Be Prepared to Escape from a Home Fire

National Preparedness Month

Since 2004, September has been National Preparedness Month. FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) sponsors the commemoration to remind families to be prepared for disasters, including fires at home.

For families who have not designed a plan to escape fire, now is the time. For everyone else, it is time to remember the last time your family practiced the plan. Practice is necessary.   

At SERVPRO^® of Missoula, we are experts at remediation and restoration of property. We recognize the expertise of others, so we bring these hints about planning fire escapes from the NFPA (National Fire Protection Association).

• Include children in designing the plan. At the very least, they should know that there is a plan, and the first several practices should not be surprises.
• Practice crawling to safety, as if avoiding smoke or other gases.
• Use a grid to create a plan of the home. There is one available
• Make sure everyone can get out of the house within two minutes.
• There should be two ways to get out of each room, including windows.
• Practice opening windows and security bars.
• Practice using fire-escape ladders.
• Have a meeting place.
• Designate family members to help anyone who needs it (babies, people who have limited mobility, etc.)
• Practice getting out with the pets; people have died after going back inside to get their animals.
• Firefighters do rescue pets. Put stickers on windows that tell firefighters how many pets there are, and what kinds of pets.

Is that too much to remember? Use this handy tip sheet for creating and practicing the plan.

Great escapes in real life

These two happened to people we know. The escapes will never inspire movies, but they were at least kind of cool, if not fully great.

The All-Terrain Baby

A friend saw the ATB at a picnic. There were several families, many with babies, at this party. The all-terrain baby had a bow stuck on her baby hair and wore a frilly dress, but she should have been wearing camo. The baby crawled in a straight line, which meant that she went over picnic coolers and other obstacles instead of around them. At one point, someone yelled out, “hey, someone’s baby is escaping!” The parents of the ATB knew the baby had to be theirs. She was climbing over a footstool to get out of a gap in the fence.

This baby was prepared for anything.

The Wire-haired terrier vs. Chain-link Barriers

Another friend worked at a veterinary clinic that had boarding facilities. One dog kept ending up in other dogs’ cages or in the hallway. The friend reported having seen the dog climb up the chain-link barriers, but no one believed her. It wasn’t until one of the other staff members saw the dog climbing that anyone thought to find an escape-proof kennel.

He was a happy dog, especially when he puzzled the humans.

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