Firefighter Dan Rinaldi from Providence (RI) Fire Department sent in pictures of a door from a triple deck structure. The door leads into a convenience store on the first floor. Apparently the store has had numerous break ins. As a result, the store owner did some homebrew modifications to the door. The existing door has been skinned both inside and out with 1/8†steel. The steel covers the entire door and is secured with multiple carriage bolts. The 1/8†steel would make gapping the door a bit more challenging than a traditional metal door. The door is still in a wood frame, so use of hydra ram will just destroy the stop. On the inside, you can see that the two supplemental bars slide in from the side instead of dropping in from the top. Of course since this is an inward swinging door, the supplemental bar brackets attach to the building, not the door leaving the telltale carriage bolts alerting us to its presence.
Interestingly, if you look at the first picture you can see a piece of plywood to the left of the door. This plywood is covering the hole that was apparently made during the most recent break in, that prompted the upgrade shown here. The thieves knocked a hole into the wall, and were able to real the single drop bar that had previously secured the door. This is apparently why the new supplemental lock was intentionally made with two slide-in bars, versus the single drop bar.
I can’t see it real well…What is the door frame? Im assuming steel, but can’t tell with the paint?
DMAN, the post says the door frame is wood.
Metal door….Metal saw….
Im an idiot.
How ’bout splitting the jamb on both sides with the pike of the halligan?
….with a baseball swing like with HUD windows?
My first thought would be to use the saw, but I think taking the door to the right and breaching the wall could be faster.
Jet Axe….
I’m not sure about the baseball swing working, just because the pic seems to show the brackets on the wall studs and not the jamb. That being said, it’s gonna be my first tactic when I see that wood jamb.
When that doesn’t work, I’m voting DK or Jet Axe.
Yeah, now that I looked again, you’re right. You’re also right, I would donkey kick the shit outta that. As usual, I’m going with my eff that saw theory. I know it’s the easiest probably, but anyone can say saw. What’s your back up plan?
When the baseball swing and a quick shot at conventional fails, my backup would be to peek through the door to the left and see if it leads in (I’m guessing not, though as this is a mixed occupancy). I’d also like to give myself the benefit of the doubt and say I’d notice the plywood square on the left, and could maybe get a view of what I’m up against. Wall breach and saw both sound good, but are often harder in reality, especially when you can’t tell what’s on the other side.
Aerial or ground ladder to a window.
Floor above or below….hole in the floor…folding ladder.
Why do we need to get in there anyway?
Marty, you’re not thinking 4th dimensionally.
I think using the ads end of the haligan to pry against the frame and the door would breat those 2x’s if you attatcked each one individually.
Back-up plan: The barricade ought to be a stern message to intruders that the owner has done as much as he can, and it is reasonable to expect that the increased breaching difficulty will cause the intruder to make a lot of noise in the process. If the owner is hearing impaired some kind of loud proximity alarm near the door is needed. In states like Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas (but not New York State) there is the option of greeting the eager visitor with something like a .357 magnum when the door yields… Oh yes, the owner should also have enough illumination to see what he or she is dealing with, and of course, the choice to shoot or not is entirely personal. But it is known that intruders who are willing to break into an occupied home or business (perhaps someone working after hours) are among the most dangerous criminals.