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Facilities Management

Fire and Emergency Evacuation Procedures

Emergency evacuation plans are located in strategic locations on each floor of all campus buildings. Members of the university community should become familiar with these plans as well as the location of fire alarm stations, emergency exits, and fire extinguishers in their area. In the event that a building needs to be evacuated for any reason, a fire alarm will be activated.

If You Discover Smoke or Fire

  1. Attempt to extinguish the fire only if fire is small and you can do so safely.
  2. Keep yourself between the fire and an exit.
  3. If the fire cannot be extinguished, vacate fire area, closing all doors behind you.
  4. Activate the nearest fire alarm pull station. Warn people in the vicinity. (Alarm will alert Campus Enforcement and Patrol, who will call the Fire Department.)
  5. Evacuate the building via the nearest safe exit.
  6. Elevators are not to be used as a means of exit during a fire emergency.
  7. Once outside, stay clear of the building. Do not re-enter the building until authorized by Fire Department or Campus Enforcement and Patrol.

On Hearing the Fire Alarm

  1. If a fire alarm has been activated, make your way to the nearest exit and leave the building. Do not use the elevator.

    Faculty and staff will ensure that all students are out of the classrooms and laboratories before leaving. If time permits, close windows and shut off any gas and other utilities. Close doors upon leaving the room.

    Continue to move out of the building in an orderly manner even if the alarm stops sounding. Never return for personal items left behind.

    If you are in a wheelchair or scooter and the nearest exit is not wheelchair accessible, or if you cannot otherwise exit the building, go to the nearest stairwell. Stairwells are designed to be fire rated and can be used as areas of refuge in the event of fire.

    • Inform an instructor, classmate, or passerby of your location and ask them to notify Campus Enforcement and Patrol (CEP) or the Fire Department of your location as soon as they exit the building. If you have a cell phone, call the CEP emergency number at 864-4100 and identify your location to the officer.
    • In case of an emergency, CEP personnel will always check the areas of refuge first. Fire Department personnel may also assist in the evacuation of persons located in stairwells.
    • Please remain in areas of refuge until the nature of the alarm or emergency has been identified and confirmed. Persons in wheelchairs in areas of refuge will be evacuated only if there is an imminent danger or potential life-threatening circumstance.
    • In the event of an emergency requiring evacuation, CEP personnel are trained to safely evacuate persons with physical disabilities from campus buildings with the use of a device called an Evacu-Trac. The device, which resembles a wheelchair, operates on rubber tracks and travels down stairwells quickly and safely.
  2. Once outside, stay clear of the building. Do not re-enter the building until authorized by Fire Department or Campus Enforcement and Patrol.
Last Updated: January 18th, 2011