FIRE SAFETY RULES
Precautionary Procedures
- Smoke Detectors are located throughout the Science Center as well
as manually operated alarms. When activated, an alarm sounds throughout
the building and at the Wellesley Fire Department. If the alarm sounds,
it is your personal responsibility to evacuate the building immediately.
- Know the location of fire exits, fire alarms, fire blankets and
extinguishers. Each laboratory is equipped with an appropriate fire
extinguisher which may be useful in containing small fires. Fire extinguishers
are primarily first aid instruments intended for use on fires in their
incipient stages, before they have the opportunity to spread. At the
beginning of each semester of laboratory, check with the instructor
on proper use of fire extinguishers. See Guide to Classes of Fires
to see which particular fire extinguishers are effective on which
fires.
- Keep all doors labeled as fire doors closed at all times.
- Do not block access to fire escapes by furniture or other stray
objects.
- Neatness prevents many fires. Fire spreads much faster when it has
cluttered waste materials to feed on. Oily rags, waste or papers improperly
stored are important causes of spontaneous combustion. Store these
materials in covered metal containers.
Emergency Fire Procedures
- If a fire starts, call your instructor; then, then if the fire is
small, confine it with the help of the instructor, and try to extinguish
it with the available extinguishers in the lab.
- Never hesitate to ring the alarm, regardless of how small the fire
appears.
- If there is no injury, and the fire is contained in a vessel, it
can usually be suffocated by covering the vessel with an inverted
beaker or watchglass. Do not use towels or clothes. Remove nearby
flammable materials to avoid possible spread of fire. If the fire
is over an area too large to be suffocated quickly and simply, abandon
the fire.
- If evacuation is necessary, and time allows, shut off power to
any machinery, apparatus or equipment. Shut off gas or other open
flames. Turn off hot plates. Turn off main gas valve.
- If in the event of a fire, your clothes ignite, drop and roll to
smother the flames. Do not run. Running intensifies the flames. Fire
blankets are available in each lab and at many points in the interior
corridors. They are to wrap around yourself to aid in putting out
the fire.
- Exit from the building via staircases. Do not take elevators. Remove
any objects that are obstacles in passageways or are before fire doors.
Do not linger at the bottom of the fire escapes. Do not return to
the building unless notified to do so by the Fire Department or a
member of the Science Center Safety Committee.
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