Fire Safety Plan

Fire safety should be a vitally important area of concern for every college/university campus. The potential loss of life or injury from a fire related incident is one of the most serious risks on campus. In addition, few occurrences on campus represent a greater potential for property loss than a serious fire or explosion.

An effective fire safety program requires the dedication of sufficient resources to attain code and ordinance compliance, educate the campus community to good fire safety practices, and be proactive in recognizing and evaluating fire safety risks. Risk analyses combined with fire prevention programs are key components of a comprehensive fire safety program.

In order for a fire safety program to be effective it must meet the needs of the campus, staff, students, and give special attention to persons with physical disabilities. (Mobility, sight, and or hearing impaired)

It is necessary for building evacuation routes and charts to be posted near stairwells, elevators, classrooms and conspicuous locations in ALL campus buildings.

Ideally, there should be a system for maintaining and storing elevator keys in each building served with elevators. Olympic College has the 5 buildings (Administration building, Business/Technical, Haselwood Library, Facilities Services & Music) with elevators and a 6th elevator located on the West Side of the Art complex. An Elevator key will be kept at the Receptionists desk in the Administration building, one each in the administrative offices of the Business/Technical and Music buildings. One key will be kept in the office of the Safety and Security Supervisor. This will allow first responders access to elevator keys as soon as possible.

A fire or emergency can strike quickly and without warning. When the evacuation alarm sounds, or at the building safety coordinators request YOU MUST EXIT THE BUILDING!!! Olympic College has a written procedure requiring all faculty, staff, and students to evacuate during an emergency. Failure to evacuate and comply could result in injury to yourself or others as well as institutional disciplinary actions. Failure to evacuate may also result in criminal arrest or citation.

Take the time to familiarize yourself with the emergency evacuation plan.

Upon Discovering a Fire

• Remove any person in immediate danger, and evacuate the area.
• Do not use the elevators!!
• Sound the fire alarm by activating the manual pull station located near the facility exits as you leave the building.
• Locate the nearest phone and call 9-911 giving the exact location of the fire.
• Call Safety & Security at 475-7800 and give the location of the fire.

• Feel all doorknobs you encounter before opening any door. If it is hot, do not open the door. Stay in that room.
  • A. Seal the cracks around the door with any available material.
  • B. Call 9-911 and let them know your location and that you are unable to exit.
  • C. Open the window a few inches for fresh air and hang an object out of the window to alert the fire department to your location.
  • D. Keep low to the floor and await evacuation by emergency personnel.
• If the doorknob is not hot, brace yourself behind the door and open it slightly. If heat or heavy smoke is present, close the door and stay in that room. Follow the procedures outlined in steps A - D above.
• If you are able to move around within the building, but can't exit, find a safe room farthest from the fire and follow the procedures outlined in steps A - D above.