Why do fire doors need to be kept shut?

Question

They are normally kept open at the coffee shop where I work but we shut them yesterday because we had a fireman come in to inspect our fire safety and we opened again after he had gone.

Answer 1

When such doors are kept open, they will no longer be recognised as fire doors, and are more likely to be either cluttered with stuff or the constant human flow will naturally prevent the door from being one that is used only for evacuation in the event of a fire.

Answer 2

Fire doors should be kept shut and free fro stuff stored near them... If there is a fire it is less likely to spread and less likely to give more air (oxygen) to the fire.
Its good to remember, there are ONLY 3 Things that a fire needs 1 heat 2 fuel 3 oxygen take away any one of those 3 and you cannot have fire

Answer 3

Are you sure they are fire doors or fire EXIT doors? Big difference.
I have a hard time visualizing fire doors in a small coffee shop. Fire doors are typically used in areas that have long corridors.
Fire exit doors should remain unlocked during business hours in case of fire. They usually have an alarm on them to deter "normal" traffic. Leaving fire exit doors open is not a fire hazard.

Answer 4

to act as a fire break, they are rated for at least 30mins fire protection before they will burn through, in uk there is a coloured dot on one side of the door to indicate the fire resistance, there should be self closers on all fire doors too so they cannot be accidentally let open when unattended

Answer 5

The fire door is there to contain the fire to its room of origin. If your coffee shop is in a building with several other businesses or offices it does two things. it prevents afire that starts in your space from burning the rest, and it stops a fire that starts in one of the other from entering your space.

Answer 6

This is to contain a fire to the central location to prevent it from spreading rapidly causing people to be trapped inside.These doors are actually a firewall

Answer 7

because they must always be recognized as fire doors and not just an everyday exit

Answer 8

well to keep a fire on one side or the other so i guess if their is no fire the could be open