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Attack the Door
Not all doors are created equal. Take a look at this door and decide how you would attack it’s integrity to force it open. There is a lot that the characteristics of a door can tell you about how it is hung and secured.
Although this seems like a very simple skill and knowledge that everyone should know, I am continually surprised by how many don’t really understand how to use forcible entry tools. I’m sure you have seen the guy just beating a door to death but not getting anywhere because he is attacking the door the wrong way.
Share your thoughts, experiences and techniques with all of us on how you would attack this door. If you have photos, post them or send them and we will post them for you.
Stay safe and train hard.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Rod Irvine on
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how bout a sledge hammer and a hooligan tool , i have used this a few times here in NZ and if your good at it ,it can save a lot of time . I suppose that our building and lock construction is a bit different here but if i was confronted with this door at a fire scene that would be my first attack mode as i know that it is fast and effective
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Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on
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This is probably a solid steel door set in a steel frame in masonry construction. It may have a drop bar across both doors, top-and-bottom latches on one of the two doors, an extra-long dead bolt, or other latches that are very difficult to defeat with just a halligan and a sledge.
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Permalink Reply by Timothy Bullard on
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I'll take your word on the panic bars Chief. In SW Missouri I have not seen panic hardware on doors of this type, only drop bars. Also, aside from the block facade, what are your indicators of masonry construction? Curious, not reactionary.
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thats why i said here is a slightly different as in all doors must be able to be used as fire exits they cant be blocked across both doors. if the hooligan didnt work partner saw all the way my friend just like i would with a big roller door the beauty with the sledge and haligan is it only takes moments to know if it is gonna work where as the saw takes time thats why i like the hooli
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Permalink Reply by Shareef Abdu Nur on
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First and foremost, as I began my size up of this door, I would send another member to look for another means of entry. In my area, usually doors with bolts in this position have a panic bar or other hardware that is across both doors. If my crew was assigned to force entry to the rear of this commercial structure, we would take the K12 with us just as an option. If that were the case, we would cut right down between the two doors and right through the panic bar or any other hardware that may be across the 2 doors. If, by chance, we came upon this door and did not have a K12 with us, a more labor intensive way to get this door is as follows:
1-Place the spike of the haligan just above where the panic bar is believed to be and drive it through with the flat head axe
2-Turn the haligan around and place the forks in the hole and drive those through with the flat head axe gradually making the hole bigger
3-reach in with your haligan and activate the push bar which will open the door
Another option is to make a purchase point with the flat head, sledge, maul, etc...until a small gap is created in the space between the 2 doors. Place the adz in this gap and twist it up and down to make the gap bigger. Once the hardware is exposed, you might be able to reach in and lift the bar with your haligan.
There are as many options to manipulating this door as our imagination can create. The key is to be fast, efficient, effective, and professional.
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Permalink Reply by Patti Walz on
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You can always pop/cut the hinges off the door
or get one of our gorillas to beat it down.....
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Permalink Reply by Brotherhood Instructors, LLC on
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Just reposting what I had on your Facebook & your blog:
Great drill Jay!
Like you said, a solid and systematic forcible entry plan will dictate whether you will be successful or be defeated by a door like this. My size-up shows a double door that swings towards me (outward swinging). This is confirmed by the door being flush in the frame, although the hinges are visible as well. The stacked double-bolts scattered across the same plane on the door also tell me that drop bar hardware is in place (or is it?) This drop bar will extend from frame to frame, capturing the brackets on the door as well. There does not appear to be any primary lock devices, as there are no key-ways present where the locks would normally be. With that said, I would expect a slide-bolt set-up present at the top and/or the bottom of the door protruding vertically into the top of the frame and/or the floor. Both could be present. I say this because there is no other way to secure this door closed, and they most likely do not leave the drop bar in (if it is even there) all the time.
This door is most likely not used regularly as an entrance as there is no exterior handle. This door is locked from the inside at night, and they leave via another route.
How do we start a forcible entry operation?
While try before you pry is always the first way you start, you will be limited in trying here as there is no handle. My next step is to set the adz in the gap between the door, driving it into the door. Since there is no stop here, I would probably bury the tool right to the adz and attempt to pry back on the other door, hoping to defeat the locks.
I ALWAYS start an attack on a door with the irons first. If the door pops after doing the techniques above, we are done! Consequently, if I fire up a power saw, saw off all of the bolts then force the door with the irons, we may open the door to see that the drop bar was never engaged in the first place, and we just wasted time and energy cutting bolt-heads off for no reason. Start with the irons EVERY TIME and see how it goes.
