Show Me Health - Home Fire Safety

It’s the middle of the night. You’re sound asleep when suddenly the smoke alarms in your house go off. It’s dark. The house is filling with smoke. Fire experts say you have about two minutes to get out safely. Would you and your family know what you should do?

The American Red Cross of Northwest Missouri is teaming up with the Livingston County Community Wellness Committee and the Chillicothe Fire Department to reduce the number of deaths and injuries from home fires by installing smoke alarms in the homes of local residents and encouraging all families to practice a Home Fire Escape Plan.

Sixty percent of house fire deaths occur in homes with no working smoke alarms. During a home fire, working smoke alarms and a fire escape plan that has been practiced regularly can save lives.  The campaign aims to reduce the number of deaths and injuries from home fires by as much as 25 percent over the next five years.

The Red Cross Home Fire Prevention campaign comes at a time when a new national survey shows many Americans have a false sense of security about surviving a fire.

The survey, conducted for the Red Cross, shows that people mistakenly believe they have more time than they really do to escape a burning home. Fire experts agree that people have as little as two minutes to escape a burning home. But most Americans (62 percent) mistakenly believe they have at least five minutes to escape, more than twice the amount they actually have.

Fire Safety Tips

• If a fire occurs in your home, GET OUT, STAY OUT and CALL for help.
• Install smoke alarms on every level of your home, inside bedrooms and outside sleeping areas.
• Test smoke alarms once a month, if they’re not working, change the batteries.
• Talk with all household members about a fire escape plan and practice the plan twice a year.

So how do you make that plan – what should it include? Every household should develop a fire escape plan and practice several times a year, at different times of the day. The Red Cross has a printable worksheet (www.redcross.org) households can use to plan and practice home fire evacuations.

The plan should include the following:

• All members of the household should know two ways to get out of every room.
• Consider escape ladders for sleeping areas or homes on the second floor or above. Learn how to use them and store them near the window.
• Pick a place outside for everyone to meet and make sure everyone knows where it is.
• Practice your home fire drill until everyone in the household can do it in less than two minutes.
• Practice waking up to smoke alarms, low crawling and meeting outside. Make sure everyone knows how to call 9-1-1.
• Teach household members to STOP, DROP and ROLL if their clothes should catch on fire.

If your home does not have working smoke detectors, the Red Cross Home Fire Prevention program provides free 10 year lithium battery smoke detectors.  There is no ‘catch,’ except that the alarms must be installed by the Chillicothe Fire Department or other volunteers.   The only requirement is filling out a very short application available at the Livingston County Health Center, or by calling the Health Center at 646-5506, the Chillicothe Fire Department at 646-2139 or the American Red Cross of Northwest Missouri at (816)232-8439. 

Take a few minutes to increase your family’s chances of surviving a fire in your home. 

Source: American Red Cross