Respectful Entry with John Buttrick

I’ll bet you use salvage covers when you can. Why not? If you’re going to protect property, you can do a better job of it with covers than without. But there’s another step you can take to save property, and you may not even think much about it. When the front door is locked and you need to get in, what do you do? Force it. After all, it’s more important to get inside and put out that room-and-contents fire before it gets any bigger. Even if the door frame splinters. Or what if grandma is having an acute MI and she’s locked in? Same answer, same reason. But now, when you leave, grandma’s got to deal with a front door that won’t close or lock. There is a solution, of course. It’s called “respectful entry,” and it’s a way to defeat a lock without destroying it or the door. Here to explain how it’s done is John Buttrick. He’s the owner and lead instructor at Coastal Fire Training in Suffolk, Virginia, which provides tools and training for through-the-lock entry. He is also a firefighter in Suffolk, with 10 years of experience.