Fire department uses aftermath of recent fire as teaching tool for safety

The recent fire at Schubert Heights student housing complex in Pocatello spread quite quickly and left behind significant damage.

In response, the Pocatello Fire Department reached out to KIFI/KIDK to help raise awareness about some tips the public can take to help minimize the damage during a fire.

The fire department said it’s something everyone should know – and Schubert Heights offers a good visual example of what they hope to teach.

The fourth floor is where the fire started in Schubert Heights, so it sustained the most damage. Much of the floor is all black and parts are unrecognizable. But thanks to some closed doors, other parts are still in tact.

“The line of demarcation shows where the heat was rolling and you can really see it on both sides,” explained the Pocatello fire department as KIFI/KIDK walked through with them. “It was extremely hot. And you can see it rolled right across this door, this door was closed. And with that door closed, that room is really in pretty good shape. The furnishings, the chair, the cushions on the chair aren’t melted. By contrast, when we step over here and look at this room, this door was open to about that position and you can see by contrast that this room is severely damaged. Fire debris and heat and smoke damage. Because heat got into this room, the windows in this room failed which gave the fire more oxygen to burn as well. They’re directly across the hall. One is effectively untouched and the other one is destroyed.”

“Fire needs oxygen and when we have bedroom doors closed, it’s going to slow the amount of oxygen that fire can consume which is going to slow the spread which is going to minimize the damage,” further explained Kim Stouse, public education specialist with the fire department.

It’s not just about protecting homes and buildings with closed doors.

“The difference between a closed door and an open door can mean the matter of life and death,” Stouse continued. “They have done side-by-side burns and they’ve had a bedroom door open and temperatures can exceed 1,000 degrees. And in the same situation but with the door closed, temperatures are about 100 degrees which is obviously much more survivable than 1,000 degrees.”

Stouse said about 50 percent of fires happen between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. so sleeping with your bedroom door closed is a good precaution. Stouse said on average, people have as little as two minutes to escape the flames, so by having a closed door slow the fire even a little, it can be the extra time you need to get out safely.

The fire department also said the type of doors used makes a difference. An all-wood, hollow door is going to burn through more quickly than a reinforced, double-paneled style of door.

Stouse said one more important tip is that if you hear a fire alarm, never discount it. Always go immediately into evacuation mode. She said too often, they hear that people thought it was just an alarm, or someone burned something in a toaster, but it turned out to be real. She said never discount it, because that could waste precious time you need to get out.