Planning Your Escape Route in the Event of a House Fire

No one wants to be unfortunate enough to experience a fire in their home, but your escape may depend on your ability to plan out your course of action should the worst happen. Having a good fire and smoke alarm system installed will obviously give you plenty of advanced warning and this should be your first line of defence against death or injury from fires in your home.

Firstly, take some time to walk around your home with a pen and notepaper and make sure you note down the quickest way to exit each room – look for two possible escape routes from each room wherever possible. Two routes of escape from a ground-floor room for example could be a doorway and a window.

Look around each room in your house and make sure that your escape routes are not blocked by any obstructions. Move any furniture away from windows that might hinder your escape and make sure that your windows can be opened easily for a swift escape. Any windows that have security bars or locks should have keys and release devices within easy reach.

Decide where your family members will meet up together once free of the house. This could be under a lamp post across the road from your house, or something else that is permanent and easily identified such as a tree or postbox.

Should you have a baby, toddler or young child in the house, or an elderly family member who would need assistance in the event of a fire, designate a member of your family to help them in an emergency. This will prevent anyone being left behind, but also ensure that no-one will panic at finding an empty bed when someone else had already assisted the family member to safety.

Drill each member of your family that if they hear the smoke alarm sound, they quickly get outside and stay outside until they have been given the all-clear. They must use the escape routes that you have planned for each room, then go to the designated meeting place to meet up with the rest of the family.

Ensure that everyone in the family can be awakened by a smoke alarm sounding – children are especially deep sleepers and can be difficult to wake even during an alarm sounding. It is advisable that the family practice the fire drill and become familiar with the sound of your home alarms. Should you be concerned about a family member who doesn't wake while the alarm sounds during a drill, then it would be advisable to keep a whistle in every room to sound in the event of a fire, or to pound heavily on the wall or door and shout “FIRE” at the top of your voice to wake the child if the fire prevented you from entering their room.

Tips for your fire protection

Make sure all fire detectors are hard wired to your house with back up power sources, or that they have new new batteries installed Test these detectors once a month using the 'test' button Replace batteries once a year Have at least one fire extinguisher in the home Practice using a fire extinguisher Plan all escape routes that include every room in the house Practice smoke escape by crawling low under the smoke to escape Be careful of fire behind doors, put the back of your hand against the door, if it feels hot then find another way out

The most effective fire protection for your home is to have a good alarm system installed. Make sure your smoke alarms are up to scratch with the latest regulations and replace them completely when they are 10 years old.