Could you get out of your building in a fire or other emergency? What do you need to know and why?
Answer
An investigation into the strategy of people who survived a train accident discovered that the survivors were in a carriage where a man had checked the method of escape. (He escaped through the train window, and got himself and others in that carriage out immediately.)
The first week, ideally the first hour, the first minute, in any building, a restaurant, train, conference centre, bedroom block, you should be checking the fire and emergency escape.
Have you checked the fire escape staircase in the block where you are living or staying? Have you reported any problems?
A member of the family is training for a climb up a volcano by running up and down the seventeen stories of a skyscraper or tower of a multi-tower condo in Singapore. He discovered that doors were propped open.
Adult bikes. Children's bikes. Broken bikes. Numerous bicycles and boxes created obstructions.
Foam and paint pots would create flammable materials and toxic gases.
He reported this to the management. They said that every few months they checked the stair wells and if they found a blockage, they sent a circular to every flat in the block saying the owners had three days to clear their possessions, otherwise the objects would be removed.
Doors should be marked with the words: FIRE EXIT and KEEP SHUT.
The other information you need is your gathering point. Many buildings such as conferences and hotels like to keep a log of everybody on the premises. The fire brigade needs to know if anybody is unaccounted for. Some conferences and holidays ask if you are hard of hearing or have mobility or sight problems and would need help in an evacuation.
As always, better safe than sorry.
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
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