Fire Safety
Exit Drills In The Home
People can survive even major fires in their homes if they are alerted to the fire and get out quickly and stay out.
How To Survive
- Install smoke detectors and keep them in working order.
- Make an escape plan and practice it.
- Consider installing an automatic fire-sprinkler system.
Plan Your Escape
Once a fire has started, there is no time to plan how to get out. Sit down with your family today and make a step-by-step plan for escaping a fire.
Draw a floor plan of your home, marking two ways out of every room, especially sleeping areas. Discuss the escape routes with every member of your household.
Agree on a meeting place where every member of the household will gather outside your home after escaping a fire to wait for the fire department. This allows you to count heads and inform the fire department if anyone is missing or trapped inside the burning building.
Practice your escape plan at least twice a year. Have a fire drill in your home. Appoint someone to be the monitor, and have everyone participate. A fire drill is not a race. Get out quickly but carefully.
Make Your Exit Drill Realistic
Pretend that some exits are blocked by fire, and practice alternate escape routes, Pretend that the lights are out and that some escape routes are filling with smoke.
Be Prepared
Make sure everyone in the household can unlock all doors and windows quickly, even in the dark. Windows or doors with security bars need to be equipped with quick-release devices, and everyone in the household should know how to use them.
If you live in an apartment building, use stairways to escape. NEVER use an elevator during a fire. It may stop between floors or take you to a floor where the fire is burning. Some high-rise buildings may have evacuation plans that require you to stay where you are and wait for the fire department.
If you live in a multistory house and you must escape from an upper story window, be sure there is a safe way to reach the ground, such as a fire resistant escape ladder. Make special arrangements for children, older adults and people with disabilities. People who have difficulty moving should have a phone in their sleeping area and, if possible, should sleep on the ground floor.
Test doors before opening them
While kneeling or crouching at the door, reach up as high as you can and with the back of your hand touch the door, the knob and the crack between the door and its frame. If you feel any warmth at all, use another escape route. If the door feels cool, open it with caution. Put your shoulder against the door and open it slowly. Be prepared to slam it shut if there is smoke or flames on the other side.
If you are trapped, close all doors between you and the fire. Stuff the cracks around the doors to keep out smoke. Wait at a window and signal for help with a flashlight or by waving a light-colored cloth. If there is a phone in the room, call the fire department and report exactly where you are.
Get Out Fast . . .
In case of a fire, don’t stop for anything. Do not try to rescue possessions or pets. Go directly to your meeting place, and then call the fire department from a neighbor’s phone, a portable phone, or an alarm box. Every member of your household should know how to call the fire department.
Crawl low under smoke. Smoke contains deadly gases, and heat rises. During a fire, cleaner air will be near the floor. If you encounter smoke when using your primary exit, use an alternative escape route. If you must exit through smoke, crawl on your hands and knees, keeping your head 12 to 24 inches (30 - 60 centimeters) above the floor.
. . . and stay out
Once you are out of your home, don’t go back for any reason. If people are trapped, the firefighters have the best chance of rescuing them. The heat and smoke of a fire are overpowering. Firefighters have the training, experience, and protective equipment needed to enter burning buildings.
Play It Safe
Smoke detectors. More than half of all fatal home fires happen at night while people are asleep. Smoke detectors sound an alarm when a fire starts, waking people before they are trapped or overcome by smoke. With smoke detectors, your risk of dying in a home fire is cut nearly in half. Install smoke detectors outside every sleeping area and on every level of your home, including the basement. Follow installation instructions carefully, and test smoke detectors monthly. Change all smoke detector batteries at least once a year. If your detector is more than 10 years old, replace it with a new one.
Automatic fire sprinkler systems. These systems attack a fire in its early stages by spraying water only on the area where the fire has begun. Consider including sprinkler systems in plans for new construction and installing them in existing homes.
Campfire Safety Tips
- Learn how to safely start a fire.
- Never use flammable liquids to ignite or keep your fire burning. This means, avoid gasoline, diesel fuel, lighter fluid and other dangerous fuels.
- Only start a campfire in a fire pit or fire ring that is made of solid construction.
- Avoid starting a fire underneath low-hanging branches or shrubbery. Fires can often flame higher then you anticipate.
- Don’t stack spare firewood too close. If you’ve recently gathered some, store it upwind so that sparks don’t fly into your pile.
- Don’t allow children and pets near the campfire and never leave them unsupervised.
- Teach kids how to stop, drop, and roll if their clothing catches fire.
- Have a fire extinguisher handy for emergencies.
- Keep your fire away from anything flammable, such as dry grass, tents, paper plates and napkins, and camping gear.
- Be aware that hot embers can re-ignite the fire if strong winds are blowing. Shuffle the fire and make sure it’s out before retiring.
