Creating a Fire Safety Escape Plan for your Family

12/10/2021 (Permalink)

3 tips from American Red Cross on teaching your children a fire safety escape plan.

Did you know it only takes a little under two minutes for a home to become completely engulfed in flames? Fire can spread quickly throughout a structure and the smoke that precedes it can become deadly for your family extremely fast. It is crucial that you create an escape plan for your family should you find yourself in the situation of a fire. Practicing it often to ensure that you make it out of the fire safely no matter how unlikely you may think it is for it to happen to you. The saying “better safe than sorry” applies directly to a situation like this. 

The first step in creating your plan is to draw up a grid of your home. Having a visual map of your home allows you to know all possible exits should you need to try more than one. The National Fire Protection Agency has a free downloadable resource to help you get started. Click here to be taken to their website. Next, establish all exit points including both windows and doors mark exactly where they are. Discuss them together to make sure all members of your family know where they are. If you have a multi-level home with bedrooms on the top floors, you should invest in escape ladders that attach to the windows. If you have small children, practice their escape routes frequently and make sure that they are familiar with the sound of the smoke alarms and know what it means. Doing this could save lives. If you are feeling overwhelmed by the idea and are not sure where to start, you can also try this link to find a free downloadable plan that can be specific to your family to get you started!  

At SERVPRO of Mobile County, we are experts at fire restoration, but even we cannot always save everything when it comes to fire. There is no “restoration” when it comes to your life, so we want to help you stay safe and have a plan in place. We never wish for disaster to come, but if it does, we would much rather restore and replace your home because your life is irreplaceable.