by guest blogger Security Central [email protected]
If your first response was “Fire what?,” then this is a “must read” article. Home fires kill more people every year than all other natural disasters combined. If you wake up in the middle of the night and find your house in flames, would you and your family members be prepared to escape in time?
Most people think they could escape, but very few have a fire escape plan for the whole family. Here are some of the things you need to do to create a workable plan to help you and your family survive a home fire:
- Devise an escape route for every family member. Find at least two ways to get out of every room. If your home’s bedrooms are on the second or third floor, buy emergency escape ladders for every room and make certain that everyone knows how to use them.
- While fire safety experts recommend that every family member sleep with the door to their bedroom closed at night, not everyone follows that recommendation. If you and your family do, and your home is on fire, feel the door for heat before opening it. If the door feels warm or hot, do not open it and use another escape route.
- If you have to make your way through a smoke-filled hallway to escape, be certain to stay as low as possible and crawl to safety.
- If all of your escape routes are blocked by smoke or fire, keep the doors and windows closed and signal through the window to attract attention. If you have a cell phone, call emergency services for help.
- Get your children involved. Challenge them to find every fire extinguisher in your home and every possible way they can get out of the house in an emergency.
MOST IMPORTANT, devise an escape plan and practice it with your family at least twice a year. Designate a place outside of the home where everyone will meet after they’ve escaped. Once everyone is safely outside the home, never go back into the burning building.
(This article originally appeared in the Security Central Winter 2017 Newsletter. Reprinted with permission.)