Garage Door Slams Shut at the Hubbardston Fire Station

 Garage doors are complex devices that under certain conditions can be considered dangerous. Such dangers occur when the springs or cables that support the door’s weight break or are otherwise compromised. This may lead to the garage doors suddenly slamming downward as the full weight of the doors are no longer offset by the springs. A broken spring or cable resulting in not only dysfunctional garage door but may also injure anyone attempting to open or close such doors.

Hubbardston Fire Station’s Garage Door Slams Shut

In response to a call about power lines being down, the firefighters at the Hubbardston Fire Station attempted to open the garage doors when a power failure occurred. The result was the station’s overhead door fell to its shut position. As firefighters tried to manually open the garage door, it slammed down again nearly injuring three of the firefighters.

The delay lasted for several hours as repair crews were called to the scene. Although the station remained open for service, it still took most of the day before the issues with the garage doors were successfully addressed. But what would cause a garage door to come slamming down in the same manner as the Hubbardston Fire Station? But more importantly, can the same thing happen to your garage door?

Causes for a Garage Door to Slam Shut

Although there are some small differences, garage doors contain many of the same types of parts and functions whether residential, commercial, or professional in use. The reasons why a garage door may suddenly slam down and be difficult to impossible to lift focus on two different causes.

• Broken Spring: The torsion springs that are located above the garage door help keep the door balanced while supporting its weight, and are essentially what allows you to easily move the door up and down along the tracks. A worn or broken spring means that some or all of the garage door’s weight is no longer being supported, which will cause it to slam to the ground. Trying to lift a garage door without springs is quite difficult, if not impossible depending on the weight of the door. You should not try to lift or manipulate a garage door with weakened or broken springs. A spring that is weakened presents a real danger if it snaps.
• Imbalanced Garage Door: Although not a broken spring in and of itself, an imbalance condition does relate to the springs. For the garage door to work, the springs must generate enough torque. In other words, a garage door spring that is designed to support 500 pounds will not work well on garage doors that weight considerably more or less than 500 pounds. The springs must match the weight of the door so that it can go up and down with relative ease. Otherwise, the imbalance condition will cause greater wear and tear on the springs and the garage door mechanisms until they break. And when one spring breaks, the others will soon follow as they have the same amount of wear on them.

What Should You Do If Your Garage Door Slams Shut or a Spring has Broken?

If this should happen, call a licensed garage door repair company. A garage door repair expert can recalibrate, remove and replace broken spring safely. Given the force that it generates, the spring is something that you may want to avoid replacing on your own or take the proper safety precautions when fixing it. Additionally, an improperly installed garage door spring is subject to greater stresses, premature wear and may cause the garage door to come off its tracks.

Periodic maintenance and safety inspections is the best way to prevent your garage door from suddenly slamming shut. Maintenance service from a licensed technician may also prevent breakdowns, keep the surroundings safe, and the garage door in good repair. If you suspect that your garage door spring is broken or worn out, you may want to address the issue as soon as possible or hire a licensed garage door repair company to replace it for you.