Ryan Royal from Colorado Springs Truck 19 sent in an interesting find. These photos are of two different structures he found in his downtown area. It’s becoming more common to find these elevated exterior doors in downtown redevelopment areas.
The first photo shows that the doors on the left open onto a fire escape, but the doors on the right open to nothing more than a large fall. Notice that this particular building is at least 5 stories tall.
The second photo is of a 3 story building. The door was found open just like it is shown; it wasn’t opened for the picture. These doors are sometimes left in working order to provide a natural ventilation opening for the occupants during the warmer months. The 2×4 across the opening is the only fall protection available. It would, of course, be easily found while in the crawling position.
These doors could pose a significant hazard to our interior crews. One of these doors could be left open prior to the fire, or inadvertently forced open during the fire. Once again, knowing your area, and trying to get a full view of the building is critical.
Wow, that is quite an interesting find. I don’t think that it is something that I will find down in my area too soon, or ever. It is a good think to keep in mind for all of you northern guys. I never thought that I would see something like that.
Just out of curiosity, was there a building there that had had been demolished and had those as connecting doors?
There was no connecting building. The top picture did have a fire escape at some point. If you look close you can see the stains in the brick that are very similar size to the fire escape next to it.
The second picture is the view looking up from the alley. The alley is very narrow with no room for a previous building. So niether of them had connecting buildings and there are multiple other buildings in that area that had these similar types of doors.
We call those “mother in law” doors
I work with Royal on a sister Truck at the opposite end of the city and when we found these unique situations, we weren’t expecting them. We found these off duty walking through the alley looking for different situations. Sometimes it takes a little off duty work with a couple of buddies and no reason to rush to find stuff like this. Look closely in your district Greg and you would be amazed at what you might find. We deffinately were.
Look at the bright side: if you manage to find yourself in that room as a place of refuge, you’ve got easy access to the exterior. Any rescues can be easily sent into a bucket, no converting that window to a door or hefting your 350lb, unconscious, diabetic victim over a window sill. Too bad the guys on the top floor might not have enough rope to get the the ground if things get hairy, but it would make a good place to bail out with a 6-foot hook anchor.
Granted that’s a pretty thin silver lining on a very big cloud.
While I appreciate TheChaplain’s comments I would like for you all to know that this particular building is one of the few H/U shaped type buildings we have in Colorado Springs and the overhead obstructions would essentially eliminate any use of aerials in these alleys. Also in these particular buildings these doors are loctaed in open stair wells and would not be a place of refuge in this case. Certainly a spot to throw portables and definately an option if your city provides you with a safety system to bail out. These doors are also great location for additional hoselines to be stretched via utility ropes. There is a good possibility that these doors were placed into the construction for movement of large items onto each floor, as many of these style doors also have a steel beam extended above as a hoistway for moving. So consider fuel loading when you see these doors because there may be seriously unexpected items found on a wide variety of floors. While fireground staffing is always an issue, Company Officers may want to consider leaving a guy at these locations on the interior just to prevent anyone from inadvertantly falling out. The two CSFD jakes who submitted the comments and photos should be applauded for getting out on their own and also for providing themselves with the type of bailout systems to deal the bad spots. Keep up the good work.
Does any of those beams have any slide out capabilities or holes,hard mounts to hook a biner or system?
I guess it depends on what you plan on using that for. What did you have in mind?
Whether it be a volunteer system or paid, knowing your response area can and will make the difference as to how fires are attacked and will contribut eto firefighteers success or failure to save the publics life as well as returning to quarters with everyone we respond with.
As mentioned above some do not face these types of structures in their response area. This doesn’t mean you will not find occupancies without hazards where you do respond. Single family homes converted to MD’s, SRO’s(Single Room Occupancy), Attic spaces converted to living space, Commercial business functioning in what appears to be a dwelling, etc.
Not to forget the ever changing demographics of our response areas and increased methods of security such as guard dogs, improvised security devices such as bars on windows, barricading obsure entrances, and so forth, we MUST maintain our awareness and be prepared to deal with obstacles that are placed in front of us.
Failure To Prepare Is Preparation For Failure.
Stay Safe All.
YEY ANOTHER ARGUMENT FOR DOING A 360/SIZEUP! I KNOW A FEW BUILDINGS IN MY AREA WITH DOORS TO NOWHERE. P.S. WATCH THAT FIRST STEP..IT’S A B@#CH!
Just saw this exact same thing on a building in Indianapolis while I was there for FDIC. All the doors appeared to be, what used to be, an exit way out from the living room. When you look in the all-glass door you see furniture. What a huge hazzard to ff’s doing a search.
Good work Roy, I always knew you were a go-getter. Keep up the good work, Let us know next time you drive west.