Fire

To monitor fire safety at home:

• Install smoke alarms outside sleeping areas and on every level of your home
• Use test buttons to check batteries once a month 
• Replace batteries as needed but at least twice a year (in our area this can be done in the spring and fall when we change our clocks)
• Keep smoke alarms clean and cobweb free
• Smoke alarms wear out - Replace every 10 years
• Have a working fire extinguisher.  Local fire departments will provide training on use
• An automatic fire sprinkler system is also worth considering
• Determine at least 2 ways to escape from every room
• Purchase escape ladders for rooms on the 2nd floor and higher, and practice using them
• Select a location outside your home to reunite after escaping
• Practice your escape plans at least twice a year

 

In case of fire…

• Once you are out, stay out
• Call the fire department from a neighbor’s
• If you see smoke in your path use an alternate route to escape
• If you must exit through smoke, stay low or crawl to your exit
• Cover your mouth and nose with a moist towel or other cloth type material
• If you escape through a closed door, feel it first with the back of your hand– if it is warm find another  route of escape
• If smoke, heat or flames block your exit, stay in the room you are in with the doors closed placing wet towels or blankets at the bottom of the door 
• Signal for help using a brightly colored cloth at the window. 
• If there is a phone in the room call the fire department from that room