Chris Bauchle from Indianapolis International Airport (and USAF TSgt, judging from the finely pressed uniforms…) sent in these pictures of his apartment building. From the hallway, it appears to be a standard center-hall style apartment building. But, since you know your area, you’d know that this building was previously a school. When the building was converted into the apartments, two classrooms were combined into one apartment. As a result, The “second door†actually leads into a closet inside the apartment. You’d probably figure it out after forcing the first one, or taking the time to notice the apartment numbers on the door if smoke conditions permit. Either way, it could waste some precious time.
During the conversion, the “second door†was secured from the inside with standard hinges. The original door hardware was left in place for aesthetics.
Whenever a building is being re-purposed in your area, take the time to walk though and ask the construction crew some questions. It is amazing what you’ll learn, and more importantly, what they’ll tell you if you just ask! A special thanks goes out to Chris and his Brothers from the Indy Airport for protecting us all as we fly into IND for FDIC in a few weeks!
I’m not even kidding, I was just about to send in almost this exact post. We tried to force a door in to an apartment a few years ago to find out the door led right in to a finished closet. Our guys were on an inspection the other days and got pictures.
We have an older garden apartment complex that has three identical doors into each unit from the center hallways. We’ve had a couple fires there over the years and it has always been an issue as far as knowing what unit you are in and what has or hasn’t been searched yet. More importantly, I’d hate to enter the apartment at one end for a search and have the engine making their push toward me through a different door without realizing it or allowing fire to wrap around and vent out into the hall behind us.
The other noteworthy nugget in these pics is the transom windows. The transoms present a serious hazard to the interior members in the case of a real room and contents fire on the other side of them.
They are probably old single pane glass, and will fail at a considerably lower temperature than today’s windows. With a heavy smoke condition at the ceiling, you may not realize there is fire blowing out into the hall over the doorway and your head. We had a close call with a transom failing as the truck was making their way down the hall ahead of the engine (still coming up the stairs) and the hallway lighting up pretty quickly. Use the TIC to scan the hallway, and watch for either unusual dark or white areas above the doors or signs of reflection off the glass. Also be aware that a lot of times the transom glass is painted or replaced with plexiglass or cheap luaun or plywood.
There’s a lot to read in these pics. Thanks and be safe!
Chris