The Importance of a Home Fire Evacuation Plan

10/3/2019 (Permalink)

Here is a fictional story but it could happen to almost any family. The Smith family was home one night and at about 1:00 am a fire started in the house. The alarms woke everyone up and the parents rushed to make sure the kids got out of the home. However, by the time they got to little Frank’s room he was already gone. He went out the back door and was hiding under a patio table.

Everyone (except Frank) ended up in the backyard and his father, James, checked outside everywhere and couldn’t find him in all the noise and confusion. James decided to go back in the house and find his son but fortunately, he caught a glimpse of him under the table. This scenario could have easily ended in tragedy because the family had no fire escape plan from home.

Coming Up with a Fire Escape Plan

Walk through the entire house and figure out the best evacuation route. It’s important to get all family members together so everyone gets the same information. You need to have things on paper so they can be posted on the wall for everyone to see. 

Don’t forget to tell everyone to drop to the floor and crawl out of the house if it’s full of smoke or hot inside. Many people are seriously injured or killed from breathing super heated air, and the air is the coolest at floor-level.

Draw up your floor plan. You can download a home fire escape plan template by going to the Red Cross website . It's a good idea to come up with a home fire drill checklist too.