Health & Fitness
October is Fire Safety Month from your friends at Liberty Mutual Insurance
So much of life is chance. Timing. Luck. Circumstance.
It’s no different when it comes to fire. Fires can break out anytime, anywhere, anyplace. They can start in a variety of ways. And all too often, they can be deadly.
More often than not, however, the fatal fires occur in homes. As of 2010, home fires accounted for 92 percent of all fire deaths that occurred in structures.1
According to a spokesman for the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF), fire departments respond to fire calls approximately every 23 seconds, and it can take only 30 seconds for a flame to become a major fire.2
As long as you live, you’ll never remove the element of chance and luck. But there are many things you can do to keep the odds in your favor. And your family better protected from house fires.
Hatch A Plan.
Just as your children’s teachers can cook up a lesson plan and their superiors can lay out an orderly fire evacuation plan, you can hatch a home fire escape plan that can be practiced and easily implemented if the need ever arises.The following tips can help families craft a winning home fire escape plan3:
- Gather your family together and draw out your floor plan to create a smart fire escape plan. Be sure to mark all possible exists and each smoke alarm.
- Once you’ve laid out your plan and the whole family understands where to exit, ensure that all escape routes are clear and all doors and windows open easily.
- Choose an outside meeting place a safe distance in front of your home where everyone can congregate and call the fire department.
- Assign a designated family member to assist young children, and any elderly or disabled family members, in case an emergency does strike.
- Never go back into a burning building. Leave that highly dangerous task to firefighters with specialized training and equipment.
- Practice the escape plan as a family during both day and night, in order to make the drill as realistic and refined as possible.
- Make sure smoke alarms are installed on each level of the home, as well as in every bedroom.
- In homes with multiple levels, store escape ladders upstairs.
- Practice closing doors on your way out, as this slows the spread of fire.
- National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)
- National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)
- National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)