- Always have on hand things to put out your fire such as water, a shovel, and a fire extinguisher and make sure your fire is completely out before leaving it unattended.
Cooking Fire Prevention
Cooking is the leading cause of home fires. Never leave cooking unattended. If grease catches fire, carefully slide a lid over the pan to smother the flames and turn off the burner.
Cooking is the number one cause of house fires in the United States. The leading cause of home cooking fires and injuries is unattended cooking.
- Always keep an eye on food being heated. If you leave the kitchen, turn off the heat! Good cooking tip: If the phone rings or something else requires you to leave the kitchen momentarily when cooking, take a pot holder or wooden spoon with you as a reminder to get back to the kitchen quickly.
- Keep young children away from appliances when cooking. If you allow older children to cook, supervise them closely and teach them safe cooking practices. Good cooking tip: Enforce a three foot kid-free-zone around the range and teach youngsters not to play in that area.
- Dress appropriately for cooking. Wear short or tight-fitting sleeves when cooking and use caution when working near heat sources.
Good Cooking Tip: Try not to reach or lean over the stove. You can avoid this by not storing items you use directly over or behind the stovetop.
- Provide plenty of quality, fire-resistant pot holders and oven mitts for the cooks in your household.
Good Cooking Tip: Select heavy, fire retardant oven mitts that nearly reach the elbow to protect your entire forearm from heat.
- Turn handles inward so pots and pans won’t be pulled or knocked off the stove.
- Keep the stovetop clean and clear. Store things that can catch fire, like pot holders or wooden utensils, away from heat sources.
Good Cooking Tip: Keep food or grease from building up by cleaning often.
- Monitor hot oil carefully and heat it slowly, keeping the pan lid close at hand. Guard against splattering grease. Know what to do in case a grease fire occurs.
- Use caution with electrical appliances. Plug one appliance into an outlet at a time. Have appliances with frayed or cracked cords repaired before using. Never stand in or near water when using electrical appliances.
Good Cooking Tip: Unplug countertop appliances when not in use.
- Always have pot holders and lids ready when cooking. You may need them if you experience a small pan fire.
What To Do If You Have A Fire:
- If a pan fire starts on the stovetop, carefully slide a lid or large pan over the fire and then turn off the burner. Never pour water on a grease fire because splashed grease can ignite combustibles in your kitchen, spreading the fire.
- Don’t try to carry a pan that’s on fire outside or to the sink. This is extremely dangerous because it can easily ignite your clothing or other combustibles you may pass with the pan.
- If a pan fire starts inside the oven, turn off the heat and keep the door closed to suffocate the flames. If a fire starts inside your microwave, keep the door shut, push the “stop” switch, and unplug the unit. Keep the door closed until the fire is out. Call the fire department if the fire does not go out immediately.
- If your clothing catches fire, do not run. Stop, drop to the ground and roll over and over until the flames are smothered.
- If you keep fire extinguishers on hand and plan to use them in the event of a fire, be sure you know what type to buy and how to use them properly. Ask your fire department for information on what to buy and training in their use.
- Cool a burn: If you experience a burn while cooking that does not break the skin, run cool water over the skin for 10 - 15 minutes. Do not place butter or other ointment on the burn as this keeps the heat in and could further damage the skin. Severe burns, including burns that break the skin, should be treated by a physician.
Fire Extinguishers
Every home should be equipped with several fire extinguishers. They should be located throughout the house; in the kitchen area, garage, basement, upstairs and close to your exit doors in case of fire. If one extinguisher doesn’t work or has lost its pressure, there should be another one close by. Using the correct type of fire extinguisher is essential. All extinguishers must be labeled by the manufacturer with a rating for the class of fire the extinguisher is used to fight. There are two methods of labeling portable fire extinguishers. The first method uses specific colored geometric shapes with the class letter inside the shape. The second method is a picture symbol for easier selection and safer use of the extinguisher.
The letters A,B,C are standard designations for the three most common classes of fires. There is a fourth class, D, for combustible metal. Class D extinguishers are found in industrial applications.
Operating a fire extinguisher
- Make sure you have an escape route in case conditions worsen.
- Remove the extinguisher and look at the pressure gauge to make sure the unit is GOOD.
- Pull the pin or other sealing device.
- Point the nozzle at the base of the fire from about eight (8) to ten (10) feet away.
- Squeeze the handle and with a sweeping motion, direct the nozzle at the base of the flames.
- Make sure the fire is out! A fire can rekindle easily.
If you have doubts about using the extinguisher, leave the building and call 911. If you decide to fight the fire, call 911 first anyway. Don’t wait to call; this is precious time that can’t be wasted while you try to fight the fire. If used correctly, a fire extinguisher is part of your first line of defense in fireproofing your home.