The Towers at Williams Square

The Towers at Williams Square requires that each tenant appoint Fire Warden(s) to assist the building emergency personnel and local authorities in emergency situations and fire drills.

Each tenant in the building is required to appoint at least one Fire Warden and one alternate. Full-floor tenants should have at least four Fire Wardens. Individuals selected to perform the duties of a Fire Warden should not hold positions that require them to travel. Backup Fire Wardens are strongly encouraged to ensure proper coverage during emergency situations. Please provide Fire Warden updates to the Management Office on a regular basis. A complete Emergency Procedures Manual for The Towers at Williams Square is available to all Fire Wardens and tenant contacts. Fire Warden meetings are held twice a year and participation in the meetings is mandatory to ensure the safety of all individuals. The Irving Fire Department mandates the frequency of fire drills. All information regarding fire drills is communicated to the appointed Fire Wardens for each tenant.

As a Fire Warden, you are expected to know your co-workers by name, location and attendance. You should also be extremely familiar with your lease space.  You must be firm and assertive when giving directions to your co-workers. It’s an important responsibility, so be prepared by studying all of the materials in this manual.

IN SUMMARY:

• General
• Know the emergency procedures manual, emergency / fire life safety equipment and resources available to you.
• Educate your fellow co-workers on emergency procedures.
• Administer your duties in emergency situations.
• Specific
• Know the people for whom you are responsible.
• Know the floor and layout, including exits and stairwells.
• Know the location of fire alarm pull boxes and extinguishers, and know how to operate them.
• Know the location of handicapped personnel that may require special assistance and communicate this to the Williams Square Management Office on a regular basis and to the Fire Department or security in an emergency.
• Administer your duties in emergency situations.
• Fire Prevention Duties

Report the following conditions:

• Potential fire hazards (see list below)
• Structural faults or dangers
• Defective fire extinguishers, hoses, etc.
• Inoperable emergency signs and lights
• Suspicious persons, extraneous packages, etc.
• Poor housekeeping habits

Potential Fire Hazards:

• Accumulation of wastepaper, trash, rags, etc.
• Improper storage of flammables
• Use of extension cords in an office environment
• Improper use of immersion-type water / coffee heaters
• Unattended use of heat-producing appliances (coffee pots, etc.)
• Careless habits of people: negligent smoking, blocking doors, corridors
• Throwing boxes and trash in the fire stairwells, elevator lobbies and common corridors
• Exit light outages

FIRE OCCURRENCE

FIRE WARDEN PROCEDURES

• Call the Irving Fire Department: (From an outside line)
• Dial 911, Give:
• Building name.
• Building address.
• Floor.
• Suite number.
• Details of the emergency.
• Activate a manual fire alarm pull station to sound the alarm. (Pull stations are located in elevator lobbies and at stairwell entrances.)
• Call Security. (From an outside line)
• Dial (972) 869-5911
• Follow the Evacuation Procedures in this manual.

DO’S AND DON’TS

• Do not attempt to fight the fire, unless you are properly trained.
• DO NOT ATTEMPT TO USE THE ELEVATORS. (During a fire alarm, elevators are designed to return to the building’s lobby.)
• Use stairwell exits only.
• If caught in heavy smoke:
• take short breaths,
• breathe through your nose,
• crawl on your hands and knees to escape.

FIRE ALARM

FIRE WARDEN PROCEDURES:

• When a fire is reported via the fire alarm system, three floors will go into alarm as follows:
• The incident floor,
• One floor directly above the incident floor,
• One floor directly below the incident floor.
• All other floors will be silent. The alarm will annunciate in the fire stairwells and elevators, as well.
• Emergency strobe lights will automatically flash on the three floors.
• Emergency exit lights will flash through-out the entire building.
• The fire alarm will sound with a loud whooping noise, immediately followed by a pre-recorded message. The taped message will say:
• “May I have your attention please. An emergency has been reported on your floor. Please proceed to the nearest fire stairwell and exit the building. Do not use the elevators.”
• All elevators will return to the plaza / ground floor.
• Follow the Evacuation Procedures in this manual.
• The “all clear” signal is four tones up on the scale and four tones down. When you here the tones, they mean:
• An emergency was reported some-where in the building.
• The alarm has been investigated and determined to be false, or has been cleared. You may or may not have heard the alarm depending upon your location at the time of the alarm.
• It is safe to return to your floor.
• Please return to your normal duties.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

The fire alarm will continue to sound until we have determined the source of the alarm. We will restore air conditioning and elevator services as soon as the fire department releases us to do so. If we are unable to restore services within five minutes of the alarm being silenced, we will make a public address system announcement to give you a status update.

Please do not call the Security Command Center or Management Office to ask if the fire alarm is real. This will tie-up the emergency team’s investigation efforts. We will communicate with you via the public address system. Therefore, it is important for your group to remain silent.

FIRE DRILL ANNOUNCEMENT

In accordance with the City of Irving Fire Department’s requirements, fire drills are conducted three times per year. Fire Wardens are required to administer their duties to ensure full employee participation is obtained.

Click here to download a Fire Warden Change Form