Plan Your Escape Route
Sit down with your entire household today and make a step-by-step plan for escaping from a fire. Draw a floor plan of your home, marking two ways out of every room, especially sleeping areas. Agree on a meeting place outside your home where every member of the household will gather after escaping a fire to wait for the Fire Department. This allows you to count heads and inform the fire department if anyone is trapped inside the burning building. Remember to practice your escape plan at least twice a year.

Be Prepared
Make sure everyone in the household can unlock all doors and windows quickly, even in the dark. Windows or doors with security bars should be equipped with quick-release devices and everyone in the household should know how to use them. If you live in an apartment building, use stairways to escape. Never use an elevator during a fire. If you live in a two-story house, and you must escape from a second-story window, be sure there is a safe way to reach the ground. Make special arrangements for children, older adults, and people with disabilities. People who have difficulty moving should have a phone in their sleeping area and, if possible, should sleep on the ground floor. Always test doors before opening them by placing your hand on the door while kneeling or crouching on the ground. If the door is hot, use another escape route. If the door is cool, open it with caution. If you are trapped, close all doors between you and the fire. Stuff the cracks around the doors to keep out smoke and wait at a window and signal for help with a light colored cloth or a flashlight. If there is a phone in the room, call the Fire Department and tell them exactly where you are.

Get Out and Stay Out
In case of fire, go directly to your meeting place and then call the Fire Department from a neighbour's phone or an alarm box. Every member of your household should know how to call the Fire Department. Crawl low under smoke. Smoke contains deadly gases, and heat rises. During a fire, cleaner air will be near the floor. If you encounter smoke when using your primary exit, use your alternate escape plan. If you must exit through smoke, crawl on your hands and knees, keeping your head 12 to 24 inches (30 to 60 centimeters) above the floor. Once you are out of your home do not go back for any reason.

Building Safety
When you enter a building:

• Locate exits - When you enter a building, look for the exits and be prepared to use the exit closest to you, but also identify an alternate exit.
• Plan a meeting place - Have a meeting place outside the building, a place to meet your friends and family in case of an emergency - make sure you get out and then go to the meeting place. The meeting place can be as simple as the mailbox across the street.
• Check for clear exit paths - Make sure exit corridors and stairs are not obstructed. Make sure the exit door you have identified as closest to you is not blocked, locked or chained. If the exits are blocked, locked or chained report and discuss the violation with the building owner or management (they may not be aware of the hazard). If the violation is not immediately addressed leave the building and call your local fire prevention office.

During an Emergency
If you hear the fire alarm in the building - react immediately! If an alarm sounds, you see smoke or fire, exit the building immediately in a calm and orderly manner. Use the exit closest to you - it does not need to be the main entrance. Once outside, stay outside. Go to your meeting place then phone the Port Coquitlam Fire Department by dialing 9-1-1 from outside the building.

If you discover a fire in the building - immediately sound the building fire alarm system by activating the nearest fire alarm pull station. Call the Port Coquitlam Fire and Emergency Services by dialing 9-1-1. State your name. Give the address where the fire is. Provide information about the fire (i.e. where it is in the building, how fast it is spreading, people trapped, etc.).
 
Get out, stay out!  Under no circumstances should you ever go back into a burning building. Let the firefigters conduct rescue operations. They are trained for these situations and properly equipped.
 
Do not use the elevator; use the nearest exit stairs. WALK...do not run. Close all doors behind you. Exit in quiet, orderly manner. When you leave the building, move away from the door to allow others behind you to emerge from the exit. Do not re-enter the building for any reason unless Fire Department personnel have advised you that it is safe.

For more information on Fire Safety, contact:
Tel  604.927.5466
Fax  604.927.5406
Email fire@portcoquitlam.ca

Location and Mailing Address
#1 Fire Hall, 1725 Broadway Street
Port Coquitlam BC  V3C 2M9

Business Hours
8:30 am to 4:00 pm, Monday to Friday (excluding statutory holidays)

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