# Huge Fire in the Bronx **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 9, 2022, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-fire-in-the-bronx/957488 "2022-01-09T22:08:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2022, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-fire-in-the-bronx/957488/21 "2022-01-11T06:33:05Z")
Not used to cold weather, and may not even have known that closing a door is very good at slowing the spread of smoke and/or fire. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2022, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-fire-in-the-bronx/957488/22 "2022-01-11T11:33:47Z")
By fire code, the doors are supposed to have automatic closers. In some cases this means a spring closer that shuts the door every time, and in some cases it’s an electromagnet that holds the door open most of the time, only releasing it when the fire alarm is triggered. Whichever type they had in this building, they weren’t working properly, allowing the fire and smoke to spread. > **[Safety doors failed in NYC high-rise fire that killed 17](https://apnews.com/article/fires-new-york-bronx-new-york-city-c8bd4a00e992b6da7380a23e6e7b38e4)** > > NEW YORK (AP) — Investigators sought answers Monday for why safety doors failed to close when fire broke out in a New York high-rise, allowing thick smoke to rise through the tower and kill 17 people, including eight children, in the city's deadliest... On top of that, occupants of large buildings are absolutely terrible about responding to fire alarms. Thus has it ever been. Decades ago my dad was away on a business trip when the fire alarm at his hotel went off. He did the whole feel-the-door thing, took the fire stairs down to the lobby, and at that point noticed he was pretty much the only one down there. He asked the desk clerk WTF, and the clerk said that was a pretty normal response from occupants. I saw basically the same thing during a fire alarm at a hotel I stayed in ten years ago. The above article confirms that this was an issue in the Bronx fire ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-fire-in-the-bronx/957488/23 "2022-01-17T02:48:59Z")
Some experiences of those caught in the fire: > **[Inside a Deadly Bronx Fire: Scenes of Chaos, Desperation and Love (Published...](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/16/nyregion/bronx-fire-what-happened.html)** > > When the building where they made their home became a smoke-filled death trap, hundreds of residents had to make life-or-death decisions as rescue workers raced to save them. or if you have paywall problems: [https://archive.fo/ykCQ5](https://archive.fo/ykCQ5) ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-fire-in-the-bronx/957488/24 "2022-01-17T03:55:16Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > By fire code, the doors are supposed to have automatic closers. In some cases this means a spring closer that shuts the door every time, and in some cases it’s an electromagnet that holds the door open most of the time, only releasing it when the fire alarm is triggered. I have lived in NYC 20+ years and have _never_ seen an apartment that had an automatic self-closing front door. Are they talking about the stairwell doors? ---
**Author:** ![JaneDoe42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janedoe42/32/14104_2.png) [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-fire-in-the-bronx/957488/25 "2022-01-17T04:03:05Z")
I have lived in two countries and seven states. I have never seen automatic door closer on apartment doors and I’ve been in many apartments in my 64 years. Every time I hear someone referring to them I get confused as well. Fire doors everywhere I’ve been have automatic closers as do hotel rooms. While I have much sympathy for everyone suffering from this, I would like to be able to understand how it happened a little better. ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-fire-in-the-bronx/957488/26 "2022-01-17T05:51:26Z")
I’ve seen several of them in NYC. My son who lives in the Bronx a mile away from the fire has one, I saw it today. Last year he lived in an apartment a block away from his current one which also had a self-closing front door. Another relative who lives on East 49th St has one, I saw it last week. And a longtime friend who’s lived on West 52nd St for 26 years also has one. On the other hand none of the 5 apartments where I lived in the Bronx or Manhattan over a 10 year period had them. Here’s a common closer on Amazon: [https://www.google.com/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChcSEwivg6WKirj1AhVDklsKHYfcB\_wYABAJGgJ5bQ&ae=2&sig=AOD64\_2O-wgxCKB57HE6GGubsfpuX06HSg&ctype=5&q=&ved=2ahUKEwjn6ZuKirj1AhWzjIkEHfqgBswQ9aACegQIARBM&adurl=](https://www.google.com/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChcSEwivg6WKirj1AhVDklsKHYfcB_wYABAJGgJ5bQ&ae=2&sig=AOD64_2O-wgxCKB57HE6GGubsfpuX06HSg&ctype=5&q=&ved=2ahUKEwjn6ZuKirj1AhWzjIkEHfqgBswQ9aACegQIARBM&adurl=) ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-fire-in-the-bronx/957488/27 "2022-01-17T15:06:20Z")
I keep seeing articles that say "all residential buildings " must have self-closing doors - but the actual current [law](https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/buildings/local_laws/ll111of2018.pdf) only requires self-closing doors in multiple dwellings (those with more than three units) , was only passed in 2018 and gave landlords until July 2021 to install the self-closing doors. ( there may have been some different law prior to 2018, but if so, I haven’t found it). So that might have something to do with why people have seen many apartments in NYC over many years and never seen a self-closing door. Another thing that I am actually sort of wondering about is whether people are envisioning something specific by “self-closing doors” - it just means a door that closes if it isn’t held open. It might have the type of door closer linked above - or it might just have a[spring hinge.](https://www.stanleyhardwarefordoors.com/files/4215/1309/5149/STANLEY_Spring_Hinges_FAQ_WEB.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![Kimera757](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimera757/32/3765_2.png) [@Kimera757](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimera757)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-fire-in-the-bronx/957488/28 "2022-01-17T15:21:53Z")
My apartment unit has radiators on one side of the apartment only. My room can get cold. (I invested in a very heavy blanket instead.) ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-fire-in-the-bronx/957488/29 "2022-01-17T18:31:27Z")
Ah, thanks for the spring hinges link. I must have seen those too. And all my sightings of self-closing doors that I can remember are within the past 3 years, in buildings with 4+ apartments. The buildings I lived in that didn’t have them were either smaller with just 3 apartments and I’m looking back over 20 years ago as well. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2022, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-fire-in-the-bronx/957488/30 "2022-01-20T13:39:20Z")
Here’s some news: > **[Bronx-raised Cardi B offers to pay fire victim burial costs](https://apnews.com/article/cardi-b-bronx-fire-victims-funeral-costs-0a2821d928ce7b3ad60657400e22e96f)** > > Cardi B has offered to pay the burial costs for all 17 people killed in a fire in a New York City high-rise. > [@](#): > > Cardi B has offered to pay the burial costs for all 17 people killed in a fire that ripped through a New York City high-rise. > > New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced Wednesday that the Grammy-winning rapper had offered the financial relief for victims of [the fire in the Bronx,](https://apnews.com/article/fires-new-york-bronx-ee026127dbe4a226442dbf4c5ba77c50) where she grew up. > > Many of the victims had ties to Gambia, and families of several of the victims planned to bury them in their West African homeland. Cardi B has committed to paying the repatriation expenses for the victims who will be buried in Gambia, the mayor’s office said. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-fire-in-the-bronx/957488/31 "2022-02-09T21:46:42Z")
There’s been another fire in a different building; no deaths reported this time. > **[10 Hurt In Bronx Apartment Fire, 100 Firefighters Respond](https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/fordham-heights-apartment-fire-bronx/)** > > It took more than 100 firefighters just over an hour to bring the fire under control. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-fire-in-the-bronx/957488.md?page=1)