[Publib] : Fire Escape Routes...

[Judith Turner]

Hi, Bill -- 

I hope you got some replies offlist but in case you haven't, let me post a reply to the list since this was an area where my long-time employer - a large, natural history museum with a half million visitors a year (many of them schoolchildren) - did an exceptionally good job.

Yes, start with the Fire Dept. I doubt they have the personnel to actually draw the maps but someone there should advise whoever draws them.  If you actually need someone to draw the plans, they may be able to recommend a person.  You'll want to have a copy of the updated blueprints for your building. The Fire Dept. will want to make a tour of your facility (clear boxes out of aisles and away from electric junction boxes and other key bits of infrastructure, make sure all fire escape doors are proerly secured, etc.) 

The Milwaukee Fire Dept. made annual tours of our building and we used the event to do major cleanups each year.  There were lots of biological specimens stored in alcohol, nitrate negatives in a vault, hazardous chemicals in a lot of places on the upper floors.  On the lower floors, there were a restaurant, an IMAX theater, purposely not well-lit walkways winding through the dioramas on the three exhibit floors, irreplaceable collections on display and in basement storage, etc. - a nightmare.  

I don't know if it was the Fire Dept.'s choice to do the annual inspections or if it was a condition of our insurance coverage, but in any case, the inspections happened.

The structure was built in 1962 and tinkered with ever since.  The original maps wer prepared about 20 years ago by an architectural draftsman from the Milwaukee County Architect's Office.  Subsequently, the maps were updated by the Museum's Safety Coordinator.  For the first mapping project, some expertise will be needed to determine the routes to be used and where disabled staff and visitors who cannot manage stairs (if there are any) should gather for assistance.

The map for any given floor is posted at the elevator (with a note not to take the elevator if there's a fire) and other strategic locations where large numbers of people are apt to congregate.  

The other item our escape route building plans have are tornado safety zones -- areas in the building with no outside windows and very little glass where staff and visitors must report when the tornado siren goes off (when a tornado is sighted in, or on a path that is likely to take it toward, Milwaukee County.)

Judy Turner (no tornadoes here so far this year, nor more than a trace of rain for the past month; my lawn is a disaster area.)
Whitefish Bay, WI

William Smith <ITstaff at fairhopelibrary.org> wrote: Hi All,
Been lurking this mailist for a bit now. I am the "IT Guy" at Fairhope 
Public Library. We are in a new building and a new Director. Lots of things 
going on here. I was wondering if anybody knew the proceedure for getting a 
"Fire Escape Route" for display in various parts of the Library together. Do 
you just make one up, or does the Fire Dept. do this, or some other agency? 
 
       
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