Question: When was the last time you practiced your Home Escape Plan?
Options:
- Within the last six months
- Never, but now it’s time to start!
- Other (add a comment in the “reply” section below)
Description:
Every 93 seconds, U.S. Fire Departments🧑🚒 respond to a home fire🔥. While the number of home fires has decreased, they are more deadly. You are more likely to die in a home fire today than in 1980. That’s because today’s homes, with modern synthetic furnishings, open floor plans, and lightweight construction materials, burn hotter and faster in a fire, leaving you with as little as 2 minutes (or less) to escape safely from the time the smoke alarm sounds.
Smoke from a fire spreads rapidly and is dangerous. It makes it hard to see when getting out and can slow you down. More people are killed by smoke and toxic gasses than by the actual fire. Having an escape plan and practicing it with all household members twice a year - once during the day and once at night - can mean the difference between life and death.
👉🏽 Here is how to practice:
1) Everyone should be in their beds/room (night practice) or areas where they usually work/play (day practice)
2) Have a stopwatch or set the timer on your phone to 2 minutes
3) Press the test button on your smoke alarm to make it go off - this is important so that everyone in the home knows the sound of the alarm.
4) Start the clock and let everyone find their way out to the outside meeting place. If you have infants or very young children, have the designated adult get them outside. At the outside meeting place, take out your phone to (pretend!) call 911.
⏰ Stop the clock to see if you got out in under two minutes.
Finally, ensure you have working smoke alarms in each bedroom/sleeping area and each level of your home. Be sure to test them monthly and replace any 10 years old or older. For the best protection, use a combination smoke and carbon monoxide alarms that are interconnected throughout the home. These can be installed by a qualified electrician so that when one sounds, they all sound. This ensures you can hear the alarm no matter where in your home the alarm originates.
Learn more and download your fire escape plan grid at https://www.nfpa.org/Events/Events/Fire-Prevention-Week/About?utm_source=nextdoor
If you have other tips, share them below in the comments, and kindly repost this message to your neighbors on Nextdoor by clicking the "Share" button/arrow below and then "Repost in newsfeed."
