Lt Tim Shaw from Westerville (OH) E112 sent in this door they recently found during a fire inspection. As you can see from the photo below, no indication of supplemental locks is obvious from the outside. We can tell that it is a metal door in a metal frame, but what is not so obvious is that it’s actually a masonry wall covered with wood siding.

The photo below clearly shows the supplemental locks once the door is opened. This particular set-up is the weaker version of slide bolt lock installation. These slide bolts are only surface screwed to the door. The “proper” way to install these slide bolts would be to drill all the way through the door, and to use large washers on the outside. This would prevent the bolts that secure the lock from easily being pulled through the door during the force. You may also notice that the hinge side slide bolts are still in the out position. These slide bolts do not have to be retracted in order for the door to be opened. They are only there to prevent/delay the door from being defeated from the hinge side.

Like most forcible entry scenarios, a well trained crew with a set of irons can make quick work of this door. With no visible indications of supplemental locks, a traditional force near the standard lock would be the most appropriate first action. Once the resistance if felt/noticed from the supplemental locks, its time to go to plan B. Simply changing the location of the irons to closer to the slide bolts and forcing traditionally would work just fine. Essentially the door will have to be forced in three locations. middle, top, and bottom. Going in the order mentioned (middle, top, bottom) would be the best choice. Middle first because until you do that, you wouldn’t even know the slide bolts were installed. Top would be next, because you are more fresh, have more energy, and are less likely to be obscured by smoke if you started low. Bottom would be last simply because its the easiest. Since these slide bolts are only surface mounted, they should pull out just fine.

This type of supplemental lock is typically found on the rear door of a commercial occupancy. Forcing the rear door on a commercial occupancy should be a high priority on a working fireground. Forcing the door early and re-closing after the locks have been defeated is an essential task. Obviously re-closing the door is suggested as to not contribute to flow path issues and negatively impact fire spread. Predict that interior crews will eventually needed this door open to supplement fire suppression efforts, or unfortunately for emergency egress. Forcing this door early, before it is actually needed will save us precious time later in the operation.

We will have a follow up post with a video on defeating this type of slide bolt supplemental lock in the near future. In the video we’ll share a more detailed explanation and share some additional tips on defeating them.