Fire Safety in Schools: 6 Tips to Minimize Risk

According to Structure Fires in Schools (2020), a report by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA):

• From 2014 and 2018, U.S. fire departments responded to roughly 3,230 structure fires in schools each year.
• These fires cost annual averages of one civilian death, 39 civilian injuries, and millions in property damage.
• Arson was the leading cause of school fires.
• Most school fires started in restrooms and locker rooms.
• Two-thirds of school fires occurred between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Follow the six guidelines below to minimize the risk of your school buildings becoming next year’s fire statistic.

1. Establish a safety plan.

Use a cross-functional school-safety team to create an understandable, straightforward, flexible safety plan for your district. The plan should cover all aspects of school safety, including fire safety in schools. Members of your cross-functional safety team should include:

• School-board members who establish district policies;
• The facilities director who controls building access and fire alarms;
• The safety director who develops plans and trains staff;
• The director of operations who liaises with local law enforcement;
• Crisis-team members who communicate with and train faculty and staff;
• Local law-enforcement officials, school-resource officers and firefighters who provide expertise regarding security and fire safety; and
• Incident command team members who take action during an emergency.

If your district employs staff members who have disabilities, consider including them on your cross-functional team as well. They may be aware of potential hazards other team members are not.

2. Train employees about fire safety in schools

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires that employers train employees about fire safety in schools. This training can be offered in the form of in-person speakers, online classes and/or tabletop sessions during professional-development days. Specifically, you should:

• Train employees about evacuation procedures and school safety plans, including the locations of the fire-protection system, fire-alarm pull stations and sprinklers (OSHA §1910.38).
  • In every room, an easy-to-read evacuation map should be displayed on the wall near the doorway. The map should include a “you are here” symbol, evacuation routes for different types of emergencies, and at least two exit options. Instruct staff members to notify a building administrator or supervisor immediately if an evacuation map ever goes missing, becomes damaged or displays out-of-date information.
  • Regularly conduct expected and unexpected fire drills. Teach employees where to take students if there’s a fire. Also, instruct teachers to keep rosters on-hand to ensure that every student is accounted for.
  • Teach staff members how to evacuate students with disabilities and/or special health needs.
  • Teach staff members how to evacuate the building during special events — such as banquets, concerts and athletic events — where attendees may be unfamiliar with the school’s evacuation plan/emergency procedures.
  • Inform staff members whenever changes are made to the fire-safety plan.
• Train employees how to use fire extinguishers and the hazards involved with fighting fires (OSHA §1910.157[g][1]).
  • When portable fire extinguishers are present in the workplace, teach employees basic information about fire-extinguisher use. Employees who are expected to use fire extinguishers must receive additional training about extinguishers specific to their work areas and job hazards (OSHA §1910.157[g][3]).
• Train employees about the fire hazards to which they’re exposed, and the parts of a school’s fire-safety plan specific to their job duties (OSHA §1910.39[d]).

3. Engage students, their parents and community members in fire-safety measures.

Teach students how to respond to a fire alarm during a school fire drill. As stated previously, you should regularly conduct expected and unexpected drills so that students can practice evacuation procedures. Consider pairing students who have disabilities with an adult or a classmate who can provide them with extra assistance during an evacuation.

In addition, encourage students’ parents to practice home fire drills in the event of a residential fire. And encourage neighbors to alert school personnel about signs of vandalism and arson near the school.

4. Inspect and maintain fire-safety equipment and ensure that it’s used properly.

Use a fire-alarm system that provides both audible and visual signals. Post fire-reporting instructions throughout the school building.
Schedule regular inspections and maintenance of fire alarms, sprinkler systems, extinguishers and exit signage. When something breaks, repair it promptly. In addition:

• Instruct staff never use a fire extinguisher for any other purpose than to extinguish a fire.
• Make sure that fire extinguishers, fire hoses, sprinkler heads, smoke/fire alarms and other fire-protection equipment are never blocked or tampered with.
• Be sure items are never stored at a height that keeps sprinkler heads from functioning properly. There should be a minimum vertical clearance of 18 inches (457 mm) between fire-sprinkler deflectors and any objects below.

