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Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
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| By Willie Brown |
As the weather cools down, more of us will rely on electric and natural gas to heat our homes. It got me thinking about the importance of staying safe around portable heaters, and by extension, all heating sources.
Would you know what to do if a fire occurred in your home?
As children we periodically had fire drills at school, but that pretty much ended when we became adults. I must admit that I seldom think about home fires. And, unless you have ever had to escape one, you most likely don’t think about it either.
Home fires can turn dangerous in a matter of moments. In a typical home fire, you may have as little as two minutes or less to escape. So, in honor of Fire Prevention
Home fires can turn dangerous in a matter of moments. In a typical home fire, you may have as little as two minutes or less to escape. So, in honor of Fire Prevention Week (October 6-12), here are the key steps to developing an effective fire escape plan. These are recommendations by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), which were written in an article by Daniel Anderson of the Cy-Fair Fire Department in Harris County, Texas:
Make it a family affair. Gather together everyone in your household to make the plan. Do a walk-through of your home and see where there may be problems like windows that are hard to open or any furniture that might be blocking doorways.
Teach children. Teach children how to dial 911 or use the emergency button on a cell phone.
Draw a map. Sketch out the floor plan of your home and include all windows and doors. Mark escape routes in each room. The NFPA recommends that you have at least two ways out of each room. Also, note where each smoke alarm is located.
| Choose an outside meeting spot. This will be where everyone plans on meeting after they’ve escaped. This can be a neighbor’s house, a light pole, a mailbox, a tree—you decide what works best for your family. Just make sure it is a safe distance from your home. Make sure you have working smoke alarms. This is critical, especially if a fire breaks out while you’re sleeping. Have smoke alarms installed on every floor of your home and check the batteries at least once or twice a year. Practice home fire drills. Fire drills should occur at least twice a year. Try practicing during both daytime and nighttime to make sure everyone can escape quickly and safely under any circumstance. Stay out. Never go back in a burning building and don’t stop for belongings on the way out. If someone is missing, let the emergency dispatcher know when you call from your safe meeting place. With fire emergencies offering little time to react, a well-planned and well-rehearsed strategy can be the difference between life and death. By taking these steps, you are not only protecting your household but also helping first responders focus on the emergency at hand. |
