In the event of a fire, minimizing the spread of smoke and heat within the building is essential. It is usually the smoke and heat produced by a fire which limits the ability of people to evacuate and which causes the most deaths in a fire.

In most modern buildings, air handling systems separate from the building's main HVAC systems can be activated to contain the spread of smoke.

Stairwells in newer high rise buildings are pressurized to maintain an atmosphere that is both safe for exiting and an aid in fire fighting procedures. In older buildings, the HVAC systems can be manually controlled either to shut down in order to prevent the spread of smoke through the systems themselves or activated in particular portions to remove smoke. Imagine how much air can be moved by a system of this size.

There is an internal telephone system which allows the Fire Department to talk from the Control Room to any level of the building. The outlets are found in the stairwells, which are the safest part of the building and also serve as the access point for each floor level for the fire fighting operations.

There is also an outside line from the Control Room so that communication is possible with resources outside the building as well.

There are smoke detectors in all elevator lobbies.

If smoke is detected, the elevator doors will automatically close and the elevator will return to the main floor when the fire alarm is activated.

The elevators have an override, the "Fireman's Key Control," which allows emergency personnel to control the elevator and use it as needed for moving people and equipment.

In a modern high rise building, there is an annunciator panel in the control room which indicates the location of the elevators and whether they are operational.

The electrically driven, cable-operated machinery which runs the elevators is an impressive size.

Every high rise is required by law to have an emergency plan and to perform an actual evacuation drill yearly. A viable emergency plan is a critical component of fire safety.

People who enter a high rise for the first time should pause to look at the floor plan posted in the elevator lobby which indicates the location of the exit stairwells and plan to use these as their escape route in the event or a fire.

People who work in a high rise building should be familiar with their emergency plan, be ready to follow the direction of those in charge and know where the stairwells are located. The stairwells are the required exit for every floor. There will always be at least two stairwells per floor.

Stairwells are designed to be protected from both the spread of smoke and fire. As long as the doors into the stairwells are not artificially restrained from closing when an alarm is activated, the stairwell can safely be used to evacuate the building.

An emergency source of power is necessary in the event of the failure of the building's primary power source. An on-site generator is required and often battery-supplied back up power is available for some of the systems as well.

In some buildings, the emergency generator can be activated from the fire control room. However, in most buildings, only a status panel is available in the control room to provide information on fuel level, runtime, etc.

The Fire Alarm System provides a means for notification of the occupants of the building that evacuation is necessary. It can be a manual system with pull stations for people to activate in the event of an emergency or an automatic system which has automatic smoke detectors throughout the building. An automatic alarm system will activate automatically when smoke is detected.

The system may also include a public address system which can either automatically activate a prerecorded voice message, or be used to give specific directions to the occupants.

The fire alarm system includes an "annunciator panel" which will indicate the source of the alarm.

Some older panels will only indicate a general "zone" as the origin of the problem. The zone might cover an entire floor. A new panel will indicate a particular device which has activated the system.

Located inside the building, the Fire Control Room is the nerve center for the building.

Inside the control room are the building's fire protection systems, fire pump, secondary water supply, air-handling systems, stairwell door controls, communications and elevator controls.

Also located inside is another key cabinet. The cabinet contains keys to all areas of the building to which firefighters will need access in the event of an emergency.

The pump room is the heart of the fire extinguishing system.

A fire pump is necessary in order to provide the pressure needed to raise water the full height of the building to supply both the sprinklers and the standpipe system.

A sprinkler system is the main line of defense against fire. If properly maintained, it will contain and extinguish a fire.

External piping takes water from the street into the building's fire protection system. In the same vicinity are located the fire department connections which the fire engine will pump into in order to boost the pressure in the system.

Inside the building, the piping branches off to provide water throughout the building. Sprinkler heads are spaced uniformly throughout the building to provide complete coverage.

In the event of a fire, the sprinkler head will be activated by heat.

State law requires that all new high rise buildings built after July 1, 1974 must be sprinklered. The City of San Diego passed an ordinance in 1988 which requires that all non-sprinklered office high rise buildings be retrofitted with sprinkler systems.

A standpipe system is a plumbing network which allows large volumes of water to be brought to any floor of a building to supply firefighters' hose lines. The pipes for this can be observed inside the stairwells of the building.

The standpipe extends from the lowest level of the building to the roof, with outlets at each level. If a fire occurs, the fire department will connect hose at the safest point closest to the fire.