The Section for Long-Term Care Regulation will be releasing a series of Life Safety Code Information. You may also view the entire document for reference.
Today’s subject is:
What is expected in a facility’s smoke compartment zone evacuation plan?
The facility needs to have a smoke compartment evacuation plan if they don’t plan to evacuate everyone immediately to the outside (meeting point) when the fire alarm sounds. The plan should begin with staff determining the need to evacuate. If evacuation is necessary, staff should begin evacuating residents in the immediate surrounding area of the fire, then the triangle of rooms around the room of fire origin (next to and across the hall from the room of origin), then the remaining rooms in the smoke compartment working away from the room of origin, trying not to cross the line of fire with the residents. Consider the fire exposure and Jack and Jill bathrooms. Some residents may be evacuated outside while others may be evacuated beyond a set of smoke doors.
|
Exit or Smoke Barrier |
|
2 |
Fire 1 |
2 |
|
|
Exit or Smoke Barrier |
|
|
|||||||
|
|
|
2 |
|
|
|
||
The goal is to get all residents evacuated around the area of fire regardless of ambulatory status. After evacuation of the smoke compartment or origin and into another smoke compartment or an area of refuge; then it is determined whether an evacuation is needed further away (such as outside or a different smoke compartment). It may be prudent to evacuate based on ambulation status after evacuation of the zone of origin (ambulatory, wheelchair, bedridden). If the facility has a separate fire and evacuation plan, ensure the plans are consistent with the zone evacuation concept.
It would be wise to keep the plans simple and to have a written smoke compartment plan for every smoke zone in the building. Facilities may use things such as color-coded map/layouts. The facility needs to ensure when doing a zone evacuation, the residents are going to another smoke section, not just through a double door in the corridor (not all double doors are smoke/fire doors).
NFPA 101, 2012 edition:
4.7.3 Orderly Evacuation. When conducting drills, emphasis shall be placed on orderly evacuation rather than on speed.