Here are some important tips on fire safety in your home.
Use the information on this page, and discuss it with your family members.
Fire safety is very important, and every family should have an escape plan.

You may have installed a very expensive home security system, but that system cannot help you escape a burning structure if you have a false level of confidence because of poor or inadequate planning.

• Make sure all family members know what to do in the event of a fire. Draw a floor plan with at least two ways of escaping every room. Make a drawing for each floor. Dimensions do not need to be correct. Make sure the plan shows important details: stairs, hallways and windows that can be used as fire escape routes.

• Be sure to test windows and doors, especially those that are not routinely opened. The moment a fire erupts is not the time to find out that the door or window that opened a year or two ago is now swollen or has been painted shut.

• Do they open easy enough? Are they wide enough for the people in your family to fit through? Or are they tall enough?

• You should also choose a safe meeting place outside the house, someplace that everyone agrees and knows about.

• Practice alerting other members. It is a good idea to keep a bell and flashlight in each bedroom to use in the event of an emergency.

• Conduct a family meeting and discuss the following topics:

• Always sleep with the bedroom doors closed. This will keep deadly heat and smoke out of bedrooms, giving you additional time to escape.

• Find a way for everyone to sound a family alarm. Yelling, pounding on walls, whistles, etc. Practice yelling "FIRE!"

• In the actual event of a fire, time is critical. Don't waste time getting dressed, don't search for pets or valuables. Just get out!

• Once you are out of the building, STAY OUT!! DO NOT go back in for any reason. If people are trapped, the firefighters have the best chance of rescuing them. Firefighters have the training, experience and the protective clothing and equipment needed to enter a burning building. Most of the time, those people that go back into a house that is burning do not come back out alive. Remember, items such as toys and TV's and clothes can be replaced... but we can NEVER replace YOU!

• Roll out of bed. Stay low. The air down by the floor is cooler and clear of smoke. One breath of smoke or gases may be enough to kill.

• Conduct practice evacuations at least a couple of times a year. Vary the "conditions" of each drill to make it more realistic. Have certain exit paths blocked by "fire" so that an alternate route must be used.

• Practice evacuating the building blindfolded. In a real fire situation, the amount of smoke generated by a fire most likely will make it difficult to see or the lights may not be working as a result of the fire.

• REMEMBER that a fire drill is not a race, but practice to get out quickly ... remember to be careful!

• Practice staying low to the ground when escaping.

• Feel all doors before opening them. If a door is hot, get out another way.

• Learn to stop, drop to the ground, and roll in the event of your clothes catching fire.

• If you live in a two story house and you must escape from a second floor window, be sure there is a safe way to reach the ground. Make special arrangements for younger children, older adults and people with disabilities. People who might have trouble moving should have a telephone they can easily get to in their bedroom, and if possible, should sleep on the ground level floor.

• If you are trapped, close all doors between you and the fire. Stuff the cracks around the doors with clothes or anything to help keep the smoke out of the room you are in. Wait at a window and signal for help with a light colored cloth (use a pillow case, sheet, anything light colored) or a flashlight if you have one. If there is a phone in the room, call the fire department and tell them exactly where you are.

After A Fire Emergency:

• Give first aid where appropriate. Seriously injured victims should be transported to professional medical help immediately. Stay out of the damaged building. Return only when fire authorities say it is safe.

Install Smoke Detectors:

Smoke detectors sense abnormal amounts of smoke or particulates that are invisible to the unaided eye that are the result of combustion. They can detect both smoldering and burning fires.

• Check smoke detectors once a month and change the batteries at least once a year. A good time to change batteries is when the clocks are changed.

• They can detect both smoldering and burning fires. At least one smoke detector should be installed on every level of a structure. Purchase smoke detectors labeled by the Underwriters Laboratories (UL) or Factory Mutual (FM).