Guide to Preparedness

II. EVALUATE YOUR RISK

Pre-fire planning with your local fire department should be your first step when you move into or renovate an office.

Firefighters will fight a fire most efficiently if they are familiar with the hazards. During that visit, discuss all possible effects of a fire including smoke and water damage. This step alone could curtail much fire damage if an accident occurs.

Automatic Sprinklers are the most effective means of fire control for the office and storage areas. Where sprinkler protection is inadequate, loss costs are much higher as the following statistics for insured properties attest.

Make sure the sprinkler system is properly designed, installed and maintained. Do not compromise the guidelines. Obstructions to sprinklers could prevent them from stopping or controlling the fire. Faulty installations could do likewise.

Keep Fire Protection Systems in Good Operating Condition. Even if you lease the premises, you should insist that the protection system is provided and is in good working order. Any system should be inspected and maintained regularly. Activating devices such as fusible links and heat and smoke detectors should be checked. Sprinklers should not be loaded with residues or otherwise impaired. Sprinkler control valves must always be open or sprinklers will not provide protection. If a fire starts, assigned personnel should check the sprinkler valve during evacuation without compromising personnel safety. (Usually these valves are remote from the fire.) Also, inspect fire pumps regularly.

Select proper portable fire extinguishers and strategically locate them for the applicable fire hazards. Train key employees in handling extinguishers properly. Test this equipment at periodic intervals. Use properly trained people and an FMRC-Approved extinguisher recharging service. Establish and train an Emergency Organization.

Office renovations increase your vulnerability to fires. Using or storing paints, cleaning solvents, cartons, packing material and other combustible materials near portable open-flame equipment such as torches, soldering irons, space heaters and temporary wiring creates a fire hazard. Remodeling can involve shutting off water supplies temporarily, but this creates another hazard. When you shut off a sprinkler control valve, you impair your fire protection. During that impairment, you need a system for flagging the shut valve(s) and restoring protection to service as soon as possible. If you are relocating portable fire extinguishers, place them where they can be seen.

High-rise offices have greater potential for major property losses for several reasons.

• 
  Upper floors are beyond the reach of fire department aerial equipment.
  
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  Each additional story makes it more difficult to evacuate personnel and combat the fire.
  
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  Firefighting and evacuation are generally handled from inside the building.
  
• 
  Extensive use of glass in building walls permits fire to pass vertically from floor to floor.
  
• 
  Atriums create a massive chimney effect
  
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  Heating, ventilation and air conditioning ducts can circulate smoke, heat and toxic gases to large areas remote from the fire. Consider what damage could result from smoke alone. It travels quickly throughout a building and is restrained only by physical barriers.
  
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  Air-handling systems can quickly spread smoke, toxic gases and heat.
  

III. IN CONCLUSION

Remember, any unprotected office is unsafe. A sensible program does not have to be costly or time consuming. Just be aware of the hazards, using common sense to eliminate or protect them, and minimizing ignition sources is half the battle. Repair faulty wiring. Make sure fire protection is in service, including smoke alarms. Install automatic sprinklers. Post equipment safety and no smoking reminders.

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