Fire Safety: Home Escape Plan

Why It's Important

• The National Fire Protection Association reports that building dwellers have as little as two minutes to escape burning structures once heat or smoke alarms sound, making established escape plans crucial in every home. A quarter or less of U.S. homes have escape plans, according to the NFPA. With about 3,000 people in the nation dying each year in structure fires, knowing the quickest and safest route to escape a blaze can make all the difference.

Escape Plan Basics

• Sketching a floor plan indicating two ways of escaping each room--whether through doors or windows--enhances home safety. On the sketch, identify all potential escape pathways, including hallways and doorways, from inside the home to the outside. As part of the plan, vow as a family to keep all escape routes clear of clutter or other debris. Escape path obstructions cost home inhabitants precious time when fleeing burning structures.

  Establishing in advance an outside meeting place--located a safe distance from the burning home--is a must for any home escape plan. Such meeting places can include a neighbor's home or a nearby business. This allows the family and fire safety personnel to quickly account for those who have escaped and determine who may require rescue by professional firefighters.

Considerations Based on Structure Type

• Escape or safety plans should fit the type of dwelling where families reside. Tall apartment buildings require different plan considerations than houses or manufactured homes.

  Prohibiting elevator use as part of an escape plan is key in high-rise buildings. Fire often affects a building's electrical system and could leave an elevator user helpless and stranded. Stairways and fire escapes are the only options. Inhabitants of tall buildings should also know what to do if stranded on a floor by fire. Fleeing to a room equipped with a window and closing all doors between the inhabitants and the fire should be on the "stranded" escape plan. If possible, call the fire department and report your location in the building immediately.

  In the case of any type of structure fire, family members should know that keeping low--even crawling--along escape routes to the outside is the best way to avoid the dangers of smoke and flame and get to safety.

Practicing the Plan

• An escape plan that the home's inhabitants no not know or have never practiced does no one any good. Whether living in a one-story ranch, a manufactured home or a high-rise with dozens of floors, the NFPA recommends practicing a fire evacuation using the established home escape plan. Walking the escape routes every couple of months and memorizing all exits and emergency service phone numbers increase a family's chances of escaping blazes. Regularly practicing escape routes helps family members identify and remove any clutter or obstructions that crop up over time. Make sure practice drills include strategies for escaping all rooms of a dwelling.

Other Fire Safety Planning

• Escape plans are ineffective if the home's inhabitants receive no warning of smoke or fire. FireSafety.gov recommends installing smoke detectors on all levels of home, outside all sleeping areas in hallways and inside bedrooms. And the NFPA suggests keeping fire extinguishers in accessible locations inside kitchens, garages and other areas of high fire risk. Only use extinguishers in cases of smaller, contained fires. Otherwise, evacuate the building, call the fire department and leave the firefighting to the professionals.