Fires can start for a number of reasons, including weather events that can cause your home to catch fire at a moments notice. According to the Red Cross, you only have two minutes to get out of the home in order to avoid serious injury or death.
If you do not have an escape plan for you and your family, coming up with one in two minutes may not be possible.
We’ll show you how to create an emergency evacuation plan to help keep everyone safe.
Create a Plan
-
- Involve the whole family when you begin to make your plan. Even your small children should be involved in the planning and test runs to ensure they know what to do in the event you cannot reach them.
-
- Start with identifying and marking two escape routes from each room – including windows and doors. For small children who are not able to read, use graphic markings that they can easily identify. Maybe a fire sticker or something they will recognize.
-
- Mark the locations of each smoke detector in your home and ensure everyone knows what they sound like. Most detectors are equipped with a test button which you can use to show them exactly how it sounds.
-
- Be sure every sleeping room in your home has one and outside of each sleeping room. There should be smoke detectors on every level of your home as well. If you need to purchase more alarms, consider buying interconnected smoke alarms. When one alarm sounds – all of them will sound if they are interconnected ensuring everyone can hear them.
-
- Choose a meeting place that everyone knows to go to if you have to evacuate. This could be a neighbors house, by the mailbox or any place of your choosing outside the home.
-
- Be sure your house number is visible from the road to ensure fire and rescue can easily find you. If possible, paint the house number on the curb outside of your house or install numbers on a mailbox post.
-
- Have everyone in your home memorize the emergency phone number for the fire department. Instruct them to only call once they are safe, outside of the home.
-
- If you have infants or people with mobility limitations – assign a person to assist them and show another member of the family how to assist them in case the primary person is not home.
-
- If you or your children have overnight guests, ensure they know the escape plan as well.
-
- Most importantly, once you are out – STAY OUTSIDE. Do not re-enter the home for any reason. Even if someone is unaccounted for, it is best to wait for emergency responders who are properly equipped to go into a burning building or home.
- For two-story homes, be sure to have an emergency fire ladder that everyone knows how to quickly install and use.
Test and Re-Test Your Plan
Hold mock fire drills to test the plan and ensure everyone knows what to do. Be sure to have children test the plan from different areas of the house. It is also a good idea for one person (preferably an adult who is the lightest sleeper) to test the smoke alarm while everyone else is asleep.
If someone in your household fails to wake up to the alarms, you will need to assign a person to wake them in the event of a fire.
Once you have a plan established, be sure that the exit routes remain free of clutter and are accessible at all times.
