This week is Fire Prevention Week, and the City of Calgary and various other outlets are sharing many tips for fire prevention and at-home safety. However, people who live in apartment buildings have some special considerations to keep in mind when it comes to fire prevention and safety.
High-rise apartments and condominiums present special fire safety concerns. When strictly enforced, local fire and construction codes can ensure that high-rises are designed to minimize the likelihood of a major fire. High-rise fires result from the same causes as fires in other homes – cooking and heating equipment, smoking, children playing with matches and lighters, electrical systems, and arson. [City of Calgary]
If you live in a condo, here’s some fire prevention and safety tips:
- Ensure that your building is properly maintained, this will help prevent fires and other safety concerns. You can raise concerns about this to your condo board or your property manager.
- All apartment buildings must come equipped with alarms, emergency lighting and sprinkler systems. Nothing should ever be obstructing these safety items, and if you ever notice something malfunctioned or if it appears to be faulty, report it immediately. Understand where your alarm, lights and sprinklers are—in your unit and in the hallway.
- Ensure you, or anything else, is ever blocking any emergency exits. Again, report obstructions immediately. You should also be aware of where all the emergency exits near your unit are.
- Make sure you know your building’s evacuation plans, as well as everyone living in your unit. If you sit on a condo board, evacuation plans should be posted in high-traffic areas like lobbies. It’s important to remember that elevators are not an option during an emergency like a fire, always use the stairwells.
- Know at least two escape routes (including windows) from every room in your apartment.
- Know what your building’s fire alarm sounds like, so you don’t ignore it when and if it goes off.
- It’s a good idea to count the number of doorways from your unit to the emergency exits, in the event of a fire, you may have to navigate in the dark.
- Know where all the fire alarms are in your building, should you ever need to pull one.
If you should ever find yourself in a fire in your apartment building, you should know what to do. The City of Calgary has great information on escaping apartment fires, here on their website. Information on checking your fire alarm, along with other information regarding Fire Prevention Week, can be found online here.
