or on the door frame depending on the year that the door was placed into service. The label will bear the certifying agencies name, door manufactures name and the hour rating for the door. While some fire doors have a sign on them to tell the occupants it is a fire door, the label is the only required indicator.
The door's hour rating is usually a 1/2 hour less than the required hour rating for the building construction it is installed in. So a fire door on a two-hour occupancy separation wall, will have an hour rating of 1-1/2 hours.
Some fire doors are equipped with vision pane glass panels. Any addition of vision panes or increasing the size of the glass panel can decrease the efficiency of the fire door and will void the rating of the door.
Fire doors must be self closing and must latch in the closed position when activated. The activation of a self closing fire doors can be by:
- A smoke detector installed on either one or both sides of the fire door or in a corridor,
- A fusible link device that melts at a preset temperature, or
- The activation of a fire alarm system.
- A smoke detector in the automatic closing device.
- To prevent the spread of fire and smoke to other portions of a building, fire doors may not be:
- Blocked in the open position,
- Altered in design or function,
- Left in disrepair, or Removed or breached unless approved by the Fire Department.
Fire doors are installed as required by the building codes for occupancy separation and occupant protection. These doors are to be maintained and repaired when damaged as required by codes.
