Family Fire Escape Plan

According to the BBC, there were over 58000 fires which resulted in 400 deaths and 12000 persons were injured, in this past year. That is far too many fires in the UK and too many lives lost. And then on top of that, an 8 month old baby died in a house fire in Ireland, when a neighbour sounded the alarm and the parents managed to escape with the other children. We have to be more diligent in our protection of our families and our homes.

The single most important lesson we can teach all family members is how to escape the house in times of a fire. Every family must meet and talk about the best route and how to react to the smoke alarm or a fire alarm. Draw out on a piece of poster paper the floor plan of your house on all floors including the stair case. Each child then takes a different colour crayon and marks out the best route for him/her to take, with your help, to the closest exit outside. Two different exits should be available to him so that if one door is blocked with flames or smoke then the other door might be available. If all else fails, use the fire ladder in the designated bedroom and climb down. You should have a meeting place outside, well away from the house, to meet and take a head count. Never re-enter a house to find a toy or pet. Call the fire brigade from the house of a neighbour and keep the children warm and safe.

A Canadian television station did a five part fire safety special and it won accolades from all over the world. It centred on the escape route for children and how they react to the smoke alarm. Three different families in the Toronto, Ontario area were asked to participate. Their children were put to bed upstairs, unaware of what was about to happen. The fireman and a camera crew came in and set up. When the fireman made false smoke upstairs, fanned it and yelled fire and the smoke alarm went off here are the results:

Two boys in one family were so sound asleep that they rolled over and stayed in their beds. Nothing could rouse them not even their parents.

A single child in another family sat up, rubbed his eyes, looked around and then went to his knees and went toward the door of his room and proceeded down the stairs.

When the first two boys were told how they did, they tried again the second night and one boy woke up, tried to wake up his brother, they crawled to the stairs and then did not know what to do. They tried to go back into their rooms.

A third trial, with the two daughters of the producer, saw them get up, crawl to safety and open the front door to go to the meeting place. Clearly, she had practiced with her daughters.

The parents of the boys all practiced for months what to do and how to handle themselves. Practice paid off because they did fine on the call-backfilming.

Family escape plans work but only if they are practiced and put to memory, so that it becomes a habit.