Warming Up

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Friday 21st October 2005

I popped into Marks and Spencers to get something for my dinner. I was listening to my ipod and slightly oblivious to the distractions of the world. A woman stopped me at the entrance and pointed at a sign I hadn't noticed. I took out one of my earphones and the woman said, "Just to inform you sir that there is going to be a test of the fire alarm in a few moments time. Don't worry, it's just a test, you don't have to leave the store."
I carried on towards the foodhall with my earphone back in place and sure enough the alarm was going off before I had even picked up my basket. Reassuringly I could still hear it despite the music playing directly into my ears. It's good to know that if I am ever listening to my ipod in a fire situation that I should get out without being burned to a crisp.
But then I got to wondering. What happens if a building is doing a fire alarm test and has told no-one to leave and then coincidentally a fire actually breaks out? Do they have a secondary alarm system to set off in such an event and if that's the case, when do they test that? And if they test it independently how can they be sure it will work in a situation when the other alarm is going off, which is of course its whole raison d'etre? So if they do test it when the other alarm is going off, to check it is working and an actual fire breaks out then and they've told everyone to ignore both of the alarms, how do they let people know there is an actual fire?
I could go on.
In fact I might.
No I won't.
Luckily no fire did break out and I just bought a stir fry and some salad instead and then walked home. But I hope M&S are prepared for another day when they might not be so lucky.