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Protecting Your Family From Fire
Putting up smoke alarms is just one step in
protecting your family from fires. You must also
reduce the chance a fire will start in your dwelling,
and have a plan for escaping safely if one does. To
have a good fire safety program, you must:
Develop a family escape plan and practice it with
everyone in your family, including small children.
1) Draw a floor plan of your residence and identify at
least two exits from each room and one way to get
out of each bedroom without opening the door; 2)
Decide on a meeting place a safe distance from
residence, and make sure everyone knows to wait
there; 3) Know where to go to call the Fire
Department from outside the residence; 4) Make
sure everyone—including all children—know what
the alarm signal means and how to react to it. Teach
them they must be prepared to leave the residence
by themselves if needed; 5) Hold fire drills every 6
months and practice how to escape safely. Show
children how to check if doors are hot before
opening them. Show them how to use an alternate
exit if a door is hot and shouldn’t be opened. Teach
them to stay close to the floor and crawl if
necessary.
Install at least one smoke alarm on every level of
your dwelling and/or dwelling unit, in every bedroom,
and in every sleeping area. Keep alarms clean, and
test them weekly. Replace smoke alarms
immediately if they are not working properly. Smoke
alarms that do not work cannot alert you
to a fire.
Keep at least one working fire extinguisher on every
floor, and an additional one in the kitchen. Have fire
escape ladders or other reliable means of escape
from an upper floor in case stairs are blocked.
Follow safety rules, and prevent hazardous
situations: 1) Use smoking materials properly. Never
smoke in bed. 2) Keep matches or lighters away
from children; 3) Store flammable materials in proper
containers; 4) Keep electrical appliances in good
condition and don’t overload electrical circuits; 5)
Keep stoves, barbecue grills, fireplaces and
chimneys free from grease and debris; 6) Never
leave anything cooking on the stove unattended; 7)
Keep portable heaters and open flames, like
candles, away from flammable materials; 8) Don’t
allow rubbish to accumulate.