SFGATE: Apartment Fire Inspection Checklist

ByTricia Chaves

Because of the close proximity of other apartments, renters have an increased risk for the dangers of a fire outbreak. In addition to purchasing a renter’s insurance policy to protect your belongings, it’s important to physically and mentally prepare yourself for the event of a fire in your unit or a a neighbor’s. Familiarizing yourself with your surroundings ahead of time can save your life.

Evacuation Plan

The property manager or leasing agent of your apartment complex should provide you with a written diagram of the community which indicates the fire evacuation plan. You can usually find it displayed in common areas of the building, as well. The plan should clearly identify stairwells to use in lieu of elevators and the most direct route to the building’s emergency exits. An apartment’s emergency exits should have illuminated signs, making them easy to identify. Since it may vary from your typical point of ingress and egress, occasionally practicing the evacuation route will help make it automatic, should you ever need it.

Windows, Fire Escapes and Stairwells

If your apartment is located higher than the ground floor of a building, you should plan how you will escape in the event of a fire. The Apartment Guide recommends renters ensure they have a large enough window to escape from in all sleeping quarters. Windows should function and work easily enough for one person to open alone. When a fire escape exists, the property manager or leasing agent can confirm the last date of service to ensure functionality and inform you of the type of ladder mechanism it uses. Different types of ladders operate in different ways; for example, counter weight ladders get lowered down, folding ladders get cranked up. Knowing the difference ahead of time can eliminate confusion in a stressful situation. Fire exit stairwells should have fireproof doors that self-close and offer an unobstructed route outside.

Fire Safety Features

Municipal building codes require apartments to have fire extinguishers, smoke detector alarms and, in some cases, fire department hoses and a functional sprinkler system in the apartment units and surrounding common areas. According to the American Red Cross, buildings with an automatic sprinkler system offer ideal fire protection because it often extinguishes a fire before the fire department arrives. The apartment should have fire extinguishers “charged” on an annual basis to ensure functionality. Typically, a tag on the extinguisher’s exterior indicates when the property had the last service performed.

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