SAFETY IN CASE OF FIRE

CLARO V. ZAPANTA

The principal should make sure that in case of fire there is definite plan for the passage of students from each room to the outside of the building. He is legally responsible for such a plan and for emergency exit drills. An explanation of this plan and brief directions for leaving should be posted in a convenient and conspicuous place in each room in the building,preferably where they can be read easily as students are leaving the room.

In arranging for periodic fire drills, the principal should go far beyond a perfunctory observance of the law. Drills should be carried out art all times of the day and from every room in the building including the laboratory room and the canteen. Student committees should supervise traffic in each section of the building during these emergency exit drills and the flow of traffic should be directed to assure orderly passing and to save time. Stairways and exits should not be used beyond their capacities.

Each floor of the building should be equipped with an inside fire hose or with an inside fire hose or with fire extinguishers, and a number of teachers and students should be trained to use this equipment. It is recommended that no one should have to ravel more than 100 feet from any place in the building to reach an extinguisher. Fire hoses should be recharged at regular intervals. The principal should know what the Building Code staes covering fire preventions require with respect to school buildings and what the local ordinances are; he should report any noncompliance until the condition r enmedi ed. — oOo—

The author is Head Teacher I at Ambrocio S. Simpao Educational Trade Center of Learning, ASSET Center of Learning, Sta. Rita,Pampanga