HOME FIRES - PLAN YOUR ESCAPE

Can a fire happen in your home? Will you know what to do if it does? The Brunswick Fire Department says these are important questions to answer; your life may depend on it. Fourteen persons die in more than 1,700 home fires daily in this country. Nationally, 25 percent of all fires, 82 percent of all fire deaths and 63 percent of all fire injuries occur in homes -houses, apartments, mobile homes, condominiums, townhouses, etc.

• Most people believe a fire won't happen to them and they don't plan ahead. Since fires usually give only three to four minutes to escape safely, not knowing what to do can be deadly. Prepare a Home Fire Escape Plan and have the entire family practice it.
• Plan two ways out of every room. Your normal exit may be blocked,
• Test emergency exits. Make sure you can open windows and remove screens and storm windows from inside.
• Provide folding escape ladders from second story windows. Make them out of light rope or purchase metal ladders made for escape.
• Practice using emergency exits in the dark. Keep a flashlight next to every bed. Most fatal home fires start at night, while we are asleep and least likely to respond quickly.
• Install and maintain smoke detectors on every level of your home. Test them monthly and change batteries yearly.
• Teach the family to stay low in smoke to avoid poisonous gases. Crawl to exits. Eight out of ten fire deaths are due to smoke inhalation.
• Arrange a meeting place outside the home. Make sure everyone knows to get out quickly and go to the meeting place.
• Call the fire department from a neighbor's house. Do not wait in a burning building to use a phone. Learn the emergency phone number and have it posted on your phones and the neighbor's phones.

Back   Other safety messages