Close Before You Doze
In case of a fire in your home, a closed door can isolate the fire’s flow, reduce room temperature, minimize exposure to the harmful chemicals in smoke, and keep carbon monoxide levels down.
"Close Before You Doze" is a new public safety campaign that encourages everyone to close all the doors in their homes, especially their bedroom door each night before going to bed.
Following a study conducted by UL Fire Safety Research Institute (FSRI) showing that in a house fire, a closed door can be an effective barrier against deadly levels of carbon monoxide, smoke, and flames.
However, a new consumer survey conducted by UL FSRI showed that many people keep their doors open at night and don't know that a closed door could potentially save their lives in a home fire.
Please see the resources on this page and visit the Close Before You Doze website for more information.
Watch video hereKey Lessons
- 100 VS 1,000: Using thermal imaging cameras, researchers found that closed-door rooms on both floors during the fire’s spread had average temperatures of less than 100 degrees Fahrenheit versus 1000+ degrees in the open-door rooms (1).
- Carbon monoxide is a killer: A bedroom with its door left open has about 10,000 PPM CO (parts per million of Carbon Monoxide), which is extremely toxic. A bedroom with a closed door has approximately 100 PPM CO (2).
- A little smoke exposure is bad: Smoke from a typical structure fire may generate literally tens of thousands of toxic chemicals and gasses. Research on cigarette smoke alone has identified over 7,000 chemicals, with 70 identified as cancer causing chemicals.
- Fire is getting faster: 40 years ago, we had 17 minutes to escape our homes in the event of a fire. Today, due to synthetic materials, furniture, and construction, we now have 3 minutes to escape our home (3).
- Fire danger doesn’t sleep: About half of home fire deaths result from fires reported between 11 pm and 7 am, when most people are asleep (4).
- Breathe easier: In closed door rooms, oxygen levels are at a breathable 18%, while open door rooms oxygen levels are at 8%, which is extremely low (5).
- Life or death: In experiments done by FSRI, a victim in the closed bedroom was survivable and able to function well through every experiment and well after fire department arrival. In the open bedroom, potential victims would be unconscious if not deceased prior to fire department arrival or as a result of fire ventilation actions (6).
- Slow down: A closed door can slow the spread of fire, reduce toxic smoke levels, improve oxygen levels and decrease temperatures dramatically – and that could make a life-saving difference in your home (7).
- Close the door when you’re leaving: When exiting a burning structure, don’t forget to close the door! It will cut off the fire’s oxygen supply and may stop the fire's growth (8).
- Check those alarms monthly: It’s important to take other safety precautions as well - roughly 3 out of 5 deaths happen in homes with no working smoke alarms or no smoke alarms at all (9).
- Plan your escape: Having a fire escape plan for your home is also important to stay safe during a fire - visit every room with your family and decide on a designated meeting spot at the front of the house (10).
References
1 - https://ulfirefightersafety.org/research-projects/close-your-door.html
2 - https://ulfirefightersafety.org/research-projects/close-your-door.html
3 - https://closeyourdoor.org/#facts
4 - https://www.usfa.fema.gov/downloads/pdf/statistics/v18i4.pdf
5 - https://closeyourdoor.org/#facts
6 - https://ulfirefightersafety.org/assets/Ventilation-Report-Executive-
Summary- 5f8c82a8d9a9c3f4c10ec24f5149b14bec20c856669a9113a4063b4a48665fda.pdf
7 - https://ulfirefightersafety.org/research-projects/close-your-door.html
8 - https://ulfirefightersafety.org/research-projects/close-your-door.html
9 - https://closeyourdoor.org/app/uploads/2016/10/SmokeAlarms.pdf
10 - https://closeyourdoor.org/app/uploads/2016/10/NFPA_How-to-Make-a-Home-Fire-Escape-Plan.pdf
