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Home Fire Escape Plan Checklist

Easy 22 items · 1 hour
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testuser Published 5 days ago
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Get everyone who lives in the house around a table with one sheet of paper. Draw each floor and mark every door and window. Then find two ways out of every room. That drawing, one meeting spot outside and a drill you actually run make up the whole plan.

October is a natural time to do it. Fire Prevention Week is every October, and many fire departments hold open houses and school visits that week. Print this checklist, fill in the plan together, and keep it where babysitters and guests will see it.

Run at least one drill at night. Some children sleep through a smoke alarm, and the only way to know about yours is to sound the alarm while they are asleep and see whether they wake.

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  1. Draw a floor plan of each level of your home
  2. Mark two ways out of every room — Usually that means a door and a window.
  3. Check that every window on the plan opens easily and its screen comes out — Paint, swollen frames and stuck locks are easier to find now than in the dark.
  4. Make sure any security bars have a quick-release on the inside
  5. Get an escape ladder for each bedroom above the ground floor — Keep it beside the window it is meant for.
  6. Choose one meeting spot outside, a safe distance in front of the house — A mailbox, a tree or a neighbor's driveway works. Everyone goes there and stays there.
  7. Check for a smoke alarm in every bedroom, outside each sleeping area and on every level — Count the basement as a level.
  8. Test every smoke alarm and replace any that are 10 years old or more — The manufacture date is printed on the back of the alarm.
  9. Think about interconnected alarms, so one going off sounds them all
  10. Make sure your house number is easy to read from the street at night
  11. Decide who helps babies, young children, older adults or anyone who moves slowly — Name one person and a backup for each.
  12. Teach everyone to touch a closed door with the back of a hand before opening it — If the door or the handle is hot, use the second way out.
  13. Teach everyone to get low and crawl under smoke
  14. Sleep with bedroom doors closed — A closed door slows heat and smoke and buys time to get out.
  15. Agree that once out, nobody goes back in for pets or belongings — Tell firefighters who is still inside and where.
  16. Call 911 once you are outside
  17. In an apartment, learn where every exit stairway is — Count the doors from your unit to the nearest stairway in case the hall fills with smoke. Never use the elevator in a fire.
  18. Fill in the plan on the printout and post it where everyone sees it
  19. Run a daytime drill with everyone at home — Start it with the smoke alarm's test button and time how long it takes to reach the meeting spot. The National Fire Protection Association says you may have as little as two minutes to get out once the alarm sounds.
  20. Run a drill at night
  21. Practice twice a year — Pair it with something you already do twice a year, such as changing the clocks.
  22. Walk overnight guests and babysitters through the exits and the meeting spot
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