Makers of LifeDoor launch crowdfunding campaign, ends July 6

LifeDoor. Courtesy photo

By Stefanie Donahue

The fire safety device, LifeDoor, is up for pre-sale on Kickstarter.

On June 6, creators Joel Sellinger and Ben Docksteader, launched the crowdfunding campaign to advance production.

The project will only be funded if it reaches its $50,000 goal by Friday, July 6; on June 27, Sellinger and Docksteader had raised $25,128.

LifeDoor is about the size of a book and mounts to hinges on interior doors. Intended for non-commercial buildings, it automatically closes doors when a smoke detector sounds, illuminates the room and sounds a secondary alarm. Once doors are closed, they can easily be reopened.

LifeDoor creators Ben Docksteader, l., and Joel Sellinger.

Sellinger, a firefighter from Blaine, and Docksteader, an engineer from Custer, created the product as a response to studies conducted by the Firefighter Safety Research Institute, which found that rooms with an open door average 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit during a house fire, while rooms with a closed door average 100 degrees.

The pair began developing LifeDoor in January 2017 and unveiled it at The International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas last February. LifeDoor was also placed on temporary display at Target’s ‘Open House’ store in San Francisco.

Since then, Docksteader said they’ve reduced the size of the product by 30 percent, improved its design and increased its battery life. The improvements were funded by firefighters in Washington, he said.

“The Kickstarter is our opportunity to go to the public,” he said.

To view the Kickstarter campaign, visit kck.st/2K9JFJ6.