How Safe is your Door Entry?

Door Entry Procedure ....

1 There was no obvious fire in the building as firefighters arrived on-scene but there was a strong smell of burning and some smoke was seen issuing from a chimney in the six-story building. As Firefighters opened the door leading onto the stairway, heavy smoke suddenly turned to flame. The intense fire that followed killed several firefighters caught above in the stair-shaft

2 Firefighter X, along with three other firefighters, were searching for the source of the fire when he became separated from the crew, reports stated .... Firefighters opened a door to the front room of the house and fire rolled out the door and over their heads. Then they proceeded to extinguish the fire in the room. One of the firefighters heard Firefighter X's safety device, which sounds when a firefighter stops moving, and then found him face downward on the floor and severely burned

3 As we opened the door, fire came torching out over our heads. There was sudden chaos as we tried to knock the fire back but the gases were igniting above our head faster then we could apply water. We tried to close the door but the heat was too intense at this point. All we could do was drop the line and crawl the few feet back to the relative safety of the stairway. We were lucky to get out

How safe is your door entry procedure? Or do you even have one in the first place?

Do you TRAIN on an entry procedure to the extent that is is second nature at every fire?

Here are some pointers ....

• Select the right door to enter by
• Is this entry point the fire-side or the non-fire side?
• What direction is the wind, if any?
• Does the entry point serve logical escape routes?
• Does the entry point provide the best access to all parts of the
structure, e.g., basement?
• Get a quick visual of B-SAHF indicators (see Euro Firefighter)
• Are there adjacent windows that may provide hazard warnings?
• Feel the door with the back of a hand to ascertain thermal layering
• If its warm or hot, or if there is fire/smoke suspected behind the
door, follow the door entry procedure –

1. In most cases, don’t enter without a charged hose-line at the door
2. All firefighters under air (SCBA)
3. If this is an interior door either serving or near to a stair-case, is the stairway and immediate area above free of firefighters and occupants
4. Position forcible entry firefighter at door
5. Attack team on hose-line in crouching position
6. Apply a brief burst of fine water-fog above the door or vent the area you are in of smoke, and then;
7. Immediately open the door to six inches maximum (150mm)
(if the door opens inwards use a strap to retain the door in a partially closed position; if the door opens outwards place a foot six inches from the door as a safety stop)
8. Observe the smoke movements (volume/color/velocity/pulsations)
9. Apply a brief burst (1-2 seconds) of water-fog into the
overhead by placing the nozzle tip at 45deg to the floor, just inside the door
10. Immediately close the door fully and wait for 15 seconds
11.Repeat the process, each time feeling for heat reduction; observing the smoke movements; and comparing to the previous cycle
12. Where conditions are improving, or where there appears no fire or heavy smoke movement behind the door, make full entry and advance the hose-line.