Fire Alarm And Exit Planning

According to the National Fire Prevention Association, there were approximately 390,000 home fires in 2001. In these home fires, children under the age of 100 represented about 22% of all deaths. In addition, senior citizens of age 65 and over were another group that was particularly at risk in home fires. A family escape plan would have prevented many of these deaths, so make a family escape plan a key component in your family’s arsenal to avoiding fire tragedies.

In addition to equipping your home with a fire alarm, be sure to establish a fire escape plan that all family members know well. You shouldn’t consider your family safe from fire unless you have an effective fire escape plan in place. A key component of a fire safety plan is to have a fire alarm in your house. The job of the fire alarm is to warn your family that a fire is in your home. But knowing that you have a fire is only the first step - you also need a fire exit plan so your family can take heed of the fire alarms warning and get out of the house.

Here are some tips to planning your family’s fire safety and escape plan:

• Make sure that all family members know the sound of your fire alarm, so they will recognize the sound if it ever becomes necessary.
• Each member of the family should be shown or know how to get outside safely by at least two routes.
• Everyone in your household should practice opening their windows to become familiar with how they work. During this practice, jammed windows should be identified and repaired.
• In your plan, establish at least two exits from each part of the house.
• Teach your family to close their bedroom door when they go to sleep. A closed wooden door can take 10-15 minutes to burn down.
• If you have security bars bolted onto your windows, make sure they are “firesafe bars.” An exit should not require a special tool to open it, including a key. Bars on windows should have a single-action quick release.
• Your family should develop this escape plan as well as an alternate escape plan, and practice both routes periodically.
• The escape plan should include a mutually agreed upon, safe place outside of the house where the family can meet and make sure that everyone escaped the house safely.
• Make sure that your children know how to dial 911, and to do so to call the fire department, but only if the fire is not life threatening. Their first rule should be to exit the house via the established route.

You can save your and your family’s life with planning and foresight. Be sure to rehearse the escape route. And make sure that your fire alarm is working!