This document provides information about common fire safety violations found during school inspections and steps schools can take to address deficiencies. It discusses requirements for annual fire safety inspections in New York schools and covers issues like locked emergency exits, blocked means of egress, combustible storage, and ensuring fire protection systems are maintained. The goal is to help schools recognize and correct violations to improve fire safety.

1. School Fire Safety
Inspections
Ben Stevens
Fire Protection Specialist
Town of Colonie
Department of Fire Services

2. Objective
 At the conclusion of this program the student
will recognize common violations found
during school fire safety inspections and the
steps they can take to ensure that the
deficiencies are corrected.

3. Fire Safety Inspections
 Required annually by NYSED for school to
obtain & maintain a Certificate of Occupancy
 8 NYCRR 155.8 Fire and building safety
inspections
 Conducted by code enforcement official or
code compliance technician certified by State
Fire Administrator
 State Ed will not allow school district employees who are
codes certified to conduct inspections in their own district

4. Fire Safety Inspections
 Public Schools
 11 month cycle
 Nonpublic Schools
 Prior to December 1 of
each school year.

5. Authority Having Jurisdiction
 NYSED is the AHJ for public schools
 Any questions or concerns should be directed to
the Education Department’s Office of Facilities
Planning Fire Safety Unit
 518-474-3906
 Private Schools are the local code
enforcement officers responsibility

6. Fires in schools
 Lake View School
 Collinwood (Cleveland) Oh.
 March 4, 1908
 172 students, 2 teachers and 1 rescuer died
 New London Texas
 March 8, 1937
 Explosion & fire in school due to
gas leak in heating system
 500 people mostly students died

7. Fires in schools
 Our Lady of Angels School
 Chicago Il.
 December 1, 1958
 92 students and 3 nuns died

8. Fires in schools
 In the United States, an average of 6,650 structure
fires occur annually in educational institutions where
students attend during the day only.
 These fires are responsible for approximately 90
injuries, fewer than 5 fatalities, and $90 million
dollars in property loss.
 In New York State during the period 2000 to 2004,
six public school buildings sustained fire damage in
excess of $27 million dollars.

9. Fires in schools
 Leading Cause  Peak times
 Cooking Equipment  Weekdays
 Intentional  11 a.m.- 2 p.m.
 Area of Origin
 Bathroom
 Kitchen or Cooking
equipment
 Contained trash or
rubbish

10. Fire chief: Locked doors trapped
students during blaze
 While some of the 20 to 30 boys managed to flee the dormitories
without incident, many were left banging on locked or otherwise
obstructed doors near the school entrance. One door had a broken
push bar; one was padlocked at the base; and two other doors were
locked from the outside. The boys banged on the two sets of
double doors until a man with a key appeared, unlocked a door and
let the students out.
 The fire chief, however, stood behind his comments that his
firefighters found students pounding on the door trying to escape
the burning two-story building, which includes dormitories, and
that the locked doors endangered not only the students but also the
firefighters responding to what's being called arson.

11. Lack of reporting
 Only a small percentage of fire incidents in
schools are reported to the fire department.
 EVERY school fire shall be reported to the
fire department no matter how small.
 FC401.3 Emergency forces notification. In the event
an unwanted fire occurs on a property, the owner or
occupant shall immediately report such condition to the
fire department. Building employees and tenants shall
implement the appropriate emergency plans and
procedures. No person shall, by verbal or written
directive, require any delay in the reporting of a fire to
the fire department.

12. Blocked Emergency EXIT doors &
Windows
 Emergency rescue  FC1027.2 Reliability. Required
windows are free of exit accesses, exits or exit
discharges shall be continuously
obstructing bars, screens, maintained free from
grills or classroom obstructions or impediments to
equipment…. full instant use in the case of fire
or other emergency…

13. Camouflaged Emergency EXIT doors
 FC1027.4 Furnishings and decorations. Furnishings, decorations or
other objects shall not be placed so as to obstruct exits, access thereto,
egress therefrom, or visibility thereof. Hangings and draperies shall not be
placed over exit doors or otherwise be located to conceal or obstruct an
exit. Mirrors shall not be placed on exit doors. Mirrors shall not be placed
in or adjacent to any exit in such a manner as to confuse the direction of
exit.

