Fire Safety in Your Apartment Building

Learn what to do if a fire happens in your building. This is the best way to protect yourself and those around you.

 Fire safety begins with you

• Talk to your landlord, superintendent or building manager
• Know the emergency procedures outlined in the building’s fire safety plan
• Create a home escape plan and practice it with everyone in your home
• Every fire is different. You must act quickly when you hear the alarm or discover a fire
• Remember, most people die from the smoke, not the fire. Here is what to do:

If there is a fire in your unit

If there is a fire in your suite, it is not safe to stay inside! Stay away from poisonous smoke!

• Everyone evacuate immediately
• Close, but don’t lock, all doors behind you
• Pull the red fire alarm pull station next to the stairwell on your floor and yell “fire”
• Leave the building using the nearest exit stairway
• Do not use the elevator
• Never go to the roof, smoke rises! Doors to the roof are locked and you could become trapped
• Call the fire department at 9-1-1 from a safe location outside. (Never assume this has been done)
• Meet the firefighters when they arrive and tell them where the fire is
• Once out, stay out
• Do not go back into the building until the fire department tells you it’s safe

When you hear the fire alarm

To go or to stay?

Most of the time the best thing to do in a fire is leave the building as soon as possible. But in some cases you may not be able to leave and you may have to stay in your apartment. In either case you must act quickly. No matter what you decide, you must protect yourself from smoke.

Leaving the building:

• Check the door to your apartment, if it is hot or smoke is entering from around the door, do not open it. Stay in your unit and protect yourself from smoke
• If the door is cool and there is no smoke, brace yourself and open the door a little
  • If you see smoke or feel heat, close the door quickly and protect yourself
  • If the corridor is clear, exit your unit and go to the nearest stairway
• Do not use the elevator
• Open the nearest stairway door carefully
  • If there is no smoke, use the stairway to leave the building
  • If there is smoke, do not enter. Close the door and go to another stairway and open the door carefully
  • If there is no smoke here use this stairway to leave the building
  • If there is smoke, do not use this stairway. Ff there are other stairways try them. If there are not, return to your unit and protect yourself from smoke

If you remain in your apartment:

You must protect yourself from smoke. Stay in your apartment until you are rescued or told to leave. This may take a long time. Do not try and leave your apartment a long time after the alarm has sounded. The longer you wait, the more risk there is that heavy smoke will have spread into stairways and corridors. Your chances of survival are less. Keep smoke from entering your unit use duct tape to seal cracks around the door and place towels at the bottom. Seal vents or air ducts the same way.

When you are inside the stairway

•  If you find smoke on your way down the stairs, leave that stairway as soon as you can
• Use another stairway if it is clear of smoke
• if you can't use another stairway, return to your apartment if you can, or go to any corridor and bang on apartment doors until you find a place to take shelter
• Never go to the roof. Smoke rises to the top of the stairway. Doors opening onto the roof are locked and you could be trapped
• Remember, wherever you are, if there is smoke get low and go under the smoke to safety. The air is cleaner near the floor

 If smoke enters your unit, protect yourself

 If smoke starts to enter your suite (and you are unable to evacuate):

1. Call the fire department at 9-1-1 and tell them where you are and then move to the balcony. Close the doors behind you.
2. If you don’t have a balcony, go to the most smoke-free room, close the door and seal it with wide tape and towels. If necessary, open the window for fresh air. Show emergency personnel where you are by hanging a sheet from the window or balcony.
3. Keep low to the floor where the air is cleaner.
4. Listen for instructions from authorities