Apartment Fire Safety

    If there is a fire in your apartment, get everyone out first and confine the fire by closing the doors.  Turn on the alarm to both the building and the Fire Department.  The same steps that were taken in a house should be followed in an apartment fire.  It is important to slow the fire spread so other people will have time to evacuate the building, should that become necessary.  In this case, notification includes notifying the other tenants as well as the Fire Department.  This may be done by activating the fire alarm system if the building has one, or by knocking on doors.

     If you hear an alarm or smell smoke but do not know where the fire is evacuate but be cautious.  Go out the door after feeling to see if it is hot.  If it is hot, don’t open it.  Try another way.  If you don’t know where the fire is, it could be below you.  Check every closed door that you have to open including fire doors in the hallway and stairway doors.  There could be fire on the other side.  Never use an elevator!

     Become familiar with your building.  Learn where all the stairways are located and in the case of a building three or more stories in height, find out which stairways give you the most options.  For instance, some stairways have two doors at the bottom, one that goes into the building and one that goes directly to the outside.  Some stairways go to the roof, some don’t.  In some buildings, this can be a practical escape option.  Know how to operate the fire alarms if the building is equipped with them.  Fire doors in the halls should never be blocked open for any reason.  These doors are to provide a barrier between you and a fire.  If they are open, you lose that protection.  This is also true of doors leading to stairways.  Open fire doors aids in the spread in the fire, fill hallways and stairways with smoke and heat, and make escape difficult or impossible.