Close One Door and Open Another

In basic skills training, new firefighters are often instructed to be sure to chock open any doors they pass through so that the door won’t lock or close behind them, making egress difficult. Although this line of thought has a great deal of merit under certain conditions, a more complete definition is required before we send firefighters out with their helmets full of wedges. Perhaps a better way to explain our interest in doors is that we need to maintain control of all doors through which we pass. We choose to accomplish this control in different ways, based on our needs.  

There are a number of doors we typically need to control in the open position for various reasons–most commonly, exterior doors providing ingress and egress where the opening will not adversely affect fire behavior. You can control these doors by a variety of means, including door chocks, hinge-control devices, or rope/webbing. Keeping these doors open will help firefighters and civilians to find them more easily and will facilitate hose stretches and equipment deployment.

Firefighters must also effectively control a penthouse door and a roof access scuttle. These openings should be rendered incapable of closing once the roof team accesses them. Removing the door or hatch, if possible, is often the best way to do this. If you cannot remove the door, rack or twist the door, render the latch mechanism inoperable, block the hinges, or employ any type of “prop device.”

Ventilation tactics may also involve door control. In this scenario, the door may be fully opened for natural or forced ventilation. Using the rope/webbing or door chock method often works well for exterior doors or those in the ventilation stairwell. For overhead doors, firefighters have long been advised to use a hook to prop open a garage door. That method will work; however, a simple vise grip on the track will also control the opening and will not tempt a passing firefighter to grab a tool to take into the building.

(1) Latch strap deployed during a search.

(2) Rubber strap covering door latch.

(3) Latch strap shown after room has been searched.

(4-5) A “silent doorman” hinge control device consisting of a bent nail in a dowel with a clip added for easy attachment to turnout gear.

(6) Webbing and carabiner used to control an exterior door in the open position.

(7) This nail wedged into the hinge side of a wooden door between the jamb and the door keeps the door open and is more secure than a conventional door chock.

(8) A nail driven into the jamb plate of a wooden door allows closure without latching the door 

(9) Vise grips used to control an overhead door in the open position.

Although there are many times and places we want to control a door in the open position, we must also be aware that sometimes we need to control a door and close it behind us for the sake of firefighter and civilian safety. These instances may include fires where the attack line has not made any progress and providing increased air flow would further hamper suppression efforts. In occupancies with fire doors in the public hallway, keeping the doors closed, where possible, will help maintain tenable conditions for firefighters searching and civilians attempting to make egress. The same holds true for stairway doors. Civilians may need access to exit doors, but the automatic closers should be allowed to operate and close the door after use. In other instances, firefighters may designate a stairwell for transport of personnel and equipment. In such a scenario, identify doors that lock on the stairwell side. Use latch straps to prevent firefighters from becoming locked out of upper floors.  

Perhaps the most common scenario for closing a door through which firefighters pass is during primary search activity. The place to begin a primary search on the fire floor is the point closest to the seat of the fire, where viable victims may be found. This position puts searching firefighters in a dangerous situation even when they are supported by a handline attacking the seat of the fire. Other than a hoseline, the best protection for the search team may be to put a door between them and the fire. When forcing a door adjacent to the fire, searching firefighters should enter and deploy a latch strap or similar device that will allow the door to close but prevent the latch from catching. The protection of the door will provide the best conditions possible this close to the seat of the fire. With the door to the adjacent room closed, the search team must rely on the firefighters on the attack line to make progress, or at least hold the fire in check while the search is conducted. Any adverse change in the fire must be immediately reported to the search team. The members on the attack line must be sure not to withdraw from their position without waiting for the search team. Likewise, the searching firefighters should proactively locate a secondary means of egress from the room in case the hallway becomes cut off. If another search team moves down the hallway while the first team is searching, it will come across the latch strap deployed across the doo knob. This will serve as an indicator that firefighters are in the room. After searching the room, firefighters may reenter the hallway to move to their next objective. Leave the latch strap hanging from the doorknob to indicate that the room has been searched