A supplier of fire safety products has launched a social media campaign called the ‘Wedge Pledge’. Fireco says that its campaign aims to raise awareness of the common occurrence of fire doors being wedged open, rendering them useless in the event of a fire.
Doors are one of the most important fire safety features in a building and also, sadly, one of the most common dangers highlighted by fire inspectors, according to the firm. Research carried out by Fireco showed that in 64pc of premises visited by the fire service, fire doors were found to be wedged open.
Neil Purssey, Managing Director of Fireco, says: “I see fire doors being wedged open on a daily basis in a range of different buildings including shops, gyms, restaurants, office buildings and blocks of flats. If you spot a fire door being wedged open by a door wedge, bin, fire extinguisher or anything else please get your camera out, take a snap and tweet it to @fireco with the hashtag #wedgepledge. We want to unite the nation and put a stop to this dangerous practice.”
The firm says that it recognises that there are occasions when fire doors need to be held open and has created a range of solutions to enable the doors to be kept open safely, whilst ‘listening out’ for the sound of a fire alarm.
Dorgard, the wireless fire door retainer, and Freedor, the wireless free-swing door closer, allow fire doors to be kept open legally and safely. The devices use patented acoustic technology to listen out for the sound of the fire alarm and close the doors automatically when the alarm sounds, preventing the dangerous spread of smoke and fire. To join the Wedge Pledge campaign, send photos of wedged open fire doors to Fireco via the Twitter handle @fireco with the hashtag #wedgepledge. Visit www.firecoltd.com.
