Fire drills will be taking place on the University of Toronto Scarborough campus in the morning of Friday, January 12. Reminders will be sent out the day before the drills.
The goal of the drills is to test the evacuation procedures and level of preparedness on campus for a fire emergency, and everyone is asked to cooperate fully in the drills. Each drill is expected to last 15 minutes and people may re-enter the buildings once the alarm is silent again. The drills will occur between 9:00 and 11:30 a.m.
Annual fire drills are required under the provisions for emergency planning under the Ontario Fire Code. Everyone on campus is asked to plan accordingly and to notify staff, students and faculty across the campus of the drills and to follow evacuation procedures. When the fire alarm sounds in a building, the university is required to evacuate that building.
“The intent of the fire drills is to test each building’s evacuation procedures and exits during full occupancy,” says Kim McLean, Assistant Principal and Chief Administrative Officer at U of T Scarborough. “Everyone is urged to participate. Without a full building complement, any procedural gaps, exiting problems, poor fire alarm signal audibility or other important issues may not come to light. Therefore each individual’s presence and full cooperation is very important and valuable.”
If the evacuations occur too slowly or if people do not participate, more fire drills will be required in the future. Therefore, the assistance and support of everyone on campus is appreciated.
The schedule of fire drills on Friday, Jan. 12 is as follows:
9:00 a.m. - 9:20 a.m. Main Building, consisting of S Wing, H Wing, and B Wing, as well as Rec Wing and Academic Resource Centre
9:30 a.m. - 9:50 a.m. Arts and Administration Building
10:00 a.m. - 10:20 a.m. Student Centre
10:30 a.m. to 10:50 a.m. Management Building
11:00 a.m. to 11:20 a.m. Miller Lash House
The fire drills are in keeping with the University’s Policy on Crisis Preparedness and Response. Visit http://www.utoronto.ca/govcncl/pap/policies/crisis.pdf for details.