No one wants to thinking about the idea of a fire starting in your home, especially if you have the safety of young children to think about. However, fires are a real life hazard that can happen anywhere, anytime, so it’s best to ensure you’re effective prepared in the event of a fire starting at your home.

If you’re an employee for a business, then chances are that you’re familiar with the Fire Safety protocol at work, as well as being familiar with the safety signs provided by companies like SmartSign that instruct you where to go and what to do, should you need to evacuate.

Curious how you can make sure you and your family are prepared in your house? It’s not always practical to place large “FIRE EXIT” signs above windows and doors in your home. Wondering what can you do to make sure everyone will keep safe in the event of fire? Fires can be prevented with a few simple precautions.

Prevent and prepare

• Install the right number of smoke alarms. Test them once a month and replace the batteries at least once a year. A working smoke alarm increases your chances of surviving a home fire.
• Teach children what smoke alarms sound like and what to do when they hear one.
• Ensure that all household members know two ways to escape from every room of your home and know the family meeting spot outside of your home.
• Establish a family emergency communications plan and ensure that all household members know who to contact if they cannot find one another.
• Practice escaping from your home at least twice a year. Press the smoke alarm test button or yell “Fire“ to alert everyone that they must get out.
• Make sure everyone knows how to call 911.
• Teach household members to STOP, DROP and ROLL if their clothes should catch on fire.

What to do if a fire starts

• Remember to GET OUT, STAY OUT and CALL 911
• Yell “Fire!” several times and go outside right away. If you live in a high-rise building with lifts, use the stairs. Leave all your things where they are and save yourself.
• If closed doors or handles are warm or smoke blocks your primary escape route, use your second way out. Never open doors that are warm to the touch.
• If you must escape through smoke, get low and go under the smoke to your exit. Close doors behind you.
• If smoke, heat or flames block your exit routes, stay in the room with doors closed. Place a wet towel under the door and call 999. Open a window and wave a brightly colored cloth or flashlight to signal for help.
• Once you are outside, go to your meeting place and then send one person to call 911. If you cannot get to your meeting place, follow your family emergency communication plan.

Home fire equipment

If you can, it is always worth investing in some basic home fire safety equipment. These don’t have to be large, overbearing pieces of equipment. Some of these items can stop a small flame from quickly engulfing your entire home!

• A fire blanket placed in an easy to reach location, preferably in the kitchen.
• A small fire extinguisher that should also be kept in the kitchen.
• Ensure you have working smoke alarms in every room of your home. Never underestimate the importance of testing your smoke alarms and replacing the batteries regularly.

It’s vital to take the steps you can to prevent home fires. In addition, make sure everyone in your family knows what to do in case there is a home fire and you need to escape. An escape plan that has been practiced combined with working smoke detectors can save your lives.

Photo credit: Pixabay

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Category: Home

Tags: fire prevention