Doors - Not just for Jim Morrison

Did you know that Fire Doors must be inspected annually? Yup, just like a Fire Curtain. Ref: 2010 NFPA 80, chapter 5.2.1. Most doors in an institutional building are Fire Doors, and an easy way to verify if a door is a Fire Door it is to look at the edge of the door leaf that is attached to the hinges.

If it is a Fire Door then you will see a small metal placard that says: FIRE DOOR and a bunch of other information about the door.  Look closely if you don't see it at first -- it may have been painted-over -- which is also a fire code violation. Ref: 2010 NFPA 80, chapter 4.2.2.

Inspections of Fire Doors are to check that the door is:

• There (yes, I find them missing sometimes).
• In proper operating condition (windows not broken, operating hardware all functioning).
• The latches work (and aren't covered with gaffer's tape) - this is so the door can stay closed against the atmospheric forces of a fire.
• The crash-bar (panic hardware) works and allows the door to open (no extra dead-bolts, pad-locks, or chains).
• To make sure the door is not blocked on either side in a manner that would prevent it from being opened (things like pianos, stacks of chairs or desks, book cases, filing cabinets, cars, trucks, orchestra shells, etc.).
• To make sure that the door is not propped open in a manner that would prevent it from being closed automatically (this means NO stage weights, NO chairs, NO desks, NO microphone stands, NO speakers, NO road cases, NO scenery, NO flag pole bases, NO . . . well, you should get the point).
• To see if the automatic door closer hardware actually automatically closes the door (this is how you keep the smoke-in, air out, and keep the fire from spreading).  Disconnected, clamped, maladjusted, or broken closers must be repaired or replaced.
• To  make sure that 'extra things' haven't been added to the door like kick-down door props (no, you cannot add these to Fire Doors!) or bailing wire to tie the door open.
• And to check that the magnetic door release latch, if any, is properly working in conjunction with the Fire Alarm System (yes, this is the only legal way to prop a door open).

Alright, Bugsy - It's curtains for you!

Didja ever notice how Directors hate it when the theatre is suddenly flooded by light when a door is opened?  Yeah, it happens all the time.  It's really not their fault, it was the person designing the building that failed to recognize how disruptive this can be.

Denial is not just a river in Egypt.  It sometimes stems from a complete lack of admission that anyone would enter or leave a performance at anytime other than the designated time (yeah, like that's gonna happen!).

So what we get instead is folks trying to make-do.  They string-up curtain rods and cover the Exits to block the stray light.  Sometimes they cover the  EXIT  signs, too.  News Flash:  You cannot block or obscure a Fire Exit Door or Fire Exit Route.  Ref: 2010 NFPA 80, chapter 5.2.13.

Getting NOT Kinky - Fire Curtain Release Perimeter Line

If you have a Fire Curtain in your theatre, then part of that protective system is a fire control line that surrounds the Fire Curtain perimenter on three sides (stage left, top, & stage right) and has fusible links that will separate should there be a fire in the immediate vicinity of the Fire Curtain.  That line must be a small diameter (3/8" fiber rope or 3/32" diameter 7x19 wire rope) cable so that it bends easily and move freely through the pulley blocks at the corners of the Fire Curtain.  Ref: 2010 NFPA 80, Section 20.7.3.2.

The bend radius of the cable is known as the D:d ratio.  This represents the ratio of the pulley sheave diameter (D) to the cable diameter (d).  The for 7x19 stranded wire rope the recommended D:d ratio is 51:1, so the recommended sheave diameter for 3/32" diameter cable is 51 x 3/32, which equals 153/32, or about 5".  The minimum ratio is 34:1, which is means that a 4" pulley is typically used as they are commonly available.  Ref: American Iron and Steel Institute "Wire Rope Users Manual, 2nd Edition", Table 9.

In the picture above we have a variety of design issues:

• 
  
  The cable is 1/8" diameter plastic-coated wire rope.  It is a bit larger diameter than the required 3/32", so it would require an even larger sheave, about 6".  As you can see, the pulley is only about 1-1.5" diameter, or about 1/4th the required size.  This can cause the cable to 'take a set' and get a kink in it so that it doesn't want to move freely through the sheave.  I've seen wire rope as large as 1/4" diameter used with pulleys like this - and they definitely take a set after resting immobile for years on end.
• 
  
  The cable's plastic jacket might melt and gum-up the works should there be a fire - not good.
• 
  
   Although this rigging point isn't bearing a significant load, it's still jsut bad juju to use pot-metal dime-store clothes-line pulleys, twisted-link 'dog chain', and quick-links to string stuff up.  Man-up and install it right with load-rated equipment - after-all, this is a Fire Curtain System, not just a trick-line for a one-act play!

