How To Stay Safe From Fires In An Apartment Building
Tuesday, June 8th, 2010Even when living in an apartment complex, there are immediate dangers when concerning fire and fire safety. Apartment complexes today are built to minimize the impact of a fire, but fire prevention still must be practiced by all residents. Knowing escape routes and danger prevention tactics may say lives.
Being a smart tenant is important. If you do detect a fire that is out of control, it’s imperative that you sound the fire alarm if there happens to be one. Some city complexes will place fire alarms in stairwells, lobbies, or next to elevators. Attempt to locate one to alert the entire building to evacuate to prevent any fatalities from occurring.
Escape routes are important to learn when in an apartment complex. Apartments that have many levels should have several stair cases that should be used in the event of a fire. The elevator may seem like the better choice because it is faster, but a fire can easily damage the elevator and cause it to collapse or stop between floors. Thus, one should always use stairs when escaping an apartment complex.
If you have the option of using a window escape, and the fire isn’t in the escape path, always use the fire escape. The fire escape will be the safest escape route, since they are in less danger of collapse. A fire that has weakened the supports of a building will create a collapse on escape routes such as stair cases. An outside fire escape is less likely to collapse.
As you move in, make a checklist of things you will need for your own fire safety needs. There should already be smoke alarms in each bedroom of the apartment, as well as the kitchen. The landlord usually provides these free of charge, depending on the ordinances in your city and locale. You will probably have to foot the bill for a fire extinguisher yourself, but consider it money necessary to be spent.
Today, building codes in most areas state that walls rooms should have fire barriers built into the walls. In addition, apartment complexes will often also have sprinkler systems to shut down fires before they become serious. This buys some time for tenants to escape if they need to, but one should never linger around in order to try and save personal belongings. If the fire is out of control, it’s best to remember that items are replaceable, while people are not.
Closing Comments
Some have a fear of living in a condo or apartment, simply because they are so enclosed and the possibility of a fire might be out of the resident’s control. The truth is that modern building codes have made them even more safe than some homes- so long as you practice a fire safety plan from fire safety companies such as MasterGuard.
Learn more on Master Guard and MasterGuard.