What Fire-Rated Doors Do
The main purpose of a fire door system is to protect the occupants by giving them as much time as possible to safely exit a structure in the case of a fire.
A properly-installed fire door buys occupants valuable time to escape. These doors must be fire-resistant for a set amount of time—and that will depend on your local codes. A properly functioning fire door will keep flames from spreading to evacuation routes so people can get to safety without directly encountering the fire.
This also allows emergency services and personnel to quickly enter the building, locate the threat and put out the fire before it gets out of control.
Fire doors act as a barrier and keep the fire from progressing to other parts of the hotel. These barriers create smaller, more manageable zones that are easier to contain. This also minimizes property damage and the cost to repair or rebuild.
In many instances, fire doors are also required to be smoke resistant.
One of the biggest threats to occupant safety during a fire is actually the smoke. Smoke is disorienting and can prevent someone from safely escaping a burning building. Inhalation can cause long term internal damage or even be fatal. In fact, smoke inhalation accounts for 40% to 50% of fire-related fatalities.
Creating a comprehensive fire door system that is resistant to both fire and smoke is imperative to the safety of both hotel guests and staff.
Curtains vs. Doors
Fire doors are a necessary component to any commercial structure’s safety system. They must meet strict standards and pass rigorous tests and annual safety inspections to ensure that they are fully operational in case of an emergency.
Fire doors play a key role in the passive protection of hotel staff and guests.
But with the rise of open-concept layouts — particularly in commercial buildings like hotels — additional safety measures like smoke curtains are often put in place alongside fire doors for additional safety and ease of egress.
Smoke and fire curtains are often used as a way to section off large spaces in order to compartmentalize the space, assisting in preventing smoke and flames from spreading and damaging more of the building. They also help create protected egress paths for occupants to easily navigate.
Aesthetics play an important role in hotels, which is why many architects prefer a solution like smoke curtains that virtually disappear when not deployed. They are installed and stored discreetly in the ceiling, which also makes them difficult to tamper with. Fire and smoke curtains drop automatically and drape over any obstruction.
In historical venues, smoke curtains can often be strategically used to bring a building up to current codes without damaging the integrity of the original structure and design. They are also widely used as a way to bring elevators up to code without having to replace the elevator shaft doors.
While fire curtains do not replace fire doors, they work alongside one another to protect the building and its occupants from smoke and fire threats.
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