ROGERS, Ark. — Something that takes mere seconds, could save your life. The Rogers Fire Department encourages everyone to shut their doors before going to sleep.
"The reality is that shutting doors can save lives," said Rogers Fire Captian Joshua Kirtz.
The fire department posted a video on Facebook showing the difference shutting a door made in Misty Sutherland's home after a room was overtaken by the fire.
"It's the difference of night and day," said Sutherland. "Of where you can see where the fire stops just because of closing the door."
According to the Rogers Fire Department, Thursday, September 8, at around 10:30 a.m. Misty and her grandparents’ home caught fire.
"My grandparents have lived here for a little over 60 years," Sutherland said.
When Sutherland knew about the fire, she says she screamed. Then, thought of how to get her grandparents out of the home. Before they walked out of the home, Misty shut the door between the den, where the fire was, and the rest of the home.
"I had no clue," Sutherland said. "No clue at all. It was just habit for me to close the door."
Kirts says her habit saved their home and it is something everyone should do.
"It reduces the temperature in that room by up to 900 degrees. It keeps smoke out of that room and it reduces the damage to your property," said Kirts.
Sutherland says the difference in the damage is night and day and is grateful she shut the door.
"Because if not, the whole house would have been gone, and luckily we're just dealing with the loss of a den," said Sutherland "And not the loss of grandparents or an entire house."
Rogers Fire also left some tips everyone should know, especially with the winter months approaching:
1. Make sure you have a working smoke alarm
2. If you use a space heater, turn off it before bed to prevent any fire
3. If a fire does start, shut your doors.
Download the 5NEWS app on your smartphone:
Stream 5NEWS 24/7 on the 5+ app: How to watch the 5+ app on your streaming device
To report a typo or grammatical error, please email KFSMDigitalTeam@tegna.com.