Cheshire firefighters support fire door safety week

Cheshire’s Fire and Rescue Service (CFRS) is backing Fire Safety Week with a simple message – that they can and do save lives and prevent fire.

Fire Door Safety Weeks is currently underway (running from 26 September to 2 October), and CFRS is taking part in collaboration with the British Woodworking Federation (BWF), which founded the national annual awareness campaign.

Fire doors offer critical protection, and fire protection staff will be spreading this message by visiting businesses and auditing premises around Cheshire as part of the week. During these visits they will be offering safety advice and information about fire doors in commercial and public properties.

Firefighters and advocates will also be raising awareness of the role fire doors play in the home when they do home safety visits.

“Fire doors play a critical role in saving lives and property and should never be propped open,” said Simon Gibbins, head of protection at Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service.

“They are extremely effective at preventing fire spreading from the room of origin and we have seen cases in the past where buildings have been saved as a result of fire doors being fitted and used correctly. We would advise people to also get into the habit of closing all doors as a matter of course to prevent fire spreading and at the first sign of fire get out and call 999.”

Fire doors save lives, but must work correctly. A critical part of the message is that a fire door is an engineered safety device so they should never be propped open and nor should a fire closer ever be disconnected. Also, it needs to be ensured that all fire doors are tested and have a third-party certificated to BS 476 Part 22 or BS EN 1634 Part 1.