At-Home Fire Drills Save Lives!

7/7/2020 (Permalink)

Does your family have a fire plan?

Remember doing fire drills in school? If you were like most kids, you probably got sick of them pretty quickly. “Why do we have to practice walking out the door?” you might have asked. “Anyone capable of thinking knows to get out when there’s a fire.”

Here’s what you probably didn’t realize as a kid: not thinking is the point. You need to be able to act fast in an emergency when you don’t have time to think. Having a fire drill once a month for 12 years enables you to do that.

You should have a family fire plan for the same reason. If there’s a fire in your home, every member of your family member needs to know what to do without thinking or communicating with the others. Since many of us are still quarantined at home for the moment, right now is the perfect time to sit down with your family and hash out a fire plan. Here’s how you do that:

• First things first: install smoke alarms in every sleeping room, outside each sleeping area, and on every level of the home. Advance warning from an alarm is key to getting out of a fire unscathed.
• Test those alarms on a regular basis.
• Draw up a map of your home that shows all doors and windows.
• Find two ways out of every room. Ensure that all doors and windows open easily.
• Designate a meeting place in front of your home so everyone knows where to find each other.
• Save the fire department’s phone number in everyone’s phone.
• Review the plan, in detail, with everyone in the family.
• Practice!

While holding your own fire drill may not sound like your idea of lockdown fun, it could save lives, and it shouldn’t take too long to do.