A fire can be one of the most devastating and destructive occurrences in any multi-family building, whether it affects a small portion of one unit or the entire association. Luckily, new technology and current regulations have made fires easier to prevent, control and extinguish. However, residents and building staff still must be educated about what to do in an emergency situation, as well as how to prevent a fire from occurring in the first place.

Fire Facts

According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), there were some 530,500 structure fires reported in the US last year (up 1 percent from 2006), causing 3,000 civilian deaths, 15,350 civilian injuries, and $10.6 billion in property damage. Harm to person and property aside, the long-term emotional damage to fire victims and their loved ones is incalculable. According to the NFPA, primary causes of fires in homes include electrical issues, cooking and carelessness. That “carelessness” often includes smoking in bed, illegal propane or kerosene heaters and placing illegal heaters to close to flammable materials.

Sobering though the figures above might be, even they don’t reflect the entire picture when it comes to residential fires. Many small fires—those that do not trigger a building- or system-wide alarm, for example—often go unreported, though they may still cause damage.

“Sometimes, if [a fire] is contained and the alarm never went off, it might not be reported,” says Ray Weinstein, president and chief executive officer of Croker Fire Drill Corp. in Islip Terrace, New York. “Normally [with] an apartment fire, the alarm bells are activated and it goes to fire department or alarm monitoring company. Those have to be reported. But there are always little grease fires in kitchens, and management might not be aware of them. Sometimes no one ever knows.”

Where There’s Smoke…

In some condo buildings, when the building’s fire alarm system is activated and the fire department or alarm monitoring company is notified, the signal goes through a fire command station, which includes an enunciator panel board. That board will show building staff and others where in the building the alarm bells have activated.

“More sophisticated systems will light up to show an individual apartment,” says Weinstein. “Others will light up a floor. If smoke gets into hallway, it might give you a zone. The fire could be documented on the panel or fire command station, but normally buildings are monitored by alarm monitoring company and there is documentation.”

Along with improved alarm and communication systems, today’s regulations, laws and building codes have helped decrease the number of fires occurring every year.

“Years ago, there were no laws requiring smoke detectors,” says Weinstein. “It’s really like night and day. New construction has to meet a more stringent fire code than from even 10 years ago. The code and standards are extremely high and very demanding. The safety factor has been improved. Walls and doors must be rated to hold back smoke and heat. Frames around doors are even treated now. Doors frames, walls, insulation, and ceilings all use different materials available now that were not years ago.”

While smoke detectors are a must, a fire alarm coupled with sprinkler systems throughout a building provides both a warning for residents as well as preventing a fire from spreading.

“We like to say that you need fire alarm systems and for a balanced approach,” says Rodger Reiswig, an Orlando, Florida-based director of industry relations at SimplexGrinnell, which has offices in Avenel, New Jersey.

“A fire alarm provides early warning with smoke detection to alert occupants to move to another part of building or evacuate. With sprinkler systems, once heat reaches a sprinkler head, it will activate. Its sole purpose is to contain or mitigate a fire situation. It will contain the fire until the fire department arrives,” says Reiswig.

Communicating with Residents

Having safety equipment installed and an evacuation plan are essential, but association residents must know what to do in an emergency situation. Even the most high-tech alarm and sprinkler system is not going to be effective if residents don’t know what to do when or if a fire breaks out. This is why communicating with residents is critical.

Boards and management can communicate with residents and tenants through regular meetings.

“Residential council meetings are a great way for all residents and tenants to learn and get an understanding of what to do in the event of a fire,” says Weinstein. “Management should look at it in a proactive way: It can minimize or eliminate fatalities when residents know what to do. And it allows tenants to get hands-on experience on what to do and where to go.”

He suggests keeping residents informed by offering training classes provided by experts several times a year. This is something that can be done quarterly, by alternating a class with a drill every three months, and having a critique after the drill.

“There should be handouts, fliers, updates and reminders. If you’re coming into the holiday season, remind residents that they can’t have open flames and should not have extension cords,” says Weinstein, “and fire plans should be handed out to each and every unit owner.”

Additionally, it’s important to account for any residents who might not be able to evacuate the building easily, either because of advanced age or disability. Senior citizens and disabled residents may need special consideration, and management should meet with these occupants to work out a safe, effective evacuation game plan for them and make sure they’re comfortable with it.

According to fire safety professionals, building staff should know where the various safeguards are located within the building. These are alarms, fire extinguishers, a dedicated phone to the alarm company and the evacuation route or routes. According to the NFPA, residents and staff should be aware of:

The building or community’s emergency exits

How to keep their fire extinguishers in working order

The dangers of overloading electrical sockets (using a surge protectors helps)

Other tips include:

Do not run electrical cords under rugs, as most only have a three-year life span.

Keep clothes and combustibles away from heat burners.

Do not leave cooking unattended, especially when preparing meals with greases or fats.

