Fire Escape Planning

Get the Facts In 2007, there were an estimated 399,000 reported home structure fires and 2,865 associated civilian deaths in the United States. Fire can spread rapidly through your home, leaving you as little as two minutes to escape safely once the alarm sounds. Your ability to get out depends on advance warning from smoke alarms, and advance planning — a home fire escape plan that everyone in your family is familiar with and has practiced. Only one-fifth to one-fourth of households (23%) have actually developed and practiced a home fire escape plan to ensure they could escape quickly and safely. National Fire Protection Association. Web. Oct. 2009. <http://www.nfpa.org>.

Safety Tips Pull together everyone in your household and make a plan. Walk through your home and inspect all possible exits and escape routes.  Households with children should consider drawing a floor plan of your home, marking two ways out of each room, including windows and doors. Also, mark the location of each smoke alarm.  Install smoke alarms in every sleeping room, outside each sleeping area and on every level of the home. NFPA 72, National Fire Alarm Code® requires interconnected smoke alarms throughout the home. When one sounds, they all sound. Everyone in the household must understand the escape plan. When you walk through your plan, check to make sure the escape routes are clear and doors and windows can be opened easily. Choose an outside meeting place (i.e. neighbor's house, a light post, mailbox, or stop sign) a safe distance in front of your home where everyone can meet after they've escaped. Make sure to mark the location of the meeting place on your escape plan. Go outside to see if your street number is clearly visible from the road. If not, paint it on the curb or install house numbers to ensure that responding emergency personnel can find your home. Have everyone memorize the emergency phone number of the fire department. That way any member of the household can call from a neighbor's home or a cellular phone once safely outside. If there are infants, elderly, or family members with mobility limitations, make sure that someone is assigned to assist them in the fire drill and in the event of an emergency. Assign a backup person too, in case the designee is not home during the emergency. Be fully prepared for a real fire: when a smoke alarm sounds, get out immediately. Once you're out, stay out! Under no circumstances should you ever go back into a burning building. If someone is missing, inform the fire department dispatcher when you call. Firefighters have the skills and equipment to perform rescues. National Fire Protection Association. Web. Oct. 2009. <http://www.nfpa.org>. For more information on putting your plan to the test, visit the NFPA Basic Fire Escape Planning main page at www.nfpa.org.

For Easy Planning Please open and print the NFPA Escape Planning Grid (PDF, 634 KB): escapegrid.pdf File Size: 648 kb File Type: pdf Download File This is a great way to get children involved in fire safety in a non-threatening way. National Fire Protection Association. Web. Oct. 2009. <http://www.nfpa.org/assets/files/PDF/FPW07/escapeplangrid07.pdf>

All information on this page (and linked  subpages) has been cited from the National Fire Protection Association website.  To find out more about fire prevention, please visit their website at www.nfpa.org.