Policy Text
University of California, San Francisco
Police Department General Orders
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4.18 Traffic Ancillary Services
4.18.9 Fire Alarm Response Procedures (Revised: 6/16/20 )
The University o f California Police Department shall provide assistance as needed to the campus
community and emergency services personnel during fire alarms/reports of fire.
A. When ECC personnel receive fire alarm activations from Security, building engineer s or
the Campus Fire Marshal , dispatcher(s) shall do the following:
1. Notify the SFFD and give them the type of alarm activated (pull box/smoke
detector), lo cation of the activation and oth er related information that may be
available.
2. Dispatch UC Police personnel to the fire alarm activation. Police personnel shall
be given the type of alarm, location and other related information that may be
available.
3. If the alarm activation is in the Medical Center or at Langley Porter, the
dispatcher(s) shall notify the Medical Center Telecommunications Office, which
will make a "Code Red" announcement.
4. If the alarm activation is in the Ambulatory Care Center (ACC ) between 0800 -
1700 hours, Monda y-Friday, the dispatcher(s) shall notify the ACC
Administration Office who will make the appropriate voice announcements.
B. When a report of a fire or smell of smoke is received directly by the Police Department,
ECC perso nnel shall do the following:
1. Notify the SFFD and provide their personnel with the type of report (smell of
smoke/visual fire), the location and other related information that may be
available.
2. Dispatch UC Police personnel to respond to the fire/smell of smoke report. Police
personn el shall be given the type of report, location and other related information
that may be available.
3. Notify the UCSF Central Utilities Plant and provide their personnel with the
type of report, location and other related information that may be available.
4. If the reported location is in the Medical Center or Langley Porter, the
dispatcher(s) shall notify the Medical Center Telecommunications Office , which
will initiate a "Code Red" announcement.
5. If the reported location is in the ACC, between 0800 -1700 hours, Monday - Friday,
the dispatcher(s) shall notify the ACC Administrative Office , which will make the
appropriate voice announcement
6. Use Mass Notification S ystem (MNS) for emergency alert of fire and appro priate
response action (i.e. evacuate the building).
University of California, San Francisco
Police Department General Orders
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C. In response to fire alarms/reports of fire, UCPD personnel will do the following:
1. The first officer on the scene shall assist the SFFD in the fire investigation and
coordinate additional assistanc e, as necessary, with the ECC .
2. The second officer responding shall wait for SFFD’s arrival and escort them to
the scene.
3. Once SFFD personnel have investigated and declared the area safe, the officer
shall activate the “all call paging switch” of the Public Address System (if
available) and make the “All Clear” announcement on all floors of the alarm
activation.
a. The officer shall announce three times: "May I have your attention please.
This is the UCSF Police Department. It is now ‘All Clear’ to enter the
building due to the fi re alarm activation on the ( list all alarm evacuation
floors, e.g. on the 3rd, 4th, 5th & 6th ) floors of the Medical Sciences
Building.”
b. The officer shall make additional announcements as warranted by the
situation (che mical spills, explosive de vices, bomb threats, etc. ) and use
the MNS for life safety and/or timely warnings.
c. After the “All Clear” announcements are made , the second officer shall
check the building’s fire alarm panel (if applicable) for the building’s
designated evacuation area. The officer must go to this area and again
verbally give the all clear announcements.
D. In emergency cases and with the approval of the SFFD, Campus Fire Marshal or building
manager, the officer shall coordinate an evacuatio n of the building. During normal
business hours, the Chancellor’s Office must be notified of all fire alarm activations
inside the Medical Sciences building. When there is a fire in a building that does not have
a voice notification system, UC police offic ers shall use bullhorns and othe r available
means , including the MNS, to communicate emergency instructions .
E. The UCPD , Medical Center Security Department, Building Engineers and/or the Campus
Fire Marshal have the authority to notify the Medical Center Telecommunications Office
to make cancellations of “Code Red” overhead announcements. The ECC must also be
notified by the Medical Center Telecommunications Office of all cancellations as soon as
possible. Upon confirmation of a false alarm ( i.e., burned popcorn, accidental manual
pull, etc.), building engineers will silence but not reset the system until the SFFD has
declared the area safe.
F. If the SFFD has investigated a fire alarm activation/report of fire at the Medical Center
and declared t he build ing and area safe, ECC personnel shall notify the Medical C enter
Telecommunication Office that the building and area are safe for reentry . Issuing a M NS
“All Clear” alert is appro priate.
University of California, San Francisco
Police Department General Orders
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