Privacy vs. Safety

Communicating with residents about what to do in case of fire is essential, and not really so difficult, if management and board collaborate on a workable prevention/evacuation plan. It becomes more difficult to police what residents are doing in the privacy of their homes, however. While you can’t monitor what’s going on behind closed doors, management may be able to intervene if a resident’s behavior negatively affects the rest of the community. While you do have to respect residents’ privacy, there are ways to make sure they are abiding by fire safety rules.

“If you have someone who is chronically abusing safety issues, the police or fire department could be invited in to review the situation,” says Weinstein, adding that boards and managers have an obligation to visually inspect sprinkler systems and smoke detection systems. Sometimes that involves entering and assessing individual units. “You have a privacy thing here, and it’s a fine line, so you have to be careful,” says Weinstein. “That’s why contractual agreements from management to tenants need to be scrutinized. You can’t have someone compromising the safety of everyone else” by altering or modifying detectors or sprinkler heads in their individual unit. Such tampering could render smoke detectors or sprinklers useless—and put everyone else in the building at serious risk.

“People often will paint over sprinkler heads,” says Reiswig. “But that head has been designed to react to heat, and painting over it changes the rating. It needs to be replaced if it is painted. The same goes for smoke detectors. You’ve inhibited the ability of the device to operate if it’s painted. We would inspect for that and replace it if necessary.”

Working with a Consultant

If your board is unsure about creating evacuation plans or what type of equipment to install, you might investigate the services of a consultant.

“There are consulting companies that are willing to be brought in to establish evacuation and relocation plans,” says Weinstein. “If we get called in, we need to see what the building has. Are there ways and means of communications? Is there a paging system? Is there an alarm system? If people have a hearing problem, are there alarms in the room that ring at a higher decibel, and strobe lights for people who can’t hear at all? These are things management needs to look into.”

Consulting costs vary widely, and are dependent upon several factors.

“Cost is really prorated to the size of a building, and depends on number of floors and square footage,” says Weinstein. Plans and systems are tailored to each building and the number of tenants in the building. Fees also depend upon what types of services you’re interested in.

“That’s all part of the equation. Do you want drills and training? Do you want a plan? We have a school where we train people to be fire safety directors. Larger corporations send representatives to be trained and educated to become fire safety directors in buildings. It’s kind of like a sliding scale,” says Weinstein.

You might also investigate whether companies offer more than one type of service. SimplexGrinnell, for example, offers both fire alarm and sprinkler systems.

“If a building doesn’t have a sprinkler system, it can be an exhaustive endeavor to install one, because you have to run pipes into apartments, and it can get expensive,” says Reiswig. “If there is little or no fire alarm system, we would have to run wires, install audio or horns and strobe units within each unit to alert occupants.”

In communities with both types of systems, Reiswig underscores the importance of making sure that alarm systems and sprinkler systems are working in sync.

“When we come out to inspect the building, you’re getting both systems inspected and tested from one company,” says Reiswig. “By using our company, both of these people with the expertise are there at the same time. If it’s separate, there’s nobody there to pull it together to make sure systems work together. That’s why we’re unique.”

To supplement inspections, your super or other maintenance staff person should continuously monitor the condition of the community’s alarm or sprinkler systems.

“I think it’s important that property manager or maintenance person take a quick glance at the fire alarm system to make sure its on and working,” says Reiswig. “It’s surprising how many times you go into a facility and the system is off because of something like the breaker being tripped.”

He also advises maintenance staff to do a visual check to make sure the valve that provides water to the building is turned on.

“We’ve seen situations in the recent past where sprinkler heads were activated, but there was no water in the pipe because the valve had been turned off or tampered with. You have to make sure they’re opened up. It’s one of the biggest services the maintenance person can do,” says Reiswig.

Planning Pays Off

Whether or not you call in a consultant, creating an evacuation or relocation plan is something that must be done.

“You need to have a plan,” says Weinstein. “If there is a fire in an apartment or elsewhere in the building, whether in a room, hallway or stairway, there has to be a plan. If you don’t know where to go or what to do, you’re going to be in trouble. People need to know where fire is, what to do, where to go, and how to secure areas. They need to know to close door and windows so it stays contained. You’re buying serious time by doing that, and at least you’ve saved the better part of your apartment,” says Weinstein. “Even if the building has no alarm system, the plan could be that someone notifies the front desk, they in turn call the fire department, then they activate the paging system or strobe lights. Whoever is in charge of the building gets the message out to everyone in the building.”

With all that, safety still has to be your top priority. The professionals agree that the most important thing is your life. Let the room burn; don’t risk your life out of embarrassment, or over Aunt Tillie’s doily collection, dear as that may be. Residents must secure the area, let someone know the situation, and evacuate.

Despite the faith we tend to place in technology, electronics and high-tech systems only go so far. Staff and residents are an association’s first line of defense against the devastation of fire—and they can be that much more effective with the proper information, resources, and training. With a thorough, well-communicated fire prevention and action plan, your HOA residents and administration can rest easy knowing they’re prepared, even in the worst-case scenario.

Stephanie Mannino is a freelance writer and a frequent contributor to The New Jersey Cooperator.