14. Electromagnetic Locks
 Not permitted by State
Education Dept.
 Electric strike with
mechanical override is
permitted.

15. Snow piled behind
Emergency EXIT doors
 FC1027.3 Obstructions.
A means of egress shall
be free from obstructions
that would prevent its
use, including the
accumulation of snow
and ice.

16. Combustible storage in hallways
 Storage of teacher supplies not permitted outside of
classrooms.
 Only students’ personal belongings are allowed in
cubbies.
 Waste containers not permitted in exit corridors or
stairway landings.

17. Personal Belongings
 FC803.3.1 Storage in corridors and lobbies. Clothing and personal
effects shall not be stored in corridors and lobbies.
 Exceptions:
 1. Corridors protected by an automatic sprinkler system
 2. Corridors protected by an smoke detection system
 3. Storage in metal lockers provided the minimum required egress
width is maintained.

18. Combustible artwork in hallways
 No More than 20% of wall area
 FCNYS 803.3.2

19. Items placed in hallways obstructing
egress
FC1027.4 Furnishings and decorations.
Furnishings, decorations or other objects shall
not be placed so as to obstruct exits, access
thereto, egress there from, or visibility thereof.

20. Fixed and Portable Gates
 State Ed. does not
allow any gates (fixed
or portable) in the
building.
 FC1027.3
Obstructions. A means
of egress shall be free
from obstructions that
would prevent its use…

21. Fixed and Portable Gates

22. Fire doors wedged open
 Doors with closers are not rendered inoperable by removal of
the closer or the installation of any non-automatic hold open
device
 PMC703.2 Opening protectives. Required opening protectives shall
be maintained in an operative condition. All fire and smokestop doors
shall be maintained in operable condition. Fire doors and smoke
barrier doors shall not be blocked or obstructed or otherwise made
inoperable.

24. Extension cords & Multi-plug
adapters
 FCNYS 605.4 & 605.5
 Allowed with restrictions
Town of Colonie
Department of Fire Services

25. Combustible storage piled to the
ceiling
 Maintain 24” clearance
in non-sprinklered 18”
in sprinklered buildings
 FCNYS 315.2.1

26. Fire Alarm Systems
 FC901.6 Inspection, testing and
maintenance. Fire detection, alarm and
extinguishing systems shall be maintained in
an operative condition at all times, and shall
be replaced or repaired where defective.

27. Fueled Equipment
 FC313.1 Fueled
equipment. Fueled
equipment, including
but not limited to
motorcycles, mopeds,
lawn-care equipment
and portable cooking
equipment, shall not be
stored, operated or
repaired within a
building.

28. Orderly storage in building
 Storage in storerooms
and classroom areas is
orderly and restricted
to items of obvious
value and usefulness.
FC315.2 Storage in buildings. Storage of
combustible materials in buildings shall be
orderly…

29. Clearance to Equipment
 FC605.3 Working space and clearance. A
working space of not less than 30 inches in
width, 36 inches in depth and 78 inches in
height shall be provided in front of electrical
service equipment.

30. Combustible storage
 Space under stairs and
landings is not used for
storage unless
separated by a 2 hour
fire rated construction
 FC315.2.2 Means of
egress. Combustible
materials shall not be
stored in exits or exit
enclosures.

31. Assembly events
 Overcrowding (FC1028.5), blocked exits (FC1027.3),
and lack of access for emergency equipment
as a result of blocked fire lanes(FC503.4) during
assembly events are common complaints to
NYSED

32. Assembly events
 History has many examples
of tragedies that have
occurred when buildings
filled to over-capacity
experience emergencies.
 Station Night Club – RI
 Stouffers Inn - NY
 Beverly Hills Supper
Club – KY
 Coconut Grove – MA
 Iroquois Theater – IL

33. Assembly events
 The first smell of smoke or the failure of the
lighting system causes immediate panic.
 Blocked exits and obstructions in corridors such
as tables and chairs cause confusion and further
panic.
 Experience has shown that in these terrible
tragedies, victims rarely die from the actual
effects of fire, but instead from smoke inhalation
or trampling during the confusion.

