FIRE SAFETY FOR YOUR BUILDING
Fire Department Phone Numbers by Borough Manhattan (212) 999-2222 Bronx/Staten Island (718) 999-3333 Brooklyn (718) 999-4444 Queens (718) 999-5555
Fire and Life Safety Director Contact Patrick Duffy
Office (212) 282-1802 Mobile (646) 940-0394
FIRE SAFETY FOR YOUR BUILDING If there is a Fire in Your Building
1. Evacuate the Area if You Discover Smoke or Fire o Close the doors to contain the fire. Exit through the nearest fire stairway to at least two floors below the fire. 2. Immediately Activate the Building’s Fire Alarm o Pull the fire alarm located near the entrance to the stairway on each floor where the fire is. When you pull the alarm box, it will notify the fire command station and the Fire and Life Safety Director. It will also transmit an alarm to the Fire Department. 3. Call the Fire Department o Be sure to call the Fire Department from a safe location to give details about the specific location of the fire. 4. If the Alarm Sounds on Your Floor o Assemble at an entrance to a fire stairway and listen for instruction from your Floor Warden or the Fire and Life Safety Director over the public address system. Know the Floor Wardens for your company, and specifically for your floor. Once the Fire Department arrives, they will give the Fire and Life Safety Director instructions to relay to you. 5. If There are No Instructions o During the fire drills, you should go over what actions you should take if specific instructions are not announced over the public address system or given by the fire warden. The fire floor, floor above and floor below must be evacuated immediately but, whenever possible, under the direction of the fire safety directory or the floor warden. When evacuating a floor other than the fire floor, floor above or floor below, the floor warden must make contact with the fire command station via the warden phone. 6. Feel a Door Before Opening it. If it is Hot, Do Not Open it o A hot door means there is a fire on the other side. This and other topics should be discussed during your building’s fire drills in addition to practicing what you would do during a fire. 7. Close, But Do Not Lock All Doors Behind You o A closed door slows the spread of a fire from room to room. DO NOT lock the doors! Fire Fighters will have to force the locked door open if necessary to control the fire or conduct a search for victims. 8. Do Not Turn Back for Personal Belongings o Though conditions may not appear threatening, that can change suddenly. It can be a deadly mistake to return for any belongings.
FIRE SAFETY FOR YOUR BUILDING 9. And Do Not Use Elevators o Elevator should NOT be used under fire conditions. Follow the instructions from your Fire and Life Safety Director as well as FDNY personnel on the scene, before using the elevator. 10. Know all exits from Your Floor o By Law, each floor in a high-rise office building must have at least two fire stairway exits. it is important to always know where both of them are and how to get to them in the case of an emergency or if one of them is blocked. o Fire stairways and convenience stairways are not the same. Make sure you know which stairways are which. Convenience stairways sometimes connect two floors in the interior of a building but have no outside exit. o All fire stairways have a designated letter posted on each fire stairway door.
Answers to Common Questions About Fire In High-Rise Office Buildings Q: A:
Why isn’t a building always evacuated when there is a fire? Total Evacuation of a high-rise building is usually not necessary; It delays the efforts of fire fighters. Immediate evacuations of the fire floor, floor above and floor below, where the alarm will be sounding is usually all that is necessary. The occupants of the floors above will be guided by the instructions of the fire safety director or fire wardens.
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Why didn’t the alarm go off when there was a fire in my office building? Experience has shown that the most critical floors during a fire are the fire floor, the floor above and floor below. In the event of a fire in a high-rise building, an alarm will sound only on the floors mentioned. in accordance with a predetermined “Fire Safety and Evacuation Plan”, the building’s Fire and Life Safety Director is required to make appropriate announcements and give instructions, over the public address system as conditions progress during any fire or emergency.
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What is a Fire Safety and Evacuation Plan (FSEP)? A plan that prepares every occupant of the building to react knowledgably and confidently when there is a fire. It is impossible to design stairways to accommodate all the occupants of high-rise building at the same time. Think of them as vertical cities with up to 10,000 or more people in them. It is necessary to have a plan to safely evacuate the endangered occupants during a fire. The Fire Safety and Evacuation Plan must be designed and implemented by a certified Fire and Life Safety Director who knows the building and has already determined which exits will be in use in the event of an emergency.
FIRE SAFETY FOR YOUR BUILDING Q: A:
What is a Fire and Life Safety Director? The law requires that a trained, certified building employee (fire safety directory, deputy, or a building evacuation supervisor) must be on duty while an office building is occupied. They must immediately report to the fire command station in the event of an emergency to implement the building’s fire safety evacuation plan and assist the fire department upon their arrival. A deputy fire safety director must be on duty when the fire safety director is not available. It also requires that a building evacuation supervisor who has been trained by the fire safety director be on duty during non-business hours. A chart listing the names of the fire safety director, deputy fire safety director and the floor wardens must be posted in a conspicuous location on every floor and in each tenancy.
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What are Floor Wardens? Floor Wardens are tenants of the building who are trained by the Fire and Life Safety Director to take the necessary actions and implement the FSEP. There is one Floor Warden designated for every floor and Deputy Floor Wardens for each tenant. There are essentially the “eyes and ears” of the Fire and Life Safety Director during those critical moments until the Fire Department has arrived.
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Are fire drills necessary? Yes. They familiarize all occupants, including Fire Wardens with the FSEP. Fire drills provide an opportunity to review how to call the Fire Department, how to use the floor warden phone, the location of the fire stairways and other matters relating to FSEP. The Fire and Life Safety Director conducts 2 fire drills per year. ALL OCCUPANTS MUST PARTICIPATE! Although the Fire Department does not conduct fire drills, they do inspect highrise office buildings for fire code violations.
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Why don’t the elevators work when the fire alarm sounds? Certain automatic fire alarm devices recall elevators to their lowest level for use by fire fighters. Use of elevators can be dangerous during a fire. Only use them if directed by fire fighters.
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What should I do if fire and/or smoke block my escape? Remain calm and check all stairways on the floor to see if they are accessible. If not call the fire command station via the warden phone. In the event no one answers warden phone call the Fire Department and remain in contact with the dispatcher
FIRE SAFETY FOR YOUR BUILDING NOTES: