Closing Door Violations Plagued Bronx Fire Building: Report, Data

NEW YORK CITY — A malfunctioning self-closing door that let suffocating smoke spread through a Bronx apartment building wasn't a one-off problem, according to a new report.

Inspectors repeatedly filed door violations in the East 181st building over the years, the New York Post first reported.

Glenn Corbett, a fire science professor at John Jay College in New York City, said that closed doors are vital to containing fire and smoke, especially in buildings without systems to douse a blaze.

“In a building that doesn’t have sprinklers in it, that has very little fire safety in it, this door became literally life and death for hundreds of people,” he told the Associated Press.

The Post reviewed years of Housing Preservation and Development records and found inspectors cited building owners six times for failing to keep all the building's self-closing doors in working order, according to the report.

At least 17 people died in the fire Sunday, which FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro said sparked from a faulty electric space heater.

"The fire was contained to the hallway just outside this two-story apartment, but the smoke traveled throughout the building," he said. "Smoke is what caused the death and the serious injuries."

A door remained open and allowed the smoke to spread through the building, Nigro said.

"The door when it was fully opened stayed fully opened because it malfunctioned," he said.

Read the New York Post report here.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.