How To Create A Fire Escape Plan For Your Home

A house fire is a very serious and possibly lethal threat that can happen to anybody, no matter how cautious they are.

10:56 04 September 2021

This is why having a fire escape plan for your home is critical. Your children and everyone else on the property will need to understand the plan and how to get away if the worst happens.

 

Here are some suggestions for developing a fire escape strategy that everyone can adhere to. Hopefully you’ll never need one, but it’s better to create one and never use it than to need one and not have one ready.

 

Doors

 

When creating a fire escape plan, be sure to include the best exits (depending on which part of the home is on fire) and helpful comments to remind people how to limit the spread of the fire. In the midst of the chaos that fire generates, it is easy to lose sight of this, which can exacerbate the issue.

 

Your evacuation plan should contain instructions on which doors should be closed to limit the spread of the fire. It is also critical that all escape route doors can be readily opened when required, including doors to the outside, which are often locked. It will also be necessary to know where the keys are and how to safely shatter the glass in a door or window if there is no other way to escape.

 

Meeting Place

 

It is possible that not everyone is going to be together while fleeing a fire.

 

If you have a big house, or if sections of it are inaccessible, you will need to ensure that everyone has left safely, and you will need to be able to notify the fire department and ambulance personnel if anybody is still stuck inside. As a result, you will need to pick a safe meeting place to assess what is happening.

 

This should be somewhere everyone can find, but it should also be a fair distance away from your home. This might be a neighbour's garden or under a particular street sign. Make sure this information is included in your strategy and that everyone understands what they need to do.

 

What To Bring

 

Fires can bring about enormous damage, which is why many people want to take as many of their belongings with them as possible. This, however, may impede or even prohibit safe exit from the burning building.

 

There should be a rule that everyone must leave everything in the home and depart. There will be damage, but it can be repaired by a business that specialises in fire damage restoration and soot and ash removal. On the other hand, health cannot be fixed so easily, and it is what should be considered first when getting out of a burning property.

 

Emergency Contact Information

 

The emergency number to contact in the event of a fire is something that everyone should be aware of. This is something that children should understand as well so that whoever is out of the house first can make that crucial phone call.

 

The sooner the emergency services are summoned, the sooner they can arrive and help put the fire out and attend to those who might be injured or trapped. Add the number to your fire escape plan so that everyone knows what it is, and check periodically that your family remembers it.