Fire Safety Tip: Have an Escape Plan

8/31/2021 (Permalink)

Having a plan in place can help save lives. Create and practice a fire escape plan with your family.

Did you know that the size of a fire doubles every minute?  This causes fires to travel at an extremely fast pace. If your home catches fire, you and your family may only have a minute to escape the flames!  This leaves you and your family a very short amount of time to escape unscathed! 

It is extremely important that you and your loved ones have a plan before in case disaster strikes. 

Here are some tips to help you act and escape as quickly as possible. 

1.) Have a fire alarm inside and outside every bedroom.

It is vital that you have alarms inside and outside of every bedroom.  If a fire starts in the middle of the night, these alarms will ensure that everybody in the house will hear and awake in the event of a fire; even if they are sleeping.

2.) Make sure that there are fire alarms on every story of your multi-level home.

In addition to the fire alarms inside and outside of every bedroom, you should also have them installed on every floor of your home. If a fire starts on a floor without a bedroom, it’s important that you’re able to hear the alarms no matter what floor you’re on.

3.) Create a floor plan of your home marking two exits from each room.

Having a floor plan is an extremely important part to having a fire escape plan, especially if you have children. You should mark two ways to exit every room in the house on the floor plan. This will allow you alternative options if one of the exits is blocked by flames in the event of having to escape.

4.) Go over the floor plan with everyone that lives in your home. 

It is vital that everybody in your home knows the fire escape plan, especially the kids. On the floor plan, point out the two exits for each room and the location of each fire alarm.

5.) Choose an outside meeting place.

Another important step is to choose where you will all gather outside after escaping the fire.  Here are some examples: neighbor’s house, a light post, mailbox or a stop sign. This will allow you to make sure that everyone is safely out of the house and accounted for in the event of a house fire.

6.) Practice your escape plan.

Practice makes perfect and creating a plan on paper can only do so much. It’s imperative that the entire family practice the plan in each room of your house. This will allow for the fastest reaction time in the event of an actual emergency.

7.) Get out immediately if you hear the smoke alarms.

If you hear your smoke alarms, you need to get out of your house immediately. Don’t hesitate to see if it’s a false alarm or grab any valuables. Remember that nothing is more important than saving the lives of both you and your loved ones.

At SERVPRO of Howell/Wall we are here to help.  Should you are someone you know have any questions about fire damage, smoke damage or making a fire escape plan, please do not hesitate to call us at 732-577-1010.

Sources:
National Fire Protection Association