During National Fire Prevention Week, Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S) will host events on the Seattle campus to remind personnel and students of steps they can take to prevent fires and the importance of responding quickly to a smoke alarm. The theme for this year’s National Fire Prevention Week is "Smoke alarms: Make them work for you!”
Stop by our table to learn more about fire prevention and smoke detectors.
SCHEDULE
- Monday, 10/7: Willow Hall @ 11am-1pm
- Tuesday, 10/8: Suzzallo Library @ 11am-1pm
- Wednesday, 10/9: HUB Lawn @ 11am-1pm
- Thursday, 10/10: Landes Hall @ 11am-1pm
- Friday, 10/11: Suzzallo Library @ 11am-1pm
SMOKE DETECTORS
A smoke detector is the first line of defense. The alarm sounds to alert you of smoke detected in an area and the need to evacuate. Evacuate immediately and pull the fire alarm station to initiate a building evacuation.
Some common causes of smoke alarm activation include burning food (especially popcorn), smoking or vaping indoors, aerosol spray, steam from tea kettle or shower, smoke from candles, and smoke from fire.
- Cooking fires have been the most common fires to occur in UW residences over the past decade. Unattended cooking is a leading contributing factor in college cooking fires. Follow safe cooking practices to reduce the risk of fire and injury.
- Smaller electronic devices, such as laptops, e-bikes and scooters, tablets, phones, and electric vehicles may contain lithium-ion batteries that can overheat and cause a fire or explosion. Take steps to help reduce the possibility of a fire or explosion when handling, charging, storing or disposing of lithium-ion batteries.
- Overloaded or daisy-chained power strips and electrical cords are another common cause of fires.
REPORT FIRES
Report all unintended fires immediately to EH&S via one of these reporting options:
- Email uwfire@uw.edu; or
- Call (206) 685-0341; or
- Submit an incident report via the Online Accident Reporting System (OARS).
MORE INFORMATION
More information about fire safety and prevention is available on the Fire & Life Safety pages.
Please contact our Building and Fire Safety team with questions.