Exit Drills in the Home

Fires don’t always happen to someone else!

A majority of fatal home fires occur between the hours of midnight and 6 am when most people are asleep. When your smoke detector sounds, you may have less than 2 minutes to escape from your home. Your secondary escape route may be your only way out. An operating smoke detector will give you an early warning and those few minutes needed to escape.

Develop a written plan for your home by drawing a sketch of the home indicating the primary and secondary means of egress. The primary means of egress is your usual route out of your bedroom, the secondary means of egress would be a window or another door out of the room to a separate escape route. Many windows over the years can be very difficult to operate due to painting and lack of use. It is recommended that young children be given an opportunity to operate that window to assure they can open it in the event of a fire. Determine a meeting place for your family.

Have every one go to their bedrooms. Sound the alarm, by pressing the test button on the smoke detector or by yelling fire. Remember never sit up in bed, roll out of bed onto the floor and crawl to the door. Feel the door with your hand, if it’s not hot open it slightly and check the hallway. If the hallway is clear, proceed with caution. If there is smoke in the hallway or the door is hot, use your secondary means of egress. If you need to use the window, never jump out. Open the window and turn yourself around and hang from the window ledge and drop. Once you are out, go to your predetermined meeting place and make sure everyone is accounted for. Call the fire department immediately from a neighbor’s house or cell phone and advise them of the situation. If someone is missing go by their window and check the window, never re-enter the home. If you have a ladder use it. When the fire department arrives, notify them that someone is trapped, direct them to that window or describe to them the bedroom location. When conducting fire drills, pretend the door is hot or the exit is blocked and use the secondary means of egress.

• Practice fire drills at least twice a year
• Use alternate exits for each drill
• Stay low and crawl below the heat and smoke
• Make sure windows are operating properly
• Buy an escape ladder if needed