Reading through an earlier post about locking toddler doors at night, I saw tons of people saying they keep doors open at night for safety reasons (or put a toddler gate in the doorway). Rather than spamming 30 comments I thought I’d put out a general PSA. Research has shown it is very important to close all bedroom doors before going to bed at night in case there is a fire. It drastically increases the chances that you or a firefighter will be able to make it to your kids on time. I don’t want to be obnoxious or preachy, but my firefighter friends insist that ‘Close before your doze’ is just as important as ‘Stop, drop, and roll’ and are trying hard to get the message out. If you’re worried about hearing your kid when they wake or need you, use a baby monitor. But please, keep the door fully closed. It could save your kid’s life!
Here’s a few links. If nothing else, check out the YouTube video. It does an open/closed door comparison and it’s pretty shocking.
@adrienne Besides closing the doors, invest in a fire extinguisher. Or if you have one, make sure it’s not expired. Check your smoke alarms a couple times a year. NEVER leave candles unattended around little kids, or fall asleep with one burning. Make sure your dryer is working properly and the ducts are cleaned once a year. Properly store ANYTHING that is flammable or explosive. Teach your kids as early as you can about fire safety and the dangers of playing with matches/lighters etc. Y’all be safe.
@puddintain This greatly depends on your house layout. If it’s a longer duct from the interior to exterior you can hire people to do this with snake-like vacuums that can stretch through 20ft curved interior ducts etc.
@solomnpromise If look for a duct cleaning service, they should be able to do it.
Edit: I mean literally google “duct cleaning service [your city]”. They can do all ducts in your house and/or the dryer duct.
@adrienne We keep ours closed. We put the baby safety knob covers over the doors inside our toddlers room. They can’t get out and wander- but we can quickly get in and grab them. I don’t like the idea of them being able to wander the house, hide if there is a storm or fire, etc. Used to be an adjuster so we’ve got a lot of fire knowledge from work.
@adrienne My husband is a firefighter and is adamant that we sleep with the doors closed. Even the flimsiest door buys valuable time. You can go find pictures of hallways that are just destroyed but the bedroom behind the door is relatively undamaged. It’s wild.
@adrienne A couch in my brother's home malfunctioned and caught on fire, burned down most of his home. Luckily no one was there and the dog was able to get out but the damage was insane. The firefighters took photos of my nieces bedroom that went untouched by the fire because they had closed her door before leaving. Anything with a door open was charred.
