The Value Of A Fire Escape Rehearsal

The Value of a Fire Escape Rehearsal

The Value of a Fire Escape Rehearsal

By Joseph Parish

Being a volunteer with the American Red Cross I have the opportunity to see first-hand how devastating a home fire can be. Families frequently lose everything they own and on occasion a loved one as well. Knowing how damaging a fire can be to a family are you prepared for one? If there was a fire started within your house would you and your family feel confident in getting out on their own?

During a home fire there is usually little time to get family members to safety. It becomes one of those moments when there simply is no time to waste thinking of a strategy. It becomes imperative that you and your family members get out of the inferno as quickly as you possibly can.

During the winter season we see an increase in the frequency of home fires as a result of portable kerosene heaters which accidentally get knocked over. Fires in general are unpredictable and they tend to spread very rapidly. This trend is especially noticeable in mobile homes. It takes only a few moments before a standard mobile home goes up in flames as a box of tissues would ignite.

When confronted by a fire, the amount of smoke makes it especially difficult to get to fresh air and safety. At a recent fire that I went to the gentleman involved, informed me that the smoke from his kitchen grease fire was so thick he had extreme problems making it to the door. Not only does the smoke make it extremely difficult to see, but nearly impossible to breathe as well.

With this thought in mind, it seems a logical choice to establish some sort of family emergency fire escape plan. If you don't already have one in place it would behoove you to get one started immediately.

Start your plan by drawing a map of each floor in your home. In your sketch include all doors and windows. For each room establish two possible escape routes. 0plan these routes so that if one is blocked the occupant of the room could revert to the other established plan. As an example, you could have route one as using the normal room door while route two might consist of the window. You never know when one route will be blocked by fire or smoke.

If you have multiple floors in your home get a portable ladder to keep near the upstairs bedrooms. Sit each family member down and ensure that they know exactly where to meet outside the home once they have escaped. Practice your fire escape plans on a routine basis to ensure everyone in the family is familiar with what must be done.

Lastly, make sure you check your smoke and fire alarms on a regular basis. Change the batteries when you change your clocks during the Daylight Savings Time adjustments. For safety inform all family members that if they hear the alarm go off automatically kick into action for your fire evacuation procedures.

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