From: pranavdadu@adreykells.

com

To: claudiabailey@adreykells.com

Subject: Schedule a meeting to discuss about concerns related to fire

Greetings Board of Directors, in light of recent events that occurred in our sister school, I have some
requests that need to be discussed. We, the teachers do hope that all is going well with the repairs of
the school. The fire accident caused in the lab was really horrendous and its not an issue that can be
ignored.

Background
When I came into contact with some of the teachers of the other school, I found out that the cause of
the fire was a failed experiment. On further investigations, some students couldn’t follow the
instructions given to them and mixed in the wrong solutions which led one to thing to another. But we
all know that a small lab fire isn’t enough to burn down a whole wing. The reports form the fire marshal
read that the cheap combustible materials used in the construction of the building acted as fuel to the
fire. Most, but not all, school buildings are low-rise buildings that are three stories or less. Many are
designed with a large footprint, and maybe in complexes with several attached/detached buildings.
Construction may be combustible or non-combustible, and depending upon the age of the school, they
may be asbestos located within the building. I’m sure we all can agree that such an event can be avoided
if appropriate measures are taken. The trauma such an incident would cause the students would be
unbeatable and that’s why, to prevent such an issue, we have a few solutions listed.

Solutions
The most important solutions that I can suggest would be to come up with better layout/floor plan that
could help in smoother evacuation. This must be prioritized because schools contain large numbers of
students and their safety is our number one priority. Fire drills must be practiced in schools a number of
times during the year. With good systems in place, student evacuation would generally be effective.
However, after hours and during large events there may be many who are unfamiliar with the exits and
drill procedures and may be slow to evacuate. Some schools are sprinkled, and some aren’t. Standpipe
system equipped with wet-pipe systems to provide protection. There should be firefighters stationed
with radios at each valve supplying the operating sprinkler system(s) until they can confirm full
extinguishment of the fire. Generally, minimal hazardous materials are present in school environments.
Cleaning chemicals are common and one type of incident that has been known to occur is a chlorine-
based cleaning agent being mixed with ammonia to create nasty fumes. Natural gas, propane gas or oil
are mostly always available in school pantry’s which is harmful in such cases. Hence nowadays most
schools cook food outside the premises and bring in the food completely removing the idea of having
cooking fuels in the school. Drop-down or sliding gates may be located in areas within the building.
These gates can be deployed after school hours to limit access to various parts of the building during
community events and activities held within the school building.

Conclusion
The biggest challenge we as an institute could face is to deal with parents. It’s their right to worry about
their children safety. The would be a massive crowd of parents wanting to see their child, if such an
incident broke out. The most important thing a fire department can do to prepare for school incidents is
to preplan the buildings. I hope the few solutions I’ve suggested can be talked over in a meeting along
with the directors. I just want to thank the board for hearing me out and hope to hear from you soon on
this issue.

Sincerely

Pranav Dadu