r/interestingasfuck • u/Jumpy_Platform2143 • 17h ago

How firefighters open locked doors in just one second

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u/299person299 17h ago edited 15h ago

no. just a dumb title for views. will use a tool called a halligan to brute force the door open.

edit:

ive worked fire/ems at two departments and i can guarantee this isnt something we carry. maybe there’s a department out there that uses these, but there is almost 0 use case for these. if it’s a medical emergency, 9 times out of 10 the door will be unlocked or the caller is able to unlock the door. in the 1 out of 10 cases that isn’t possible, forcible entry will be made with a halligan. same thing with fires

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u/wdatkinson 16h ago

The key to the city.

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u/Peppers_16 17h ago

Thought as much, thanks. The idea of someone in a heavy suit and fireproof gloves fiddling about with some paper whilst a building fills with smoke seemed a bit off to me. 

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u/SufficientGreek 17h ago

Because this is for cases where a building is not actively filling with smoke.

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u/11Kram 16h ago

It’s not paper, it’s a carefully selected sheet of plastic.

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u/Complete-Tangelo1532 16h ago

Idk about carefully selected, people make these out of cut up soda bottles lol

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u/11Kram 16h ago

There’s not many things similar to the strength and flexibility of soda bottles.

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u/inactiveuser247 12h ago

You should watch McNally’s video where he shims the first one with a milk jug.

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u/coffeescious 16h ago

if its just a less urgent medical emergency or a welfare check, firefighters will open the door without force. sometimes this is faster than brute forcing, especially with heavier doors.

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u/Superb_Jellyfish_729 16h ago

Is that available to the public?

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u/raybreezer 16h ago

Locks only keep decent people out. If someone wants to get in, they will.

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u/Ryan_e3p 16h ago

Yes, you can buy them.

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u/Tuomas90 15h ago

Could I borrow it for an evening?

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u/Dirks_Knee 15h ago

It's basically a crow bar with specialized attachments.

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u/Armthelost 16h ago

Nvm I think they still use the paper but yeah

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u/SuperTaster3 14h ago

Yeah, was gonna say fire axes exist for a reason. There's a cool forged in fire episode where they are tasked with making a halligan, and then a firefighter training squad tested them on their training course.

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u/Double_Minimum 12h ago

The halligan is what you really want when shopping for crow bars.

I guess unless you want a crow bar.