Test your Fire Curtain System every 90 days. Ref: 2010 NFPA 80, Section 20.7.1.3.
Have your Fire Curtain System Inspected Annually.  Ref: 2010 NFPA 80, Section 20.9.1.

Reading Material for the Masses

Over the years I've written a few articles and blurbs that people find interesting, and they were something that I've had to e-mail folks as they request them.  Not any more.  I've posted them online at two sites where you can download them for free as Adobe PDF documents.  Cool.  More free stuff.  You can fetch them at:

www.scribd.com/efriend2335

www.docstoc.com/profile/teqniqal

Boxes full of booty (no, not that kind of booty!)

As I perused the Stage Manager's exhibits at the theatre conference I found some other items of interest, too.  Most of the kits had some sort of First Aid section, and several had Flash Lights and/or Spare Batteries, and a few had Chemical Light Sticks stowed-away.  All good things to have if the lights go out.

However, what was really interesting was that all of the portable kits I saw were BLACK.  All black.  Barely a fleck of color anywhere.  It reminded me of the picture below:

"Polar bear in a snow storm"

Now I know that black is the color of choice for all things theatre, but this doesn't make any sense.  It's not like you don't want to be able to find your tool box.  It's not like your tool box is going to be flirting around the wings and might be seen by the audience.  And guess what?  If the lights go out - you wouldn't be able to find your flashlight or Calume light sticks!  A black box in a black backstage environment with the lights out is nothing but a trip hazard or shin-buster.

Not  black ? Sacrilege!  Keel-haul the scallywag! At the very minimum, place some photoluminescent marker tape around the perimeter so that you can find it when the lights go out.  A bit of highly reflective (i.e. retroreflective) marker tape along side the photoluminescent tape would be a good idea, too - this way if you shine even the weakest of flashlights in the general direction of the toolbox, it'll light-up like a fireworks display and you can grope your way toward it a bit easier.  There is a reason that Firefighters and Liferafts both have SOLAS* type marker tape on them - so they can be seen under the worst of lighting conditions.

*SOLAS - Save Our Lives At Sea - Solas type marker tape is commonly used on road signs and highway barrier marking because it does such a darn good job of blinding you with your own headlights.

So, how about some alternatives?  OK. Lets try these:

DuraTool D00403

DuraTool D00407

Stanley 2-in-1 Mobile Work Center

(a bit black, but nothin' a bit-o-tape won't fix either)

Stanley 3-in-1 Mobile Work Center

The Stage Manager's Ready List

I recently attended a theatre festival that had many great portfolio and model set presentations by Directors, Stage Manager's, Sound Designers, Lighting Designers, Set Builders, and many other talented individuals.  It's great to see such a high level of creativity by those coming into the business!

Of particular interest were the presentations by the Stage Managers.  Each had presentations of check-lists, pre-show make-ready items, post-show to-do lists, and every other kind of list imaginable, except one: Emergency Procedures.  So the next time you're "making a list and checking it twice," take a moment and think about what you might / should do in the cases of:

• Extreme weather conditions (flood, tornado, hurricane)
• Injuries (both to crew and performers -- and to audience members)
• Security (campus lock-down or evacuation)
• Building Emergency (fires, earthquakes, broken water pipes, roof collapse, power outage)
• Equipment failure (fire curtain comes-in accidentally, or maybe won't go-out, tripped sprinkler head - do you know where the shut-off valve is located?)

If you don't have a plan, then it is quite typical that you may end-up with total chaos on your hands.  How you handle an emergency can greatly influence the likelihood of injuries being sustained by the building occupants as they try to deal with the situation.

Have a plan (actually, several plans).  Post them.  Practice them.

Good places to hang-out:
Control Booth:  www.controlbooth.com
Stage Manager's Association www.stagemanagers.org
Production Manager's Forum www.foghouse.com/PMForum/index.html

In God we Trussed - all others pay $4.99

Xtreme Structures (Sulphur Springs, Texas) (http://www.xsftruss.com/)  has introduced a new iPhone app called iTruss.  It provides simple weight calculations for trusses with various loading configurations.  It's always good to check your load calculations thoroughly.  Nobody wants to call an aMbulance.

You can download the app at: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/itruss/id363376468?mt=8

Also see the TheatreSafetyBlog entry for the iRigging app:

http://theatresafetyblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/jr-clancy-releases-irigging-application.html