Our latest Tips from the Bucket comes from our brothers of Miami Dade Fire Rescue. This is an innovative way to force entry on a metal door while retaining the ability to secure the door after operations are complete. -Jimm-
8 thoughts on “Framing Square Foricble Entry”
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Gents,
This particular maneuver is one of my favorites – “The old infamous Framing Squareâ€. I can remember the first time my buddy from Chicago taught me how to utilize this particular technique. If my memory serves me appropriately, I thought he was just conducting some of that notorious firefighter humor. I thought, “How on this earth am I going to open a metal – clad door with a Framing Square?†So, I sat there a few minutes; pondered inquisitively, and audaciously attempted to deify the laws of Physics. After a few, yet comical performances, my friend finally realized that I would never make it as a Magician on the Las Vegas Strip.
So, he went back to the truck, grabbed “Old Painless†out of the compartment, and started it right up. Then, he proceeded to the door with a smile of infancy, revved up the saw, and kerfed right through the door. Seconds later, he retracted the blade from the door, turned the saw off, and placed it on the ground. As he reached for his bag of magic tricks and briefly pilfers through it. He pulls out this unique Framing square with an innovative tack – welded tiny chain attached to it and says, “The greatest forcible entry tools are infrequently exposedâ€. Next, he slid the framing square through the kerf cut, while grasping the tiny chain, and let it drop down over the panic bar. And in one swift reverse motion – the door was opened! During that particular moment, I knew that he enjoyed his job entirely too much…then again… why shouldn’t he?
Now, the moral I concluded from that interesting day was a valuable lesson about learning from a veteran who has been where I am going – An escapade in sharing the knowledge with the future of those too follow. Therefore, take the time to observe and obtain all that you possibly can from those who graciously share their abundance of experience with you for your personal benefit. And don’t neglect the unity of tradition.
God Bless
Nice, I would never had thought of that idea. Good thinking guys. Keep up the good work with the website, it’s always on my daily vist list.
call me silly, call me a relic, or call me whatever you want by why not try a traditional set of irons, [ an 8 lbs ax and a well dressed halligan ]? “your tools to carry today are a saw, framing square, and a 24″ level just to make sure your cuts are staright.” some how that doesn’t seem to make much sense.
Gap the door with the fork end. once this is done set the tool by driving the adz around the door being careful not to split the door on its seam. next force the door by pulling sharpley out on the halligan making sure you keep control of said door.
if this method fails to work [rarely if ever doesn’t happen] and you have to use a saw you have a few other options. You can either cut the hinges, [make take some time and may not be 100% effective] or cut a small triangle above the panic bar and you can reach in with the adz of your halligan or hand if conditions permit and operate the panic hardware. if nothing else in this case you will have a usefull tool in your hand as opposed to a framing square.
just some ramblings.
billy owens
the “tricks of the trade” seem like a good idea but if you know the trade you don’t have to worry about the tricks.
While this is an innovative and “neat” idea, lets think about it for a minute before we get out our saw & framing square.
First, use of this technique requires the assumption that the locking mechanism is controlled by a panic bar. If this is known from previous experience with the building or pre-planning, fantastic. If not, alot of time could be wasted to then encounter a drop bar, fox-lock, multi-lock, police-lock, or any other mechanism.
Second, a panic bar controls a LATCH. Not a dead-bolt. There may be a single latch at the side (opposite the hinge), as in the illustration above. Or there may be a latch at top and bottom. While the top/bottom latch will be a bit more of a pain, these LATCHES have throws that are almost always less 3/4″ (usually 1/2″). Not much leverage required to overcome this…
What I am getting at is which would be faster? Cutting a whole through this metal door (which is not as easy as it may look) or using proper outward door technique with a halligan and axe?
In addition, if our cut is improperly placed using this technique, we could cut or damage the panic bar and render the technique useless.
I’ve seen this article pop-up in a few places and my concern is that a FF would use it “because I saw it in a article somwhere” and without appropriate understanding of the lock mechanism, door size-up, and potentially faster and more effective techniques.
I would keep this technique in my folder of tricks, but it woudn’t be my first to be used…
If we don’t have a framing square handy, a Boston will do the same trick. Stay Safe Brothers!
Ooops! That’s Boston Rake
Great idea just put two framing squares on our tower. Great website
You can also do the same thing with the older bar style panic hardware in a wooden door if you have a chainsaw. make your cut down the middle, lock your blade, and use the blade to open the panic bar. it saves a little bit of time not worrying about getting the square. this all demends on the type of door and a knowledge of the locking system.
It seems silly to dismiss this technique as a waste of time or inferior. Sure, we will have our set of irons when we approach the door, and yes, we could just cut the hinges if we had the saw handy. The point of this is to be able to secure and lock the door when you go in service. This is just being offered as another tool to put in your tool box. There are always options, we need to keep that in mind.