Night Fire Alarm Scenario for Security Guards (Canada)

At 2:10 a.m. the fire alarm sounds throughout the building. The fire alarm panel in the lobby shows a smoke detector alarm on the 7th floor.

1. Treat it as a real fire: open the fire safety plan steps in your post orders and make sure the fire department has been called.
   Why?

   Best practice. Correct. Fire services say to react to every alarm as if it is a real emergency. In Ontario, for example, a fire safety plan must set out the emergency steps, including calling the fire department, instructing occupants and evacuating them.

2. Silence the alarm at the panel because it is probably a false alarm.
   Why?

   Unsafe or not allowed. Do not silence a fire alarm on a guess. Fire services warn that silencing an alarm too early has led to fire deaths, and they ask that alarms not be silenced or reset until firefighters arrive.

3. Go up to the 7th floor to check for a fire before calling anyone.
   Why?

   Acceptable. Some post orders do ask a guard to check the alarm location. But unless your orders say so, make sure the fire department is called first. Checking first can cost valuable minutes.

On the 7th floor you smell smoke near the staff kitchen, but you see no flames. The alarm is still sounding.

1. Leave the floor by the stairs, close doors behind you, make sure 911 has been called, and start the evacuation steps in the plan.
   Why?

   Best practice. Good recovery. Closing doors helps keep a fire from spreading. Get the fire department on the way and start moving people out.

2. Open doors along the hallway to find where the smoke is coming from before you call.
   Why?

   Unsafe or not allowed. Opening doors can let smoke and fire spread, and every minute without a call to the fire department makes things worse. Your first job is to protect people.

3. Phone your supervisor for advice before calling 911.
   Why?

   Acceptable. Follow your post orders. Some sites say to call a supervisor or the owner first, but if your orders do not, the fire department comes first.

The fire department is on the way. The building log shows two cleaners on floor 3, one cleaner on floor 7 and one tenant on floor 9.

1. Use the building's voice system or radio, as the plan says, to tell occupants to leave by the nearest safe exit stairs and go to the meeting place.
   Why?

   Best practice. Correct. Use the plan's tools to reach everyone. Speak clearly and calmly, direct people to the nearest safe exit, and name the meeting place a safe distance from the building.

2. Run floor to floor yourself knocking on doors, leaving the lobby and the panel with no one there.
   Why?

   Acceptable. Your aim is right, but the panel and the entrance are left with no one to meet the fire department. Use the voice system or radio if the building has one.

3. Wait in the lobby and let the occupants decide for themselves whether to leave.
   Why?

   Unsafe or not allowed. The fire safety plan exists so people are told what to do. Instructing and evacuating occupants is part of your job as supervisory staff.

The two cleaners from floor 3 reach the lobby. One says their coworker on floor 7 uses a wheelchair and is waiting at the stairwell on that floor.

1. Follow the plan's steps for people who need help to leave, note exactly where the person is waiting, and keep the others at the meeting place.
   Why?

   Best practice. Correct. In Ontario, for example, a fire safety plan must include evacuation steps for people who need help to leave. Knowing exactly where they are lets you tell firefighters the moment they arrive.

2. Decide the firefighters will find everyone, so there is no need to pass on the information.
   Why?

   Unsafe or not allowed. Never assume. Firefighters need to know right away that someone needs help and where they are.

3. Go up the stairs to floor 7 yourself, leaving no one in the lobby.
   Why?

   Acceptable. Wanting to help is good, but you are going toward the alarm floor alone, and no one is left to meet the fire department. Follow the plan, which may assign this to someone else.

Fire trucks pull up at the front entrance.

1. Meet the crew at the entrance with the keys and the fire safety plan, and tell them the alarm location, who is out, and where the person who needs help is waiting.
   Why?

   Best practice. Well done. Guard training covers controlling access for emergency services and giving them the details they need. Keys and the plan help the crew get to work quickly.

2. Stay at the meeting place with the occupants and let the crew find the panel themselves.
   Why?

   Acceptable. Staying with evacuated people can be useful, but the crew loses time without someone to brief them at the entrance.

3. Tell the crew it is probably a false alarm and they do not need to go up.
   Why?

   Unsafe or not allowed. You do not know that, and it could put lives at risk. Give firefighters the facts and let them decide.

After checking floor 7, the fire captain says burnt food in the kitchen set off the detector and there is no fire. The alarm is still sounding.

1. Follow the plan and the fire department's direction on silencing and resetting the alarm, keep people out until they give the all-clear, and record everything in your notebook.
   Why?

   Best practice. Correct. Fire services ask that alarms not be silenced or reset until firefighters arrive, and the fire safety plan sets out who does it. Write down what was done and who told you to do it.

2. Reset the panel yourself and send everyone back inside before the fire department gives the all-clear.
   Why?

   Unsafe or not allowed. Wait for the all-clear. The fire department may still be checking the building, and resetting early can make a faulty device harder to find.

3. Wait for the all-clear, but skip the notebook entry because nothing burned.
   Why?

   Acceptable. You handled the alarm well, but every alarm and every reset or shutdown should be recorded, with the names of the people who gave you instructions.