You’ve probably run across a glass door during a fire and wondered, “Why do we have to break out our forcible entry tools for this thing? Why not just smash the glass?”
That’s a bad idea, according to our partners at Brotherhood Instructors, LLC. Breaking a glass door can take longer than conventional forcible entry techniques if it has a push bar, since you have to get rid of the bar before you can use the door. You also can’t control the ventilation of a glass door once you break it, and the broken glass can cut your lines.
Bottom line: don’t break a glass door if you encounter one on the fireground. Use your forcible entry tools like the REX tool or – our personal favorite – the power saw.
