The Importance of Fire Doors

Action Overhead Door provides a variety of specialty overhead doors to keep businesses and commercial buildings running effectively and safely. One example of this is our fire doors. A necessity for many business and commercial premises, read on to find out more about fire doors.

What is a fire door?

Fire doors are designed to stop or delay a fire from spreading once it breaks out within a building or premises. When closed, these fire-resistant doors restrict the flow of oxygen between two spaces, limiting the amount of oxygen delivered to the fire and, therefore, suppressing the fire and helping to prevent it from growing.

If a fire reaches a closed fire door, it will take a long time for the fire to spread to and burn through the door. This gives people in safe parts of the building enough time to escape before the fire spreads further. For example, fire doors leading onto stairwells help to keep this escape route clear so people can exit the building this way.

As well as protecting personnel, fire doors also help to limit the amount of fire damage to a building and its assets. Business premises contain a lot of valuable equipment and essential documents, so they can suffer a lot of loss and damage if a fire is allowed to spread. In industrial workplaces, a fire spreading to parts of a building with flammable materials and electrical equipment can have even more disastrous results, so it is essential that fire doors are properly in place to prevent this.

Different types of fire doors

Fire doors can be made from a number of specialized fire-resistant materials, including:

  • Timber
  • Glass
  • Steel
  • Gypsum

While these might not all sound like the most fire-safe materials, fire-resistant glass and timber, for example, are developed to be able to withstand the heat from a fire and stop it from spreading. Fire doors must be certified to confirm that they safely and effectively providing enough protection in case of a fire.

Fire-resistant glass is designed so that it does not shatter under the heat produced by a fire. It also remains transparent to make it easier for people to see into the next area of the building and assess the severity of the fire and the damage caused by it. Glass fire doors have different classifications to indicate their resistance level.

Installing fire doors can be a complex job and must be done to meet regulations. So, it’s essential that this kind of work is left to a professional. Contact Action Overhead Door if you require fire door installation in your business premises around Savannah, Georgia.