Safety doors failed in NYC high-rise fire that killed 17
Source: Associated Press
Safety doors failed in NYC high-rise fire that killed 17
By DAVID PORTER, MICHELLE L. PRICE and MICHAEL R. SISAK
January 10, 2022
NEW YORK (AP) — Investigators sought answers Monday for why safety doors failed to close when fire broke out in a New York high-rise, allowing thick smoke to rise through the tower and kill 17 people, including eight children, in the city’s deadliest blaze in more than three decades.
A malfunctioning electric space heater apparently started the fire Sunday in the 19-story building in the Bronx, fire officials said. The flames damaged only a small part of the building, but smoke poured through the apartment’s open door and turned stairwells into dark, ash-choked death traps. The stairs were the only method of escape in a tower too tall for fire escapes.
Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said the apartment’s front door and a door on the 15th floor should have been self-closing and blunted the spread of smoke, but the doors stayed fully open. It was not clear if the doors failed mechanically or if they had been manually disabled. Nigro said the apartment door was not obstructed.
The heavy smoke blocked some residents from escaping and incapacitated others as they tried to flee, fire officials said. Victims, many in cardiac and respiratory arrest, were found on every one floor. Firefighters carried out limp children and gave them oxygen and continued making rescues even after their air supplies ran out.
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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/fires-new-york-bronx-new-york-city-c8bd4a00e992b6da7380a23e6e7b38e4
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They had these systems....Basically a huge electromagnet that locked the doors open. You'd have to be a gorilla to break the energized bond.
This product, integrated into the FA panel should have deenergized to close...stopping the smoke from enveloping floors of families.
A true crime. I hope the owners stand trial so the facts are uncovered. If the FA system was not up to code or not functioning properly....why?
On edit. I have to fess up....I was a buyer that did contracts with companies that offered a range of metal manufacturering capabilities - diecastings (see above housing and the housing for the holder bracket, screw machines, punching, etc. That circular plate that engages the magnet isn't a hunk of 1018 steel, it's a fused powder metal whose precise chemistry maxmizes the holding power of the holder to the energized magnet.
