CLASSROOM FIRE SAFETY

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CLASSROOM FIRE SAFETY

• NFPA-101, LIFE SAFETY CODE, 2003 EDITION
• Chapter 15 Existing Schools

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SCHOOL FIRES

• FACTS
• Approximately 7600 reported fires occur in
  schools
• Responsible for 125 injuries, 5 deaths and 50.1
  million in fire loss annually
• Leading cause of school fires is
  incendiary/suspicious
• 90 of school fires occur during the school week
• 70 of school fires occur between the hours of
  8AM and 4PM

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Help Prevent School Tragedies

• By following these steps you can help us to
  reduce school fires and limit the damage caused
  by school fires

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Inspections

• Teachers and principals should inspect all exit
  facilities daily to ensure that all stairways,
  doors and other exits are in proper condition.
• Particular attention should be given to
• Keeping all doors unlocked.
• Keeping doors that serve to protect the safety of
  paths of egress closed and under no conditions
  blocked open, such as doors on stairway
  enclosures.
• Keeping outside stairs free from all obstructions
  and clear of ice and snow.

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Emergency Plans

• Shall Include
• (1) Procedures for reporting of emergencies
• (2) Occupant and staff response to emergencies
• (3) Design and conduct of fire drills
• (4) Type and coverage of building fire
  protection systems.
• Emergency plans shall be reviewed and updated as
  required.

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Emergency Egress and Relocation Drills

• Emergency egress and relocation drills shall be
  conducted as follows
• (1) Not less than one emergency-egress and
  relocation drill shall be conducted every month
  the facility is in session unless both of the
  following criteria are met
• a) In climates where the weather is severe, the
  monthly emergency egress and relocation drills
  shall be permitted to be deferred.
• (b) The required number of emergency egress and
  relocation drills shall be conducted, and not
  less than four shall be conducted before the
  drills are deferred.
• (2) All occupants of the building shall
  participate in the drill.
• (3) One additional emergency egress and
  relocation drill, other than for educational
  occupancies that are open on a year-round basis,
  shall be required within the first 30 days of
  operation.
• All emergency and relocation drill alarms shall
  be sounded on the fire alarm system.

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THINGS TO WATCH FOR DURING DRILL

• Everyone should leave the building in an orderly
  fashion
• Classroom and office doors and windows should be
  closed to limit the spread of smoke and fire
• Students and staff should all be accounted for

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FURNISHINGS AND DECORATIONS

• Art work and teaching materials shall be
  permitted to be attached directly to the walls
  but shall not exceed 20 of the wall area in
  buildings not protected by a sprinkler system.
• It is advantageous not only to limit the quantity
  of art-work displayed but also to avoid placing
  such materials near a rooms exit access doors.
  Since the combustibility of the art work cannot
  be effectively controlled, the quantity in terms
  of the percentage of wall area covered, is
  regulated to avoid creating a continuous
  combustible surface that will spread flame
  across the room.

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DRAPERIES AND CURTAINS

• Draperies, curtains, and other similar
  furnishings and decorations in educational
  occupancies shall be in accordance with the
  provisions of 10.3.1.
• Where required by the applicable provisions of
  this Code, draperies, curtains, and other similar
  loosely hanging furnishings and decorations shall
  be flame resistant as demonstrated by testing in
  accordance with NFPA 701, Standard Methods of
  Fire Tests for Flame Propagation of Textiles and
  Films.

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CLOTHING AND PERSONAL EFFECTS

• Clothing and personal effects shall not be stored
  in corridors, unless otherwise permitted by the
  following
• (1) This requirement shall not apply to corridors
  protected by an automatic sprinkler system in
  accordance with Section 9.7.
• (2) This requirement shall not apply to corridor
  areas protected by a smoke detection system in
  accordance with Section 9.6.
• (3) This requirement shall not apply to storage
  in metal lockers, provided that the required
  egress width is maintained.

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DOOR CHOCKS

• Shall only be used to hold a door open
  temporarily
• if a door needs to be held open on a long term
  basis, magnetic hold open devices should be
  installed
• If doors continue to be found chocked open we
  reserve the right to remove the door chocks.
• By chocking doors open when a fire occurs the
  fire will grow and spread rapidly out of the
  classroom door

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Questions?