Does anyone have four-folding doors on their fire house? We are in the process of developing a new station and would be very interested in hearing pro's and cons!
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Originally posted by firenickname View PostDoes anyone have four-folding doors on their fire house? We are in the process of developing a new station and would be very interested in hearing pro's and cons!
Check this site out, it may have something that can help you or departments that are using quad folding doors.
http://firechief.com/ar/sso/Stay Safe and Well Out There....
Always remembering 9-11-2001 and 343+ Brothers
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If you are stilll interested in the 4-fold doors, check this out: www.doorengineering.com
Also get a copy of the November 2010 issue of Fire Chief magazine and you can see some in there.
They open in less than 7 seconds.
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Our door is the raise up style. It's brand new and we raise it by hand every call because the damn manufacturer provided the wrong motor and keeps sending the wrong size motor to the door company so our NEW door is always broke forcing us to raise it manually.On the bright side. We've become extremely proficient at raising the door by hand faster than it goes up on it's own when it does work lol
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The fire department in my old hometown of Milford, MI just built a new station, and it appears they used the four-fold doors. I haven't been there since they finished it, so I haven't gotten any feedback from them.
I'd love to have a new station with such doors. What I have seen seems to be be favorable. Alas, it'll be a long time before I see either...Opinions my own. Standard disclaimers apply.
Everyone goes home. Safety begins with you.
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Originally posted by tree68 View PostThe fire department in my old hometown of Milford, MI just built a new station, and it appears they used the four-fold doors. I haven't been there since they finished it, so I haven't gotten any feedback from them.
I'd love to have a new station with such doors. What I have seen seems to be be favorable. Alas, it'll be a long time before I see either...
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We have 7 of them between 2 stations. They are hydraulic and open quickly, and, since they are always in sight, we generally do not hit them with the trucks. That happens occasionally as the overhead doors go up and you pull through too fast.
I wouldn't recommend them. Too many negatives.
-They are more maintenance intensive and harder to find qualified door installers who work on them locally.
-They require 4-6 feet of space at the front of the bay to allow for them to operate. That means your building has to be larger, with the associated construction, maintenance, and utility costs. Given that you normally need a couple of feet to walk around the rig, figure a 3 bay station is going to need an additional 200 square feet of space just for the doors.
-They make a lot of noise-the hydraulic pumps cycle frequently to maintain pressure. Between the 3 doors and the plymovent compressor, there is a lot of loud noise in the bay.
-The weatherseals on the bottom and middle degrade rapidly. Being in MI, you can feel the breeze, and the bay heaters are running all the time in the winter. This also allows rodents and bugs to get in easier.
-They are far more expensive than overhead doors and look it. In the current economic environment, they attract a lot of negative attention. Our stations are now considered "Taj Mahals" by the locals and evidence that we waste too much money.
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When I worked in the field, I worked at a County station that had motorized raise up type doors, which would occasionally fail (usually for a call) and then we would have to crank it by hand.
Depends on whose apparatus was needed out, determined who did the cranking!
Our doors were mainly glass with a steel frame, and by the Fire Chief's logic, was so the public could see us working in there, I'm surprised he didn't have the shower room glassed out for them!
On the other hand, most of the newer stations (and repaired doors) in the City were mainly steel with a tiny window to look out, not a bad idea, considering the drive by shootings in their areas, but the doors wouldn't have stopped a bullet!
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Here is a pic of one of 4 bay doors at 'new' Sta. 9, Arlington, TX, plus the 'opener' mech. They are 12' at sides (of the arch)...14' at the center, 12' wide. No power, no problem...just release the catch and 'push open' effortlessly with one hand.
I timed these at FULL-OPEN in 4 seconds from secure...
These are a deffinate solution to smashed 'bottom door panels' and apparatus damage from hitting a partly-open door."Take care of yourself first. Life is too short and you never know what tomorrow or for that matter...what the next few seconds is going to bring."
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