Watch how the door reacts. If it is really tight at the top and the bottom, those slide bolts may be engaged high, low or both. If it is tight at the middle, the drop bar is engaged and more steps will be needed.
This is where I will either start my saw or start shearing bolts. If we are sawing the bolts, face the bolts head on and take a half-step to either side of the bolts. The saw blade should plunge into the door, just behind the bolt cutting through the bolt just behind the head (on the inside core of the door). Once all bolt-heads are cut, when the door is forced, those bolts should now just pull through the door and the drop bar should drop to the floor.
If we are shearing the bolt, place the adz just behind the bolt-head (or in this case in a manner that will drive the adz behind the steel plate). Strike down with the axe, driving the adz through the bolts. This may take several strikes with the axe (especially if you are using a 6 pound axe). This is one of the reasons that Brotherhood Instructors, LLC. teaches to have the surfaces of the Halligan sharp and manicured. A dimpled and dull adz will do NOTHING for us at this operation. If the adz is dimpled and your axe is sharper, you can set the axe blade as described above, and strike down with the Halligan in an attempt to shear the bolts.
After these bolts have been eliminated, the door is no longer substantially locked (even if the slide-bolt is engaged). Since you cannot see evidence of slide bolts from the exterior (bolt-heads high and low or both), if present, they are most likely screwed right into the interior surface of the door and will be easily defeated.
I personally would not attack this door from the hinged-side as a primary attack for two reasons.
1) Even if we take the hinges, the door is still fully locked and secured in the door frame. We can take the hinges on both sides, but the drop bar still secures the door in the frame and must be dealt with.
2) On commercial buildings, these hinges are very tough and harder to pull than many think. It isn’t as simple as walking up, setting the tool really quick and pulling them out. They are very durable and take a bit of a beating.
Stay safe!
Nate DeMarse
Co-Owner, Brotherhood Instructors, LLC.
http://facebook.com/brotherhoodinstructors
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Permalink Reply by Capt./Chaplain Mike Petrosky on
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Maybe try before you pry. If that doesn't work, K-12, make a vertical cut in the center of one door above the doorbar. Next, take a carpenters square and put it into the cut, force it down to the bar, put some pressure on it and pull toward yourself and release the handle.
Go to www.vententersearch.com and look in the "outside functions" section and then to the 3rd page and look for the Framing Square Forcible Entry article. See below. Also there is a video on this website. Mike.
Framing Square Forcible Entry
Battalion Chief Tom Cole from Miami Dade Fire Rescue sent in this great method of forcible entry. This method works on commercial metal doors equipped with panic hardware. This can be utilized when forcible entry is required, and the ability to secure the door after the operation is desired.
A plunge cut is executed above the level of the panic hardware (lock level). It is important to verify the absence of an interior drop down horizontal security bar. When these horizontal security bars are utilized, the four (or more) bolt heads can be noticed above the panic hardware. If that is the case, another method may be preferred.
After the cut has been executed this is the only damage that is present. After the operations are complete the door and be re-secured. A strip of duct tape over the cut will conceale it until the building owner can get it repaired.
Here is the bread and butter of the operation. A framing square is placed into the cut.
What doesn't everyone have a framing square on their rig?
A view from the inside shows how the framing square is utilized to manipulate the panic hardware.
Lets go to work!
Now that is a cool idea! A special thanks goes out to Battalion Chief Cole and the Brothers and Sisters from Miami Dade Fire Rescue for this great tip. -Jimm-
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Permalink Reply by KyFyre on
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I dont know about everyone else, but we would have a preplan to cover this type of building and know what entry would be best before arrival on scene. Being in the Public Ed side of things now, someime the best people to educate are our own crews. I see alot of good ideas tho, and love the the idea that what we, as a collective group, are doing just that, PREPLANNING, in case any crews run into this type of an issue !!!
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Permalink Reply by Ron King (Fire Chief) on
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Small cake of C4 would do the trick.
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Permalink Reply by Paul Montpetit on
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I like the way you think Chief...Can I come and play in your sandbox...? LOL
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While it's possible that this is a block veneer, it's unlikely that a door this stouit is installed on a wood-frame building with a block veneer....At least that's not the norm in the areas where I've worked.
This type of masonry construction and steel door/steel frame is pretty common in a lot of new movie theater construction around the southeast.
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