PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — The David L. Lawrence Convention Center is looking at possible changes after malfunctioning doors kept visitors from exiting the building when a fire alarm was going off.

It happened Friday night during the Pittsburgh Auto Show.

General Manager Mark Leahy says there was no actual fire, but that a sensor in the sprinkler system malfunctioned and that triggered the fire alarm and evacuation.

The glass doors in question can slide open and are triggered by an electronic sensor. However, for traffic flow reasons, Leahy says the sensor was turned off, but the doors should still able to be used in emergencies.

People were able to exit through another set of doors about 30 feet away.

However, Leahy is not happy with what happened.

He says the jammed latch was fixed before the show opened Saturday morning. He also says he wants to outfit the doors with emergency release bars so that no latch would have to be turned, and people could just push on the bar to exit.

He says the doors were designed by architects to have an open view, but he says, “Sometimes it takes a situation where you want to reassess things, and I do want to reassess these doors.”

Leahy adds that the security is trained to make a final sweep of the building during evacuations to make sure everyone is out of the building safely.

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