Evacuations and Fire Drills

Your Fire Safety and Evacuation Plan should provide information on how to alert building occupants of an emergency. Contact your evacuation director or building coordinator and request a copy of your plan.  

If your building does not already have a Fire Safety and Evacuation Plan, you can find a template on the Building Emergency Procedures and Resources page.

Smaller buildings without fire alarm systems are not required to conduct evacuation drills. However, if you wish to conduct an evacuation drill you can simulate an alarm.  

Not always; it depends on the type of emergency. Sometimes it is better to stay inside the building, including finding shelter to escape an active shooter situation.

The Building Emergency Procedures and Resources page contains information and direction for anticipated building emergencies.

Yes. University personnel and other building occupants are expected to participate in all building evacuations regardless of whether it’s a scheduled drill or not. This is a City of Seattle Fire Code requirement. Anyone who does not participate in the evacuation drill is subject to personal fine from the Seattle Fire Department if they should be in attendance.

EH&S is responsible for scheduling fire drills for the UW Seattle campus and research stations. If you have a preference on the time of year for your drill, please contact EH&S so that we may add it to our planning schedule. EH&S will generally schedule fire drills for UW Seattle about 3 weeks in advance by coordinating with the building coordinator, evacuation director and key administrators so that a date and time may be identified for the drill that avoids unnecessary disruption to operations. All drills are scheduled during normal business hours, usually between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. For UW Bothell, contact Allyson Long at arlong@uw.edu. For UW Tacoma, contact Susan Wagshul-Golden at swg5@uw.edu.

There is no formal process for appointing the evacuation director. However, consider appointing the most senior (experienced) warden or a representative from the largest occupying unit/department. If there is interest in serving as the evacuation director, rotate appointments every two years. Make the transitions at an annual meeting.

Evacuation directors, building coordinators, facility managers and unit/department administrators should solicit building occupants to volunteer to serve as an evacuation warden. When necessary, organizational units may appoint wardens as a job duty.

While not required, evacuation wardens and directors should take a refresher course periodically, as needed, to stay current. Periodically attending the free evacuation warden training will help provide any updated information and changes in policy that might not otherwise reach everybody.

No. The primary role of the evacuation warden is to help occupants evacuate the building and assemble at the appropriate location, remind personnel to promptly respond to alarms, assist visitors who may not know how to exit the building when the elevator recalls, and inform persons with disabilities to prepare and have a plan for building emergencies. Wardens have a specific role and should not fight a fire in most cases.

It can vary based on the size and complexity of the building, frequency of revisions to the Fire Safety and Evacuation Plan and warden turn-over. As a general rule, you should plan to meet at least annually. Meetings may be conducted virtually (e.g., by Zoom or Teams), by phone or in person. If it is difficult to find a time to meet, wardens may be kept informed and issues resolved via email. It may be necessary to meet in advance of any major changes in the building, such as a construction project in your building or a nearby building, if the project impacts evacuation routes.

Sweeping is optional; it should be performed on the warden’s way out of the building. A warden should become familiar with the main circulation paths and access to evacuation routes of the building. The area for which a single warden is responsible should be determined by their planned route to quickly sweep while walking and calling out, knocking on doors, and still arrive at an exit within two minutes. This correlates well with the maximum travel distance to an exit based on code requirements. If fire or smoke is observed, the warden should discontinue their sweep and immediately proceed to the exit.

Accounting for everyone can be impractical in many buildings. Instead, wardens may attempt to identify persons who were in the building at the time of the incident who may have remained behind. This is especially important if the building emergency is known and the persons unaccounted for work in or near the affected area. Confer with supervisors and co-workers and use any available lists or floor plans as reference material. Supervisors and acting supervisors (who may be filling in for a supervisor when the supervisor is on leave) are in the best position to account for the whereabouts of their subordinates.

Evacuation Warden/Building Evacuation Training

• International Fire Code Chapter 4, Section 405
• Seattle Fire Code
• Washington State Labor and Industries WAC 296-800-310.  
• Administrative Policy Statement APS 16.1

A designated safe area away from the building for evacuees to gather and be accounted for

Documents how to notify occupants of a building emergency, establish evacuation procedures and routes, provide support for persons with disabilities, and account for occupants