Self-closing door closers are important fire safety devices

An open door allowed the smoke to spread throughout all floors of the building.

With a few exceptions, the Ontario Building Code states: every door in a fire separation shall be equipped with a self-closing device designed to return the door to the closed position after each use.

In far too many condo apartment buildings, hallway doors are wedged open or are defective. A few unit owners remove their door closers. Some reasons include:
1.) It looked ugly.
2. The owner updated the door trim and never replaced the door closer.
3.) Removing the door closer makes it easier to bring in the groceries.
4.) A resident uses a walker or a wheelchair and the door closer makes it difficult to enter and exit the unit.

As this fire in a New York apartment building shows, door closers are important.

Smoke inhalation killed all 17 victims in New York City apartment fire, medical examiner says

ABC News (abridged)
By Morgan Winsor
12 January 2022

An open door to an apartment unit where a space heater caught fire allowed the smoke to spread throughout all floors of a 19-story building in New York City.

At least 17 people, including eight children, have died from the incident and more than 60 others were injured, according to the New York City Fire Department. All 17 victims died of accidental smoke inhalation.

The city passed a law in 2018 mandating self-closing doors in all apartment buildings. It's unclear whether those were operating properly at 333 East 181st St., located in the Tremont section of the Bronx.

"It appears the ability to have the smoke spread is due to the door being open," Adams told ABC News in an interview Monday on "Good Morning America."

So far, investigators believe the building met all other standards for fire safety. There were a couple violations documented over the last few years but no outstanding issues, according to the mayor.

The flames ignited Sunday morning before 11 a.m. ET, due to a malfunctioning electric space heater in a bedroom of a duplex apartment on the third floor. In less than three hours, smoke enveloped all 19 floors. The building's smoke alarms were operable at the time of the blaze.

More than 200 firefighters rushed to the scene of the five-alarm fire, smashing windows to rescue trapped residents.

Many of the injured were located on the upper floors and likely suffered from severe smoke inhalation. Approximately 13 people are in Bronx hospitals with life-threatening injuries, according to the New York City Fire Department.

The New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner has released the identities of the deceased victims, with the youngest being just 2 years old.

The ongoing investigation into the deadly inferno is being led by the New York City Fire Department's marshals.

Sunday's blaze was the deadliest to occur in New York City in three decades. A total of 73 people died in fires citywide in all of 2021.

NYC Fire: Families of Bronx victims sue apartment building owners

Fox 5 News (abridged)
By FOX 5 NY and AP Staff
08 February 2022

Several families of the victims of a deadly fire in the Fordham Heights section of the Bronx that killed 17 people including eight children sued the building's owners, famed civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump announced Tuesday.

The suit, filed in Bronx Superior Court, alleges safety violations led to the wrongful deaths in the Jan. 9 fire in the 19-story Twin Parks North West apartment building.

The fire consumed the apartment and part of the hallway. When the door to the apartment was left open, smoke was able to travel through the building. The door, which was self-closing, did not function properly, according to the FDNY.

In their haste to escape, the occupants of the apartment where the fire started left their front door open behind them.

Fire investigators said that the apartment’s front door and a door on the 15th floor should have been self-closing to help contain the spreading smoke, but that the doors stayed fully open. It was not clear if the doors failed mechanically or if they had been manually disabled.

Further information

Read the Fire Inspection Reports essay on the CondoMadness website. Also take a look at the Australian news report on a condo that residents claimed to be a ‘death trap’ and action was required to avoid another London-style fire.