Confronting video sparks debate over sleeping with doors closed: 'Saved my life'
An alarming video of a house destroyed by a fire has sparked debate over whether you should sleep with your bedroom door open or closed.
The footage was shared by a firefighter in the US as a confronting warning for families.
It starts by panning around a children's bedroom with a bed, toy and furniture perfectly positioned and unharmed.
But as the camera reaches the door, a fire-ravaged hallway comes into view. The rest of the home beyond the bedroom is severely damaged
With soot-covered walls and debris littering the floor, the house has evidently been damaged by a fire.
The only reason the bedroom wasn't destroyed, according to the firefighter, was because the door was closed as the fire seemingly made its way through the rest of the home.
"Remember to close bedroom doors before sleeping for the night, it could make a big difference," the firefighter captioned the video.
"Close before you doze!" he added as a reminder.
People shocked by confronting video
The now-viral video has racked up over eight million views with many shocked by the revelation.
"Wow!!!! Wow wow...this is extremely eye-opening," one said.
Some said they recently changed their habits after hearing the advice, with some attributing it to saving their lives during a fire.
One said they've had two housefires and each time their door was closed.
"This is absolutely true," they shared in the comments. "This is also why I hate open floor plans."
"Having my bedroom door closed saved my life. My whole apartment was engulfed in flames," another said.
"Closing my front room door saved mine and my then 6-month-old daughter. All doors are closed before bed now," shared a third.
One woman revealed she is a claims specialist and deals with housefires often. She said "this is absolutely true" and it's "extremely important and helpful" for everyone to know.
Concerns about sleeping with door closed
But some were hesitant and said they keep their doors open through the night, mostly in fear of something happening to their children while they sleep.
"I’m always so afraid what if the fire starts in my kids room and their door is shut," one said.
"I have so much anxiety closing doors unless my kids are in the room with me," wrote a second.
And their concerns are valid, a spokesperson from NSW Fire and Rescue told Yahoo News Australia.
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Safety advice: 'Not something we promote'
While a closed door can slow or stop the spread of fire, it's not something Fire and Rescue NSW promotes as a fire safety strategy in the home.
"Our advice is to have working smoke alarms on every level of the home, in NSW this is the law," they said.
"Additional information we provide to residences, if you or others in the home do sleep with the bedroom door closed, we recommend you fit a smoke alarm in that room.
"Even better if the alarms are interconnected, so if one goes off it activates all of the alarms in the home."
It also depends on where the fire ignites.
A closed door may stop a fire from coming into the bedroom but it can be problematic if a fire starts inside that bedroom.
"It delays smoke from a fire that ignites in that bedroom with the door closed from getting out to the smoke reaching the alarm," they said.
NSW Fire and Rescue also suggests closing the door of the room the fire is in, if it is safe to do so.
"It may assist with containing or slowing down the spread of fire," they said.
"This advice is also recommended once you move out into the street, close the door behind you, get to a muster point and make sure everybody is accounted for."
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