Escaping from a life-threatening fire is easier in a regular house because there are several exit ways. However, when it comes to building, residential or commercial spaces, there has to be proper fire safety and exit plan, arrangements, and sensors and alarms. Many buildings have special fire exit corridors for disabled and physically challenged people, while others implement emergency exit lights.
But having only one kind of fire safety and escape arrangement isn’t enough to keep everyone safe, especially if the fire is large. Keeping this in mind, we have illustrated the procedure to escape the building in case of a fire and the different types of arrangements that should be installed.
Fire exit or escape infrastructure in any building
There are several ways in which a proper fire exit or escape infrastructure can be planned. This section will discuss the exact way to create a solid and foolproof fire escape infrastructure for commercial and residential buildings.
- Every building should have emergency exit staircases at all levels. There should be a minimum of two such staircases so that people can rush out of their respective floors from either direction without creating chaos or a stampede.
- The use of emergency exit lights at the gates and the staircases are also important. These emergency lights start glowing once fire or smoke is detected in close vicinity. Sometimes, the lights come with directional arrows to help people know where to escape the building.
- The building management team must establish appropriate protocols and regulations during a fire exit or escape.
- Implementation of alarm and alert systems is also required to complete the fire safety infrastructure in both residential and commercial buildings. It can be a smoke detector alarm, a fire alarm with loud noise output, or the appropriate placement of CCTV cameras to catch any fire in the footage.
- Every single level or floor should have multiple placards showing the evacuation routes from the building to the external or ground or a safe place in case of a fire.
- Apart from this, the buildings must have appropriate fire safety and suppression systems. These systems should be based on different fire sources, like electric fire, fire in the server rooms, kitchen fire, and many more.
- There should be an emergency response team capable of handling situations like these and leading people out of the building to a safe place without any chaos. Apart from this, every team member must know all the protocols and regulations for firefighting and safe evacuation plans.
Proper decorum is to be followed for exiting the building during a fire
There is proper etiquette that people should follow while exiting the building during any fire. Following are some of the facts that should be known.
- a) Use of an escalator or elevator during a fire is strictly prohibited.
- b) Instead of creating chaos, people should form queues and exit the building following the emergency exit lights.
- c) As soon as the alarm sounds, all the electrical checkpoints should be switched off, and people must get out of the building at the earliest.
- d) There should be a special exit or escape path for physically challenged and disabled people.
Conclusion
This article explains the proper way to form a fire safety and escape infrastructure, whether by establishing appropriate protocols or using emergency exit lights in different building areas. Apart from this, we have also stated the four most important facts to maintain decorum during exiting the building. To get expert advice on fire accidents and escape plans, visit Resco.ae.