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Fire Prevention Week is recognized every year during October. It's a reminder to plan and practice your escape so you're prepared in the event of a house fire. We've partnered our friends at Koorsen Fire & Security to share these six fire safety tips to help keep you and your family safe. A house fire is a scary thought, but it's important to discuss these tips ahead of time so you and your family are prepared just in case your family ever experiences a fire-related emergency.
6 fire safety tips to help your family be prepared
1. Stop, drop, and roll
What do you do if your clothes catch fire? It's going to be tempting to run and jump around if an article of clothing is on fire. That only feeds fuel to the fire. Just remember these three steps: Stop, drop, and roll.
2. Know two ways out
It is possilbe that the doorway you used to enter your room could be blocked during a fire. It's important to know a second way out of your room. If you're in a bedroom, your secondary escape route is probably going to be through a window in your bedroom.
3. Get out and stay out
It's important to set a meeting place for your family, like a tree or a neighbor's porch. It needs to be something that does not move. Do this ahead of time so you know where to go once you're safely away from the fire. Once you're at your meeting place, stay there and count noses. That's right. Count each person's nose. That way you don't accidentally count someone twice or miss anyone. Tell the first-responders if anyone is missing so they can go in and rescue whoever needs rescuing. Do not go back into a burning building under any circumstances.
4. Crawl on the ground
It's important to remember that smoke always goes up. If smoke goes up, that means the air you can breathe is down on the floor.
5. Don't touch matches or lighters
What should children do if they see matches or lighters laying around the house? Don't touch them. Leave them alone and tell whoever is in charge. Have them get the matches or lighter and safely put them away.
6. Keep your bedroom door closed
Did you know that your nose is the first thing to go to sleep when you fall asleep at night? Because your nose is already asleep, you can't smell smoke in your sleep. Keeping your bedroom door closed helps keep the smoke out so you have time to respond when the smoke alarm goes off.
What do you do when a smoke alarm wakes you up in the middle of the night? Check your door first to see if it's hot. If it's hot, you need to use your secondary escape route and get to your meeting place and wait there.
Plan ahead for fire prevention
There are several things every family needs to discuss so you can be prepared in case there is a fire in your home. Where is your family meeting place? Do you know two ways out of your room? What do you do if you see smoke, matches and lighters, or if your clothes catch fire? Fire prevention isn't the most fun topic to discuss, but it could save the life of someone in your family.
