Practice Makes Perfect. Sometimes things that look good on paper are disasters in reality.
Practice escape plans to ensure they work. In a house fire, uncertainty is deadly. Practice
escaping until crawling outside in the dark is second nature.
1) Map it out
Draw an outline map of your home or apartment. It doesn't matter if the proportions are not exact. Include all of
the major features: bedrooms, stairs, hallways, doors and windows. Add important outdoor features such as rooftops,
trees, or other potential fire escapes. Choose a safe meeting place a short distance from your home, and show it on
the plan.
Mark normal exits on the map in one color. Mark a second exit from each room in a different color.
2) Reality Check
Once you have drawn up your plan, make sure the parts work.
-Test your windows. Do they open easily? They also must be large and low enough for people to get out through.
-Have you installed fire escape ladders in one window of each second floor bedroom or made some other safe plan?
-Is one able-bodied adult assigned to help each very young child, or disabled person to escape?
-Test your smoke alarms monthly.
-Adjust your plan as needed.
3)Drill Set-up
Your safe escape plan is in place. Everyone now knows exactly what to do if there is a fire. You have checked the
plan to see that it should work well. The only thing left to do is PRACTICE the plan.
Your plan is most likely to work if everyone knows his or her part in it very, very well.
One person should be responsible for running fire drills (the drill monitor). The monitor should choose surprise
drill times when everyone is at home. Have fire drills every few months to make for a smooth, quick escape in a real
emergency.
4) Basic Fire Drills
The monitor begins the drill by sounding the smoke alarm, using the test button.
The practice escape begins immediately. Exit quickly, but carefully. The last thing you want during a drill is an
injury. Still, try to complete the escape in 3 to 5 minutes.
If the drill is being conducted during sleep hours, bedroom doors should be closed. A solid wooden door may
block flames for up to fifteen minutes.
For some drills, the monitor should mark off exits as out-of-bounds. Put "hot door" or "smoke and flames" signs on
primary exits so that people will have to practice using backup exits.
4) When You Hear the Alarm
-If asleep, roll out of bed and stay below smoke and gases that could kill you.
-Don't waste time dressing or looking for valuables or pets.
-Crawl quickly to the door, keeping your head 12-24 inches above the floor, below deadly smoke.
-Use the back of your hand to feel the door for heat. If you feel heat on the door, hinges, or doorknob, don't open it!
Crawl to your second way out.
-If the door is cool, brace yourself, and open it slowly. Peek out to look for smoke and flames. If clear, crawl quickly
toward the exit. In a dark drill, feel your way along the walls. Count the doors as you go.
-Go directly to the safe meeting place.
-One person goes to the neighbor's house to call 911.
-Once you are outside, stay out!
-After the drill, have a family meeting. What went well? Were there problems? Practice the plan again, making
corrections.
5)Plan to Live.
Don't worry about what would happen if your home caught fire; plan to save your family's lives.
The first step is taking stock of the layout of your home, fire dangers, and fire safety features. For example, you
need at least one smoke detector on each level of your home, plus one in each sleeping area. Test smoke alarms
monthly and change batteries twice a year.
The next step is drawing up a workable, safe escape plan. When you make your plan, think about the age and
strength of each family member. The disabled, elderly, or very young will need extra help.
The plan needs to show two exits from each room. In most cases, one exit will be a window. Consider buying
fire-resistant escape ladders for second floor bedrooms. Security bars need to be quick-release type. Allow for your
unique circumstances in your safe escape plan.
The final - and critical - step is practicing that plan until it is second nature. Home fire drills teach you the skills you
need to survive a fire. '
The information in this safety message is available as a pamphlet, free of charge at Upper Deerfield Volunteer Fire
Company #3 on Cornwell Drive across from the Inspection Station.
"HOME FIRE DRILLS: Practice for Survival"
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