'Feeling a Door' To See If Fire Is On the Other Side. Technical Note.
'Feeling a Door' To See If Fire Is On the Other Side.
Technical Note.
(107 K)
Cooper, L. Y.; Nelson, H. E.
Fire Technology, Vol. 25, No. 3, 251-256, August 1992.
Keywords:
doors; door assemblies; detection; fire fighting; fire
hazards; smoke barriers; smoke transport; visual
inspection
Abstract:
This paper considers door assemblies that separate a
fire environment from a protected space. It analyzes
three methods of "feeling a door" on the protected side
that can assist in determining the existence of a direct
fire threat on the other side. These methods are 1)
feeling the door surface to determine whether or not it
is at an elevated temperature; 2) feeling, smelling and
visual inspection of the door edges to determine
possible smoke flows from an adjacent fire environment;
and 3) feeling the door-knob to determine whether or not
it is at an elevated temperature. It is determined that
a practical and effective strategy can be developed
which uses all three methods to establish the existence
of a fire threat without direct exposure to the fire
environment. Of all methods discussed, the most
reliable single indicator involves touching the base of
the door-knob.
Building and Fire Research Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Gaithersburg, MD 20899