Summary The analysis of evacuee behaviour and performance requires data on human behaviour from actual fire incidents. Unfortunately, such data is rarely collected and, if available, is often provided in different formats and levels of refinement, and does not provide sufficient narrative understanding. The lack of a standardized approach to collecting and reporting such data hinders our understanding of human behaviour in fire, theory development, as well as incident analysis and communication. In other fields, graphical notation systems are used to report events in a quick, reliable and standardized manner. This article outlines the development of a notation system that aims to better document evacuee performance. The proposed notation system is then applied to two historic case studies—the Knights of Columbus fire of 1942 and the Beverly Hills Supper Club fire of 1977—to illustrate the approach. Finally, limitations and future research needs of the presented notation system are discussed.