34. Assembly events
 To compound the disaster, the ability of
emergency responders to reach the scene is
often severely compromised by parking in fire
access lanes in front of buildings.
FC503.4 Obstruction of fire apparatus
access roads. Fire apparatus access roads
shall not be obstructed in any manner,
including the parking of vehicles...

35. Scenery & Sets
 BC410.3.6 Scenery.
Combustible materials used
in sets and scenery shall be
rendered flame resistant in
accordance with Section
805 and the Fire Code of
New York State. Foam
plastics and materials
containing foam plastics
shall comply with Section
2603 and the Fire Code of
New York State.

36. Scenery & Sets
 Wood Construction  Anything that is
and flammable constructed of
decorations not flammable materials
permitted. must be flame treated.
 FC805.1 General. In
occupancies of Groups A, E, I
and R-1 and dormitories in
Group R-2, curtains, draperies,
hangings and other decorative
materials suspended from walls
or ceilings shall be flame
resistant in accordance with
Section 805.2 and NFPA 701 or
be noncombustible.

37. Scenery & Sets

38. Scenery & Sets

39. Safe Design & Construction
 The New York State Fire & Building Codes
contain provisions for the maintenance and
safe operation of buildings.
 Constructing a safe building does no good if
the features that provide that safety are
ignored or intentionally disabled by the
building occupants.

40. Safe Design & Construction
 Principals need to understand that the state
code holds the building operator responsible
for any violations of the safety provisions of
the code.

41. What can you do?
 Ensure school staff knows the school’s fire protection
system.
 They should be familiar with the type of fire protection systems are in
the school.
 Know the location of pull stations and fire extinguishers and whether
you school is protected by fire sprinklers.

42. What can you do?
 School Fire Drills
 Staff should actively participate
in monthly school fire drills.
 Fire drills, as REQUIRED
by Section 807 of the
Education Law, will ensure
rapid and orderly occupant
evacuation of school buildings
at the time of a real fire
emergency.
 12 per school year
 8 prior to 12/1
 FC 404 & 405 – Fire Safety
& Evacuations Plans and
Evacuation Drills

43. What can you do?
 Provide a list of the violations.
 The report can be used by school staff for self-
education and self-evaluation on a regular basis to
identify and correct unsafe conditions which may
develop at any time.
 Used in this manner, minimum safety standards can
be met and maintained on a continuing basis.

45. What can you do?
 Awareness of, and concern for fire and life
safety
 It must come from the demonstrated attitude of
the school board and top school administrators.
 When these individuals refuse to tolerate unsafe
practices or conditions, and insist on a continuing
program for fire safety in the schools, building
administrators, their staff and students will follow
their lead.

46. What can you do?
 Awareness of, and concern for fire and life
safety cont.
 A developed concern & daily observance of
building conditions should help to eliminate
unsafe conditions such as:
 Exits blocked with furniture or supplies
 Combustible displays in exits
 Poor housekeeping practices
 FC406 Employee Training & Response Procedures

47. What can you do?
 Awareness of, and concern for fire and life
safety cont.
 When all building occupants are alert for fire
hazards, and act to correct hazards as soon as they
are discovered, a higher level of fire and life
safety can be maintained throughout the year.
FC907.1 FIRE ALARM AND
DETECTION SYSTEMS. This section
covers the application, installation,
performance and maintenance of fire
alarm systems and their components in
new and existing buildings and structures.

48. Buckman Heights Elementary
School Fire
Fire rated door to the principals office. Closed during the fire.

49. Buckman Heights Elementary
School Fire
Principal’s office showing limited damage as a result of the fire rated door.

50. Buckman Heights Elementary
School Fire
Office supply storage door. Fire rated door left open the night of the fire.

51. Buckman Heights Elementary
School Fire
Kodak copier and data network. Copier and all wiring is not salvageable.