Steps To Making a Fire Escape Plan

2/25/2020 (Permalink)

Designating a meeting place can be the mailbox of your neighbor

In the event of a fire in your Miami, FL, home, every second is precious. To avoid serious injury or death, you and your family members need to exit as quickly as possible. You don't expect this situation to ever happen to you, but you need to be prepared just in case. You can't afford to panic or be flustered when it's time to get out. You can have peace of mind if you and your family will create a fire escape plan today.

Do a Walk-Through

You may think you know the layout and features of your home perfectly, but would you know how and from where to escape in the of a home fire? You need to become familiar with the following:

• Where your smoke alarms are and how to change the batteries
  
• Where the nearest exit it to every room in the house
  
• Any obstacles that may be in the way of getting out
  
• How to open windows and how to safely escape that way
  
  

Designate a Meeting Place

Knowing where everyone will gather is an essential part of fire preparation. Choose a spot that everyone knows, but make sure it is far enough away from your home that you will all be safe. This might be at a park around the corner, across the street in front of the neighbor's house, in the adjacent cul-de-sac.

Assign Roles

Everyone in the family should have a job in a fire escape plan. Choose someone to be in charge of helping younger children out of the house. Pick a family member to retrieve pets. Someone else should take care of calling 911. Another person should run through the house to make sure everybody is accounted for.

Practice

You can rely on firefighters to put out the blaze and professional fire remediation teams to clean up. Still, you must do your part. Practice escaping from your home at least once a year.
Once you've got your fire escape plan down, you can feel much better about dealing with this emergency. Never neglect this critical responsibility.