5. Maintain means of egress.

The NFPA defines means of egress as “the pathway out of a building or structure that leads to a point of safety.” In a school building, a means of egress could be a door, a hallway, a stairwell, a window, etc. A means of egress should always be visible, accessible and free from obstructions. With that in mind:

• Make sure your maintenance staff keeps the landscaping tidy, so that bushes and trees don’t block exit doors and windows.
• Remind employees never to place or store furniture, décor, boxes, equipment, or event-specific decorations somewhere that will keep someone from seeing or using a means of egress.
• Tell staff members they must keep stairs and stairwells free from obstructions that could interfere with their use as an exit or as an area of refuge. For example, they should never use an enclosed stairwell for vending machines, photocopiers, or storage.
• Instruct staff and students never to block, lock or prop open a fire door.
• Make sure all classroom-door locking mechanisms are NFPA-compliant. A compliant locking mechanism meets following criteria:
  • The door must be lockable without having to open it.
  • The lock cannot require special knowledge, a key, or tool to engage or disengage from the classroom side of the door.
  • The two releasing operations must not be required to be performed simultaneously to unlock/unlatch the door.
  • The lock must be installed at an acceptable height — between 34 to 48 inches above the floor.
  • The door must have the ability to be unlocked and opened from outside the classroom with the necessary key or credential.
  • Staff members must be drilled in the engagement and release of locks.

6. Minimize fire hazards.

Aside from arson, common causes of school fires include excessive combustible materials, overloaded electrical outlets and the improper handling and storage of flammable liquids. With that in mind, you should:

• Remind employees to keep storage areas neat and organized.
  • Ask employees to keep storage areas tidy and minimize the amount of combustible material they house. Make sure employees don’t allow combustible waste (e.g., paper waste and recyclables) to accumulate and create a fire hazard. Remind staffers to dispose of such waste daily by removing it from the building.
  • Explain to employees that if combustible material must be stored, it should not be kept in boiler rooms, mechanical rooms, electrical-equipment rooms or near flammable liquids. (Storing materials and supplies needed for the operation and maintenance of equipment is permissible.)
• Ask employees to limit the amount of combustible material in classrooms.
  • Advise them to only use fire-resistant curtains and decorations in school buildings.
  • Tell employees they should never hang materials from the ceiling.
  • Have staff members limit artwork and décor to 50% of the wall area in buildings with sprinklers, and limit artwork to 20% of the wall area in buildings with no sprinkler protection.
  • Don’t allow employees to use portable electric, gas or kerosene space heaters at school.
  • Explain to staffers that they should only use electrical appliances approved for classroom use.
• Ensure that safe practices are employed when hazardous chemicals are stored, handled and used.
  • Be sure that employees minimize the number of combustibles on-hand, and that they properly dispose of any unused or unneeded materials.
  • Have employees follow the instructions provided on each chemical’s Safety Data Sheet (SDS).
  • Ensure that employees store corrosive liquids — such as toilet-bowl cleaner, swimming-pool chemicals and floor strippers — away from flammables.
  • Make sure that science teachers store science-lab chemicals in accordance with NFPA 45: Standard on Fire Protection for Laboratories Using Chemicals.
• Be sure that employees store trash receptacles away from buildings to reduce the danger of fire. (You should consider purchasing trash receptacles with locked metal lids for extra protection.)
• Have staffers regularly clean and maintain heat-producing equipment and office equipment.
• Prohibit employees from smoking in and around work areas.
• Explain to employees how to use and store batteries properly. (See below: “Battery Safety.”)
• Train staffers how to use extension cords and power taps (i.e., power strips or surge protectors) correctly. (See below: “Extension-Cord and Power-Tap Safety.”)

Next Steps to Improve Fire Safety in Your District

Consider taking these next steps to improve fire safety in your district:

• Learn more about structure fires in schools by downloading and reading NFPA’s aforementioned report.
• If you need to develop — or modify — your district’s safety plan, visit the Department of Justice’s schoolsafety.gov website. There, you’ll find model school-safety programs you can use as reference.
• If you wish to offer employees fire-safety training, you have many resources from which to choose:
  • You can arrange in-person training from your local fire department.
  • You can take and assign online and on-site training from the NFPA.
  • You can take and assign training from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
  • You can take and assign online PublicSchoolWORKS courses, including: “Fire Safety and Fire-Extinguisher Use,” “Fire Safety,” “Emergency and Fire Preparedness” and “Getting a Safety Data Sheet.”
• Visit NFPA’s website to learn more about common fire causes, including cooking, heating, electrical, smoking and candles.
• If you’re a PublicSchoolWORKS customer, take advantage of their site to easily share your fire-safety program, emergency procedures, safe work practices, safe job procedures, hazard assessments and compliance tasks with your employees.