HOW TO CREATE A FIRE ESCAPE PLAN

HOW TO CREATE A FIRE ESCAPE PLAN

It is important to have a fire escape plan in place well before there is a fire emergency.  If a fire breaks out in your home, you may only have a few minutes to get your family to safety after the smoke alarm alerts you there is a smoke or fire in your home.

FOLLOW THESE TIPS

• Make a fire escape plan a family event. Walk through your home and inspect all possible exits and escape routes.  Households with children should consider drawing a floor plan of your home, marking two ways out of each room, including windows and doors. Also, mark the location of each smoke alarm. Download an escape grid template here.

• A closed door may slow the spread of smoke, heat and fire. Install smoke alarms in every sleeping room, outside each sleeping area and on every level of the home. NFPA 72, National Fire Alarm Code® requires interconnected smoke alarms throughout the home. When one sounds, they all sound.

• When you walk through your plan, check to make sure the escape routes are clear and doors and windows can be opened easily.

• Choose an outside meeting place (i.e., neighbor’s house, a light post, or stop sign) a safe distance in front of your home where everyone can meet after they’ve escaped. Make sure to mark the location of the meeting place on your escape plan.

• As part of your plan, ensure that your street number is clearly visible from the road. If not, paint it on the curb or install house numbers to ensure that responding emergency personnel can find your home.

• Make sure that everyone in your home, especially children, know to call 911 for emergencies, so that any member of the household can call from a neighbor’s home or a cellular phone once safely outside.

• If there are infants, older adults or family members with mobility limitations, make sure that someone is assigned to assist them in the fire drill and in the event of an emergency. Assign a backup person, too, in case the designee is not home during the emergency

• If windows or doors in your home have security bars, make sure that the bars have emergency release devices inside so that they can be opened immediately in an emergency. Emergency release devices won’t compromise your security, but they will increase your chances of safely escaping a home fire.

• Tell guests or visitors to your home about your family’s fire escape plan. When staying overnight at other people’s homes, ask about their escape plan. If they don’t have a plan in place, offer to help them make one. This is especially important when children are permitted to attend “sleepovers” at friends’ homes.

• Be fully prepared for a real fire: When a smoke alarm sounds, get out immediately. Once you’re out, stay out! Under no circumstances should you ever go back into a burning building. If someone is missing, inform the fire department dispatcher when you call. Firefighters have the skills and equipment to perform rescues.

Get additional information at www.nfpa.org