- Use Pella’s fire escape planning grid (PDF) as one of your first steps of home fire safety planning. Use the grid to draw your home’s floor plan (draw one grid for each level in your home), marking two escape routes from each room — the doors and windows — and the locations of all smoke alarms (with an SA). Practice your home fire escape plan at least twice a year so everyone in your home knows what to do in a fire emergency.
- With your completed fire escape plan in hand, walk through your home and inspect all exits and escape routes you’ve identified in every room to make sure they’re clear and not blocked by heavy furniture, equipment, rugs, etc. Make sure every door and window you’ve designated as a fire exit can be opened easily — that the hardware that operates the window or door doesn’t stick or is not rusted shut, that the window slides up and down or opens easily and is not painted or nailed shut.
- Hold home fire drills at least twice a year, making sure that smoke alarms alert everyone sleeping in your home. Allow children to master the plan and practice it before holding a drill at night when they are asleep. If you hold a fire drill at night, let everyone know you will be doing this so as not to scare anyone. Many people — especially children — are not easily awakened from sleep by the sound of the smoke alarm. If someone doesn’t wake up during a practice drill, assign someone to help wake him and guide him along the escape path.
- Make drills more realistic by pretending some escape paths are blocked by smoke or fire.
- Make sure windows in basement bedrooms or play areas are large enough for adults to escape through. Consult your local building code for specific requirements in your area, especially if basement spaces have been converted to living areas. Replace windows as needed to provide a safe escape route and comply with local codes.
- In a fire situation, if windows are in good working order, it’s not necessary to break the glass to escape, which may cause needless property damage and further endanger escaping household members or visitors. Instead, open the window unit and safely exit through the opening.
- If there are infants, elderly or disabled household members or visitors in your home, assign someone to assist them in an escape.
- For homes with more than one floor, make sure everyone is able to escape from a second floor room. Purchase a safety ladder for every bedroom, and practice setting up and using the safety ladder, carefully reviewing the manufacturer’s instructions first to ensure you’re using the ladder safely.
- Store escape ladders in an easily accessible location near the window you’ll be using to get out, and make sure everyone knows where the ladder is stored.
- Practice going down the ladder from a window on a lower floor first.
- Always choose the safest escape route — the one that permits you to exit through the least amount of smoke and heat.
- If your primary escape route is blocked by fire, practice sealing yourself in safety as part of your escape plan: close all doors between you and the fire, and if possible, seal door cracks and cover air vents with duct tape, pillows, blankets or towels. Soaking towels with water provides an even stronger barrier against smoke and fumes.
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