Editing Fire drill (section)

== History of fire drills ==
[[File:Fire drill.jpg|thumb|right|A group of students at [[James Madison University]] evacuate their dorm rooms in response to a fire drill]]
The purpose of fire drills in buildings is to ensure that everyone knows how to exit safely as quickly as possible if a fire, smoke, carbon monoxide, or other emergency occurs, and to familiarize building occupants with the sound of the fire alarm.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.alertmedia.com/blog/how-to-conduct-a-fire-drill-at-work/|title=How To Conduct A Fire Drill At Work: A Step-by-Step Guide|date=2018-08-17|website=AlertMedia|language=en-US|access-date=2019-04-26|archive-date=2019-04-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190426152523/https://www.alertmedia.com/blog/how-to-conduct-a-fire-drill-at-work/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Before regular fire drills were instituted, [[Our Lady of the Angels School fire|an infamous fire]] broke out at the private Catholic school Our Lady of the Angels in 1958, in [[Chicago]].<ref name="History"/> Children on the second floor were trapped there, with neither teachers nor pupils knowing how to get out of the building safely. Many children jumped out of windows, and many were killed as they could not make their way to an exit.<ref name="History">{{cite web |last1=Cunningham |first1=Thomas |title=Our Lady of the Angels: A Historical Perspective on School Fires |date=n.d. |website=WithTheCommand.com |url=http://www.withthecommand.com/09-Sept/MD-Ourlady-0904.html |access-date=11 January 2015 |archive-date=15 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150115015113/http://www.withthecommand.com/09-Sept/MD-Ourlady-0904.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Although the school had passed a fire inspection only two months before, and had the number of fire exits and fire extinguishers required at the time, it lacked smoke detectors or adequate fire alarms, and was overcrowded.<ref name="History"/>

The need for fire drills was recognized; monthly fire drills were implemented after the Our Lady of the Angels fire. It was found in a later study that education on fire also helped to prevent it: people started to learn more about what started fires, and what to do in the case of one starting. They were also aware of the hazards that allow a fire to start and grow. Within a year of the fire, many of the hazardous conditions such as found in Our Lady of the Angels had been eliminated in thousands of schools around the United States.{{cn|date=March 2023}}