Shoppers Evacuated Following a Fire Alarm
Emergency evacuation at WestQuay highlights areas for improvement in the shopping centre’s emergency procedures.
Shoppers browsing the sales at the WestQuay shopping centre in Southampton got more than they bargained for recently when they were evacuated after fire alarms went off in the centre’s Pizza Express.
Eight fire engines were despatched to the location and shoppers were evacuated. However, despite the centre management team insisting that “The team followed…protocol…and worked with the emergency services on site to resolve the issue quickly and safely.” and that “The safety of our staff and customers is our number one priority”, others present described the scene as “utter chaos”.
It was claimed that little information was given out to shoppers, and photographs show hundreds of people milling around uncertainly. Reports on social media also stated that people walked past multiple fire exits on their way out of the centre.
If this indeed the case, it may suggest a fault or lapse in the shopping centre’s emergency procedures.
Unique Set of Challenges
When it comes to fire safety and evacuation, indoor shopping centres and malls are faced with a unique set of challenges. They tend to cover a large surface area, are made up of a number of independent retail and catering outlets (WestQuay covers an area of 70,000 square metres and contains around 150 stores, for example), and attract a large number of visitors. This can cause difficulties when it comes to fire safety and evacuations, which makes it even more vital that these establishments have robust emergency procedures in place if they want to avoid a potentially disastrous situation.
As with all businesses and public places, shopping centres are subject to specific rules and regulations when it comes to fire safety, and all business owners are responsible for ensuring that staff, customers and visitors are able to exit a property quickly and safely in the event of a fire.
Having an effective emergency evacuation procedure in place is key to this and all staff should be aware of and fully trained on the procedure, with emergency drills taking place on a regular basis to ensure the procedure works in practice. Shopping centre management should also work with the individual retail outlets to ensure guidelines are understood and adhered to throughout the centre.
As well as staff, it’s also important that customers know what to do in an emergency. Prominently displayed fire safety signs (in multiple languages if appropriate), along with easily accessible and well-signposted fire exits, and clear, audible announcements will all help ensure that people take the quickest route out of the building in an emergency situation, hopefully avoiding the situation that developed in WestQuay.
An Important Reminder
Happily the WestQuay incident had a happy ending. The incident was not as serious as first thought, with Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service confirming that the alarm was set off by “cooking fumes” in the restaurant. However, it serves as a timely reminder to shopping centres across the country, of the importance of ensuring their fire safety and emergency evacuation procedures and signage are up to scratch. Or next time it could end in tragedy.