Fire Safety Science Digital Archive

An examination has been made of over 250 research reports on fires in domestic premises in order to ascertain whether or not they provide support for the belief that doors and windows should be closed as a fire spread precaution. Unfortunately only some thirty of these reports indicated the state of doors and windows at the time of the fire, but from these it appears that, in general, doors and windows should be left closed in order to diminish the risk of fire spread. The major exception to this rule is in the case of rooms occupied by children, invalids or old people, where early discovery is of primary importance.