About Fire Doors
Accidents are unforeseen emergencies. When they occur, they have the capability of causing injuries, damages and claiming the lives of people around the scene of occurrence. Accidents are caused by several factors such as fire. Fire accident is very dangerous and can cause damages worth millions of dollars in a very little time. Hence, it is needful to be aware of fire safety procedures. The knowledge of fire safety will help prevent any fire accident occurrence and/or reduce the damage caused by fire if an accident occurs. Some of the causes of fire accidents are the use of flammable liquids, candles, poor electrical wiring, smoking and careless use of stoves, ovens and furnaces.
In the homes, parents have to be concerned with fire safety procedures to protect their wards, children and also themselves from being killed or injured unexpectedly. Moreover, fire safety is important in the house to guide against sudden loss of properties and investments, which is capable of causing poverty. In the business arena, fire safety is important to keep customers and workers safe while the goods are also being protected. The crucial nature of fire safety makes it important for business men and women to be compelled by the government to have complete facilities that can prevent or reduce the effect of fire accidents.
To effectively prevent fire accidents in a building, plans must be made about this while the building is still under construction. With respect to this, fire safety structures known as fire doors are encouraged to be used. Fire safety doors are designed to resist heat during fire accidents. The hinges and frames used to fix them are also fire proof. The fire doors are designed to close automatically when its electro-magnetic coil is deactivated as a result of power failure or the activation of the fire alarms to which they are connected. The fire doors are made this way to prevent fire/smoke from spreading from one room to another. Fire doors are designed to be plain and decorative to make the home very attractive.
Fire doors are made up of components that can retard fire. Some of them are: timber, steel, gypsum, vemiculite boards and glass. In addition, fire doors have hinges made of ball bearings and positive latching system. Before buying any fire door, it is important to ensure that their seals have gaskets to stop smoke from passing through. They should also have neoprene and intumescent strip to absorb heat. The seal rating is determined by the chemical composition, rate of expansion, volume when expanded and the resistance to char.
Fire doors can fail if their specifications are not obeyed. Usually, some of their restrictions and requirements are inscribed on them so care should be taken when painting or cleaning them. It is also important to avoid passing rugs or carpets through them so that they will not accelerate the spread of fire. Good fire doors should have fire/smoke rating of between 20 minutes and 90 minutes, and the gap between its base and the floor should not be more than 0.75 inch.
Fire doors are important because they can save lives and properties. Property owners should consider it a worthwhile investment because of the potentials it possesses in saving several thousands of dollars due to possible fire. Since they are easy to use and not usually expensive, it will be a step in the positive direction for all home owners and property owners to think towards acquiring one as soon as possible.
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