Door Messaging Strategies: Implications for Detection and Notification

There are currently efforts to inform the public of the fire safety benefits of keeping bedroom doors closed when occupants are sleeping. A closed door can provide a substantial advantage to sleeping occupants of a bedroom in the event of a fire by hindering the spread of heat and toxic gases. The overall benefit in this arrangement is clear when occupants have interconnected smoke alarms inside and outside the sleeping areas as detection and notification of the fire is not hindered by a closed door. Concerns have arisen for situations when such a detection and notification arrangement is not present in the residence and the door can act as an obstacle for rapid detection and notification of occupants. Calculations and data from the fire science literature were used to evaluate the effect of a closed bedroom door on the number of unsuccessful evacuation outcomes that may result from fires originating in the bedroom, as well as the effect of a closed bedroom door on the audibility of smoke alarms for fires originating elsewhere in the residence. This was combined with statistics on smoke alarm coverage, residential fires, and fatalities to quantify the unsuccessful evacuation outcomes. These results were compared with the number of fire fatalities where a closed bedroom door could offer a benefit. Overall, it was found that the number of unsuccessful evacuation outcomes from a closed bedroom door were relatively small and that the potential benefit of closing a bedroom door was far greater. The analysis concludes that on a purely technical basis, closing the bedroom door at night will save lives and provides a net benefit to the public.