§ 2509.04. Fire drills in educational and institutional occupancies.

(A)

(1)

No principal or person in charge of a public or private school or educational institution having an average daily attendance of fifty (50) or more pupils, and no person in charge of any children's home or orphanage housing twenty (20) or more minor persons, shall willfully neglect to instruct and train children by means of fire drills at least once a month while such school, educational institution, children's home or orphanage is in operation, so that such children in a sudden emergency may leave the building in the shortest possible time without confusion.

(2)

No person in charge of any institutional occupancy shall willfully neglect to hold fire drills at least every two months. For the purposes of this chapter institutional occupancies shall be defined as those buildings and structures in which people suffering from physical limitations because of health or age are harbored for medical or other care or treatment, or in which people are detained for penal or correctional purposes, or in which the liberty of inmates is restricted.

(3)

During severe weather, fire drills may be postponed. A record of all fire drills shall be kept and persons in charge of those occupancies listed in Sections (1) and (2) above shall file written reports at least quarterly with the fire chief giving the following information:

(a)

time of drill,

(b)

date of drill,

(c)

total time for evacuation, and

(d)

number of persons evacuated.

(B)

In public or private schools, educational institutions, children's homes or orphanages, fire drills shall include complete evacuations of all persons from the building. In institutional occupancies fire drills shall be conducted to familiarize operating personnel with their assigned positions of emergency duty; complete evacuation of occupants from the building at the time of the fire drill shall be required only where it is practicable and does not involve moving or disturbing persons under medical care.

(C)

In the case of schools, no principal or responsible person shall willfully neglect to keep the doors and exits of such buildings unlocked during school hours. The principal or person in charge of any school shall check or have checked all exits and egress facilities for compliance with the provisions of the Columbus Fire Prevention Code before the start of each school day and before the school is occupied by any children.

(D)

The fire chief may order the immediate installation of fire gongs or signals in any occupancies mentioned in Sections 2509.04(A)(1) or 2509.04(A)(2) as may be necessary to insure the safety of any persons occupying such facilities in the event of fire.

(Ord. 2049-95.)