School fire drills provide an important opportunity for schools and firefighters to work together before an emergency occurs.

Through the program, schools can:

• Practice and evaluate their evacuation procedures.
• Have firefighters observe the drill and provide constructive feedback.
• Help firefighters become familiar with the school.
• Reinforce fire and life safety messages with students and families.
• Receive educational information based on community fire risk.
• Connect teachers with fire safety educational resources.

All schools in Calgary must complete six fire drills per school year. One of these fire drills should be attended by firefighters from the Calgary Fire Department (CFD).

When firefighters attend, they observe the drill and evacuation process and become familiar with the building:

• Layout and access points
• Fire safety systems
• Emergency evacuation procedures
• Assembly areas and other relevant site features

Following the drill, firefighters complete a drill evaluation. The evaluation helps identify opportunities to reinforce fire and life safety practices.

After firefighters complete the drill evaluation, a letter is provided for students to take home to their families. The letter contains educational messaging focused on the highest-risk fire and life safety trends identified by CFD. This helps ensure that the information provided to students and families reflects the fire and life safety issues that are most relevant to their community.

Schools can submit a request online or call 311 to request attendance by their local fire station at a scheduled school fire drill.

Calgary firefighters must remain on duty and available for emergency situations. If a requested fire crew doesn’t show up at the scheduled drill or must leave and attend a 911 incident, schools are encouraged to submit a new service request for fire crew attendance at a later date.

The School Fire Drill Program also provides teachers and school staff with a connection to CFD’s Community Safety Education division.

Teachers can use this connection to request additional fire and life safety presentations or educational programming for their students. Presentations can help address topics identified during the drill or other fire and life safety concerns relevant to the school community. Grade 5 teachers may also request to have the Community Safety team attend with their Fire Safety Trailer and Education Program.