After string of deadly fires, FDNY stresses: closing doors saves lives

Leonard Greene, New York Daily News on May 8, 2026

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NEW YORK — Close the door.

FDNY officials once again shared three simple words that can save lives and property when a blaze breaks out and residents are trying to escape.

Officials are spreading the word in the wake of deadly fires within the last month that killed five people in Manhattan and the Bronx, blazes that could have been more easily contained if doors were used to help snuff out the flames.

“Please close the door when there is a fire in your building,” said FDNY First Deputy Commissioner Daniel Flynn. “Close every door possible. Every door in the public hallway, every door in your building, every door to your apartment. Make sure they are closed. Closed doors save lives.”

Fire officials said a deadly fire in Inwood Monday that killed a fashion journalist and her mother followed an all-too-familiar, open-door pattern, one seen just weeks ago, when a fire in the Bronx’s Belmont section killed two teenagers, left nearly a dozen people injured and displaced dozens more.

This week in Mott Haven another person died in a separate fire.

Fire officials said an open door can allow toxic smoke and deadly gases to spread throughout a building in a matter of minutes.

Closing doors isolates fire and prevents smoke, heat and flames from spreading, officials said.

To emphasize the dangers of leaving doors open during fires, FDNY officials, during a demonstration at their Brooklyn headquarters, compared the fire damage in a simulated residential unit where a door was left open to one where a door was closed.

They also showed photos from the aftermath of the Inwood fire. One apartment, which had extensive damage, had an open door, while its neighbor closed their front door.

Officials said it’s the difference between life and death.

“If not for an open door, I’m confident no one would have died in either fire,” Flynn said.

City law requires apartment doors in many multi-family buildings to close on their own. The Inwood fire blocked the main hallway and staircases, and forced residents to use the fire escapes.

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