Shut the Door! VEIS, Search, and Sheltering in Place

摘要

STRATEGICALLY, A FIRE DEPARTMENT'S first priority is protecting civilian lives. Tactically, firefighters can remove the occupants from harm (rescue them from the fire building), remove the harm from the occupants (extinguish the fire), or isolate the occupants from harm (close doors and, in the case of multiple dwellings, shelter in place or relocate occupants to another area of the building). Let's consider these options and when and how to apply them. Research and fire experience have demonstrated that a common household hollow-core door can be a lifesaver. Underwriters Laboratories (UL) has found that rooms with closed doors had average temperatures of less than 100℉ and 100 parts per million (ppm) of carbon monoxide (CO); oxygen levels seldom dropped below a sur-vivable 18 percent in rooms with closed doors vs. more than l,000℉ and more than 10,000 ppm of CO in rooms with open doors.