by Jerry Bennett
During our fire training and prevention trips, one cannot help but notice the heavy security gates and bars protecting homes and businesses across Africa. Physical security is a necessary part of life regardless of where you live and work. Most of the world has cities and neighborhoods with heavy security measures such as padlocks, deadbolts, and security bars on windows and doors to prevent theft and vandalism, for good reason. Thieves will break in and steal or cause harm. At the same time, as homeowners and firefighters, we know that locks and bars designed to protect us from wrongdoers on the outside may also prevent us from fleeing danger inside our homes, especially fire and smoke. So, we must consider both risks: keeping bad people out whilst being able to escape quickly during a fire or other emergency.
The last fatal fire I responded to before retiring was a twelve-year-old boy. While he was sleeping, a blanket came in contact with a space heater and started a fire in his home. His parents had left for work and locked the children inside using a double-cylinder deadbolt (which requires a key to enter or exit). Unable to escape without the key, the boy hid in a closet and died of smoke inhalation. While double-cylinder deadbolts are less common in American homes, most homes and dormitories I have visited in Africa require a key to exit from the inside when the door is locked, usually unlocking a padlock.
Firefighters train fighting fires with a large wall as an obstacle.
So what can be done? As household leaders, consider your escape plan for your own home. If all windows and doors have security bars, could a modification be made to allow the bars to swing out after unlocking a mechanism with a key? This could be especially important in a two-story home where everyone sleeps upstairs and a fire starts in the kitchen below, preventing exit through normal means. If your home has one or more gates locked with a key, who has access to the keys, and where are they kept? Each family must make these decisions intentionally considering the possibility of fire even when parents are away from home. Consider these issues for other homes and businesses when conducting safety evaluations. Raising these concerns with home and business owners may cause them to devise creative solutions to balance security and safety.
Jerry Bennett is a retired District Fire Chief from Illinois. He joined the AFM team in 2021 and has participated in several Mission Trips. Today, he is a member of our Board of Directors and assists AFM in planning and training.