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Devise plan to
escape house fire
The majority of house fires in the United States start between 8
p.m. and 8 a.m., and most fire deaths occur between midnight and 4 a.m.,
when most people are sleeping.
It is extremely easy to become confused and lost in a burning and smokefilled home. Waking from a deep sleep with your
house burning or filled with smoke is a bad time to try and devise a home
fire escape plan for you and your family. I can promise you that panic and
confusion will be the likely outcome without an escape plan that has been
practiced by the whole f amily.
It has been shown that people who have an escape plan have a much
better chance of surviving a house fire.
Think about that, p a ren t s.
Your family’s chance of surviving a house fire is greatly increased
if you develop an escape plan.
The first thing you should do is make sure you have smoke detectors
and that they are in working order. When operating properly, they can alert
you to the presence of fire and smoke before it’s too late.
You should close all bedroom doors while people are sleeping. A
closed door can be a barrier to the fire, giving you valuable minutes to
escape through a window or alternate way. Stuff blankets or towels into
cracks around the door to slow the entry of smoke.
Plan two escape routes from every bedroom. One would be how you
normally exit the house, while the other might be a window or back do! or.
Make sure everyone in the home knows how to operate the windows.
Think about purchasing a fire escape ladder and learning how to use
it for escape routes through upper level windows. If you must open a door
to access your escape route, test it with the back of your hand to make
sure it’s not hot. If it’s hot, don’t open it.
Crawl low under the smoke and heat if possible.
Finally, plan a safe place for everyone to meet after your escape.
This could be a tree in the yard or one of the cars in the driveway.
This helps you account for everyone and hopefully avoid a family
member needlessly trying to reenter the house.
Please take a few hours of your time and make your family safer. I
would much rather find your whole family gathered around its meeting place
than have to search for them in a house fire, where survival is unlikely.
24/7/365: You call; we res p o n d .
KENNETH LEE KNIGHT is a battalion chief in the High Point Fire
Department. He can be contacted at kenneth.knight@highpointnc.gov.
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