A man has gone viral on social media for sharing an "important" fire safety tip.

Posting to TikTok under the username EC (@smokemedic), the man wrote: "Remember to close bedroom doors before sleeping for the night[—]it could make a big difference." The video has amassed over 8 million views and thousands of comments, some from viewers who claimed the tip "saved" their lives. You can watch the full video here.

According to Statista, there were roughly 338,000 reported home structure fires in the U.S. last year. Cooking was the leading cause of all house fires between 2015 and 2019, followed by heating equipment, malfunctioning electrical outlets or faulty wiring, and "smoking materials," said the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).

EC and his family recently experienced a housefire, though he didn't state what caused it. He did, however, share a video of the aftermath.

In that video, EC stands in what many viewers assume to be his daughter's bedroom. The room is bright and clean, but the door is covered in soot, as is the hallway. EC's living room also looks the worse for wear. Though some of the furniture remains intact, it looks like a tornado blew through it.

"Close before you doze!!!" read the video's text overlay.

As it turns out, EC's tip is expert-approved. The American Red Cross told Newsweek that UL's Fire Safety Research Institute advises people to keep interior doors closed. However, there are additional steps a family should take to prepare for a potential fire.

"At the American Red Cross, we feel that time is of the essence during a home fire, and we recommend families practice their escape plans to ensure that everyone in the home understands what to do if there is a fire," the American Red Cross said. "In fact, two minutes is the amount of time that fire experts say you may have to safely escape a home fire before it's too late."

The non-profit organization said families should tailor their escape plans to everyone's needs. For example, if a family member is deaf or hard of hearing, they should have a strobe light or bed-shaker alarm in their room.

Families should also ensure that each bedroom has two exits, pick a meeting spot at a safe distance away from their home, and test smoke alarms monthly.

Some viewers said that, for various reasons, they didn't feel safe or comfortable closing their bedroom doors at night. But others insisted that doing so could be life-saving.

"Having my bedroom door closed saved my life. My whole apartment was engulfed in flames," lotsoflove78 said.

"I sleep with my door closed all the time. [I] had a fire and [having] my door closed saved my life," rjam68 wrote.

"My husband is a firefighter [and] we always close our daughter's bedroom door. Thank god you are all safe," Sillygoose757 added.

Newsweek has reached out to EC for comment.

In June, a former detective went viral for sharing a major safety tip for online daters.

A Dutch Royal Marine went viral on TikTok last summer after sharing hotel room safety tips.

And last April, a secret service agent's daughter amassed over 1.7 million views by sharing some of her father's "lifesaving" tips.

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