How to Escape From a Home on Fire

Make a fire escape and evacuation plan. Take the time to draw escape routes from all areas of the house. Pay extra attention to bedrooms and family rooms. Make sure that the plans are detailed enough to show where obstacles such as large pieces of furniture are.

Enhance the fire escape plan by making sure that all doors and windows located throughout the house are clearly marked. Take the final plan and walk through the house with the plan in your hands to verify that everything is correct and accurate. Install escape ladders from second floor windows and note those on the escape plan.

Practice escaping from every room in the house and make all residents practice escaping through two routes. For example, have everyone get out of the house from a back bedroom by exiting through the front door and then through a side window during a subsequent practice drill. Talk to everyone in the house about what ways out were difficult. Reassess ways out of the house that are too challenging for the young, elderly or physically unable.

Make copies of the fire escape plan and give a copy to everyone that lives in the house. Post a copy of the escape plan in a prominent spot such as the refrigerator. Make sure everyone in the house participates in at least two fire drills per year to make sure that escaping becomes second nature to them.

Have at least one unannounced fire drill in the house every three to six months. Stage the drill not announcing the plan and triggering the fire alarms by depressing the test button. Use a stopwatch to gauge the efficiency and effectiveness of everyone's ability to escape the house.

Get out of the house the minute someone announces a fire, smells smoke or the alarm system is activated. Do not stop to grab personal possessions. Assist small children and the elderly to the best of your ability. Remember all the escape routes practiced when the escape plan was designed and practiced. Remember to test doors and door knobs before grabbing with your whole hand to make sure that they are cool enough to the touch to be used.

Stay low to the ground as smoke rises. Breathe the air closest to the ground and get immediately out of the house. Do not stop to call for help until you are safely out of the house.