As we move into another school year and busy schedules, some things may begin falling by the wayside. We may find ourselves going to bed later, missing our favorite television show, and eating out more as events and extracurriculars begin to fill our time. One thing, however, that shouldn’t fall by the wayside, is fire safety and prevention plans. There is absolutely no better time to begin preparing a family fire prevention plan than right now.

Family fire escape plans are not just a one-and-done plan that you discuss once, or even every once and a while. Family fire escape plans should be planned and practiced about once a month. Here are our best tips for how to prepare a family fire escape plan that everyone can follow.

Plan

1. Pull everyone who lives in the home, children included, together and do a thorough walkthrough of the house, making note of any possible escape routes through doors and windows.
2. Print off a fire escape route template and draw the layout of your house, labeling all the rooms, doors, and windows.
3. Use the list of possible escape routes you made while walking through your home and designate two escape routes for each room on the fire escape map.
4. With a red marker (or any other bright-colored marker), clearly label the routes of escape in each room. This should be clear and easy for everyone to read.
5. Designate a meeting spot outside of the home where everyone is to meet once the house has been vacated. Add this spot to the escape map.
6. Go over the fire escape routes together and make sure everyone understands the map clearly.

Practice

1. Together, walk through the house with the fire escape map in hand, and go over the escape routes from each room.
2. As you walk through the house, ensure you point out the two escape routes. Make certain everyone understands each route of escape before leaving the room.
3. If windows need to be unlocked, make sure everyone knows how to unlock and open the windows. If an escape ladder needs to be accessed, make sure everyone knows how to access the escape ladder. Ensure everyone is capable of utilizing the escape routes properly before moving on.
4. If there are infants or family members with mobility limitations, assign a member of the family who will be responsible for assisting during a fire drill.

Drill

1. While the fire drill should be as realistic as possible, it shouldn’t frighten children. Children play a very important part in family fire escape planning and should understand that. Before running a surprise fire drill at night, inform younger children that there will be a fire drill so they are prepared.
2. By calling “Fire!” or using the test alarm sound on your fire alarm, initiate the drill. Unless the drill is a surprise drill, everyone should be in a room they spend the most time in to simulate as real a scenario as possible.
3. Make sure that every person participating in the drill can escape through every route from each room. If there are multiple floors, make sure each person is capable of escaping successfully on each floor.
4. Make sure everyone participating in the drill knows to shut each door behind them as they move closer to the escape route. This will slow down the spread of smoke and fire in a real-case scenario.
5. Once everyone has reached the designated safety spot outside and all are accounted for, make certain to ensure someone knows to call the emergency line to get the fire department in route.

Tips

• Always keep your fire escape routes clear of clutter and obstacles that will prevent safe escape.
• Keep your escape map hung up in an easily-located place for everyone to see. A refrigerator is a great place for this.
• Always make sure fire alarms are working at all times.

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