Evacuation Procedures

If you discover a fire:

• Remain calm.
• Immediately call 911 to report the fire’s building address, floor and description.
• Pull a nearby alarm station.
• Call the Building Management Office at (847) 597-2350 to notify Colliers' personnel of the situation.
• Notify your Fire Warden.
• Begin evacuation procedures.

If you hear the fire alarm:

• Begin evacuation procedures immediately.
• Employees should only take those valuables that are immediately accessible. No one should return to his/her desk from another area of the building to attempt to retrieve personal items.
• Proceed directly to your evacuation route. Every employee should know where their primary and secondary evacuation route is. We ask that the Fire Warden inform each member of his/her group of the location of the stairwells on their floor.
• Disabled employees should wait in the stairwell with another employee (Disabled Employee Aide) and inform a Fire Warden of their exact location. (See Disabled Employee Procedure section below)
• When encountering closed doors, first test the door for heat by placing the back of your hand up high on the door. If the door is hot, there is a good chance there are flames just beyond the door. A natural reaction of the human hand is to grasp by reflex. By testing with the back of the hand, you avoid grasping a hot door handle or rail.
• Attempt to block openings under and around the door with clothing and proceed to the alternate evacuation route.
• As soon as you reach a passable stairwell, check for smoke. If smoke is present, keep low; breathable air is closest to the floor. Proceed quickly and calmly down the stairs, keeping conversation to a minimum.
• Do not attempt to use elevators during an evacuation. If you are in an elevator when the alarm goes off, do not panic and do not push the emergency stop button. The elevator will recall to the first floor and the doors will open before the elevator deactivates.
• Fire Wardens should be the last people to leave the suite, checking for people as they exit and closing doors behind them as they go. Be sure to assign Fire Wardens to check each of the restrooms.
• Once outside the building, Fire Wardens should report that their area is clear and the location of any disabled employees waiting in stairwells to the Building Management or fire department personnel. Then they should report to their group rendezvous location and await further information from Building Management or the Fire Department.
• Do not attempt to re-enter the building for any reason once an evacuation has begun. Alarms may be shut off as fire fighters are inspecting the buildings due to the high level of noise; ceasing of the alarms should not be taken as an indication that the situation is over. Please remain in your group rendezvous location until the “all clear” signal is given by Deerfield Fire Department or Colliers personnel.

If all of your evacuation routes are blocked and you cannot leave your suite:

• Move as far away from the fire as possible, closing all doors as you go.
• If you can get to a phone, call 911 to report your situation and location. If possible, call this information into the Building Management Office as well at (847) 597-2350.
• Open the blinds and hang a cloth or article of clothing in the window to aid fire fighters in locating you. DO NOT BREAK THE GLASS - an open window can sometimes pull smoke into the room. Keep low because breathable air is closest to the floor.

Disabled Co-Workers Procedure

Fire Coordinators/Wardens need to assign a volunteer(s) (Disabled Employee Aide) to assist a disabled person(s) in the event of an emergency by remaining with them in the stairwell until emergency responders arrive to assist in their evacuation. Fire Wardens, aides, and the disabled person need to agree on the evacuation process.

Additional consideration must be given to planning for individuals whose disabilities impair their ability to walk down the stairs.

• For persons who are non-ambulatory or who are semi-ambulatory, the aide and disabled person should make their way to their stairwell and wait for the fire department to assist them in evacuating the building. A chair, without wheels, may be placed in the stairwell once everyone has evacuated. The chair CANNOT be stored in the stairwell and it should never obstruct the exit path during an evacuation.
• Once the Fire Warden has evacuated the building they will notify a Colliers or Fire Department representative of the exact location (floor and stairwell number) of the aide and disabled person.

It is important that the disabled person is aware of the evacuation procedure. It must be made clear that it is not only in their best interest but also that of their co-workers that they do not attempt to descend the stairs in the event of an emergency, but rather wait in the stairwell for help. Should they try to descend the stairs they may injure themselves and others.

Please reassure the disabled person that their exact location will be communicated to the fire department via the Fire Warden. Once the fire department is aware of the situation they will assist the disabled person to safety.

The stairwells at Parkway North Center have a two-hour rating, which means that it would take two hours for the fire to burn through. The stairwells are the safest place to be in the event of an emergency.

Fire Extinguisher Operation

Remember the acronym PASS:

P - Pull locking pin
A - Aim at base of fire
S - Squeeze trigger
S - Sweep spray back and forth at the base of fire

Extinguisher Reminders:

• If you cannot hold the extinguisher, rest the base of the extinguisher on the floor.
• Electrical fires can usually be extinguished by turning off the power to the device. If you can safely unplug the device, you will remove the immediate cause of the fire. An electrical fire may have caused a secondary fire of other nearby combustibles so be prepared to extinguish those as well.
• When the fire appears to be under control, continue using the fire extinguisher, moving around the fire to completely put out the flames. This action will reduce the risk of the flames re-igniting. Use all of the contents of the fire extinguisher.
• Never let the fire block your means of egress.
• If you cannot extinguish a fire with one extinguisher, then begin evacuation procedures.

REMEMBER: Always call 911 before attempting to extinguish a fire. Use a fire extinguisher only for a very small fire and only if you feel comfortable doing so.

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