Know the Drill: Practice Your Fire Escape Plan

10/1/2021 (Permalink)

Have an Escape Plan and Practice It

A fire escape plan can assist your family in evacuating your home quickly and safely using pre-planned, discussed, and practiced routes. Practicing a house fire escape plan can save lives and lower your chance of being injured in the event of a fire. When the smoke alarm goes off, you may only have three minutes to get out. SERVPRO of S. San Rafael/Sausalito is here to offer our local community tips about testing your home escape plan. 

Practice Your Home Escape Plan

Only if you test your home escape plans will they work. Everyone in the house should know your home's escape route and meeting spot. 

• Go over your escape plan with everyone in the household, including children.
• Set off the smoke detector.
• Practice crawling low beneath the smoke. 
• Is there anyone in the household who is young or physically disabled who needs assistance? An adult can go to their child's room and assist them in escaping.
• If a child does not wake up when the alarm goes off, an adult must wake them.
• Carry infants and toddlers to a safe location.
• Always check doors for heat with your palm before opening them; if a door is hot, do not open it. 

Conduct a Home Fire Drill

Fires can start anywhere in the house and at any moment, so rehearse multiple escape routes at different times of the day or night. Conduct fire drills regularly, at least twice a year, to ensure that actions become second nature.

• Be aware of your surroundings. Examine your meeting location for safety. Explain to your children that if the smoke alarm goes off, they must leave the house immediately and meet at the designated safe location.
• Make sure your smoke alarms are working and that your children are familiar with the sound of smoke alarms.
• Do the drill. Allow the children to retire to their rooms and wait for the drill to begin. Adults should be assigned to assist small children. Assign one adult the responsibility of sounding the smoke alarm and running the drill. Next, activate the smoke alarm, set the time, and direct everyone to the designated safety area. Stop the timer once everyone has arrived at a safe meeting place. Give it another shot if you can't get it done in under two minutes. In an actual fire, arrive to a safe gathering spot, phone 911 and keep everyone together until firefighters arrive.

When a fire starts in your home, the first thing you should do is make sure everyone is safe. Then, you can begin the restoration process with the help of SERVPRO of S. San Rafael/Sausalito. If your home has been affected by smoke or fire damage, give us a call at (415) 479-2900 so we can start making it "Like it never even happened."