August 26, 2009
But think about the CHILDREN
It suddenly struck me while reading about more town hall meetings today that a very large number of the reports, both in the press and by attendees, make mention of doors being locked. Now, we're usually talking about public meeting spaces, such as auditoriums and the like. Generally, there's a passing mention of people trying to get in, only to find that they're locked out.
Here's my random thought - isn't locking the doors a fire code violation? I'm quite serious in asking that question. From what I vaguely recall, some doors can be locked but there has to be some type of open emergency access. Please note I am not in any possible way saying, implying, condoning, hoping, etc. that there's a fire at one of these events. In fact, I'm horrified at the concept that there could be. But fire codes are designed for exactly these situations, large numbers of people in contained spaces. So there's my questions, in an attempt to keep people out, are the organizers improperly locking people in?
No, it's not a huge point but I think it does bring up the lack of attention to detail that's a hallmark of this entire mess.
Here's my random thought - isn't locking the doors a fire code violation? I'm quite serious in asking that question. From what I vaguely recall, some doors can be locked but there has to be some type of open emergency access. Please note I am not in any possible way saying, implying, condoning, hoping, etc. that there's a fire at one of these events. In fact, I'm horrified at the concept that there could be. But fire codes are designed for exactly these situations, large numbers of people in contained spaces. So there's my questions, in an attempt to keep people out, are the organizers improperly locking people in?
No, it's not a huge point but I think it does bring up the lack of attention to detail that's a hallmark of this entire mess.
Posted by: alexthechick at
09:05 AM
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1
Shut up.
They know better than you and if they say they can lock the doors, they darn well can lock the doors.
Don't you know laws don't matter if your heart is pure and you vote Democrat?
Well, if you vote Democrat anyway.
Posted by: Veeshir at August 26, 2009 09:31 AM (zXUuJ)
2
If a door has "crash bars" on it, the door can be locked. It is only locked for outside access. The crash bars will work. At least the ones at our church would.
Posted by: TimothyJ at August 26, 2009 09:34 AM (IKKIf)
3
Yeah, if it's a “real” public assembly space (auditorium, theater, church, etc.), most building codes require (in addition to outward-opening doors) “panic” hardware on the inside that will release the door if anyone so much as runs into it. This is supposed to work regardless of whether the door is locked to the outside.
Smaller spaces (classrooms, conference rooms, offices) have less stringent rules, but any lock must be releasable from the inside without a key. (Some jurisdictions permit deadbolts that require keys on both sides for security purposes - so a burglar can't break a window, reach in, and unlock the lock. These must be unlocked anytime the space is occupied (“business hours”) and must have an adjacent sign to that effect.)
Fire departments tend to be very strict about this stuff... lots of people have been killed by exit door stupidity.
Smaller spaces (classrooms, conference rooms, offices) have less stringent rules, but any lock must be releasable from the inside without a key. (Some jurisdictions permit deadbolts that require keys on both sides for security purposes - so a burglar can't break a window, reach in, and unlock the lock. These must be unlocked anytime the space is occupied (“business hours”) and must have an adjacent sign to that effect.)
Fire departments tend to be very strict about this stuff... lots of people have been killed by exit door stupidity.
Posted by: Old Grouch at August 26, 2009 11:25 AM (uKJ7j)
4
I knew Distributed Moron Knowledge would come through! I forgot about the crash bars on the doors.
Posted by: alexthechick at August 26, 2009 12:23 PM (SHHaV)
5
Alex, us morons are here to help you in any way we can. BTW, did you ever post that picture of you?
Posted by: TimothyJ at August 26, 2009 02:30 PM (IKKIf)
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