Consider this scenario: You're in the middle of a deep sleep when the sound of an alarm rouses you to a state of semi-wakefulness. "Car alarm," you tell yourself as you roll over. Are you sure? Do you even know what the fire alarm sounds like in your apartment building? If not, it's time to find out.

Another potentially fatal mistake renters make is to dismiss the fire alarm because their building has had so many false alarms. Admittedly, it becomes hard to take an alarm seriously when it has awakened you every night for a week due to a power surge or some other problem. This "boy who cried wolf" situation causes some people to barely raise an eyebrow when the alarm sounds. And yet, they should take every alarm trip seriously because the first time they ignore the alarm could also be their last.

One of the first things you should do when you move into an apartment is check the location of the fire alarm. Is there one in your bedroom? If it's not in your bedroom, how close is it to your bedroom? Will you be able to hear it with the door shut or with a fan turned on? The ideal situation is to have two alarms: one in your living area or bedroom hallway, and the other one inside your bedroom.

In addition, you'll want to survey your building to see how it's marked and to determine a couple of escape routes in the event of fire. First, find the location of all exit doors and stairwells. Is anything sitting in front of the exit doors that could hamper your ability to escape? Assuming there isn't, open the door to the stairs for two reasons: to verify that it opens, and to make sure there's nothing blocking your path if you need to use the stairs. Are they well lit? Imagine what could happen if they're poorly lit. Add a dim stairwell to accumulating smoke and haze, and you have the recipe for disaster.

Also check to see how well the exit doors shut. They should be equipped with latches that cause them to automatically shut, not lock. Some buildings will lock people in stairwells and deny them exit through doors that require electronic cards or keys to open. Chances are good your building won't have this problem, but check it out, anyway; it's better to be safe than sorry. Another reason you want to make sure the doors shut properly is that they can block smoke and fire entry.

Walk along the hallway where you live, and find the emergency exit instructions. They should be posted on every floor in your building. If you can't find them, talk to your landlord. The instructions should outline a series of basic safety procedures to follow in the event of a fire.

If your landlord is up to speed on fire safety codes, he or she should have already established a safety plan for your building, which should then be approved by your local fire department. The fire department can point out any problems or omissions in the plan, and suggest more effective strategies, if necessary.

You'll want to look for extra precautions if you reside in a high-rise apartment buildings. First of all, flights of stairs located in high-rise buildings are much longer and therefore much more perilous if there's not adequate lighting. Your building should have a backup emergency lighting system that will come on if and when a fire causes your electricity to go out.

Do individual apartments have doors with an automatic shut device? If a fire begins in one apartment, you can help contain the spread of smoke and flames -- albeit temporarily -- and delays its entry into the hallways and onto other units.

The majority of high-rise properties have intercom systems; in fact, if you live in a high-rise that doesn't have one, you should find out why, because such systems are an excellent safety device in the event of fire -- provided you can understand voice transmission through them. A system that sounds a lot like a fast-food drive-through speaker (in other words, unrecognizable) won't do you any good. But an effective intercom system can both alert residents to a fire and its location, and help direct them to the nearest exits. The ideal situation is to have speakers both in your apartment and in each hallway.

Many newer properties -- both high- and low-rise -- have adequate fire safety protections in place, although their effectiveness depends largely upon the willingness of residents to seek them out and learn the proper procedures long before they need them. Older properties may have to be brought up to speed. If you find anything that needs improvement in your building from a fire safety standpoint, speak with your landlord. If you're not getting a timely response, call your fire department to see if a representative will pay a visit to your building and conduct a survey.

Published: December 29, 2000

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