prepare your home for a fire

8/2/2021 (Permalink)

The 7 Ways to Prepare for a Home Fire

• Install the right number of smoke alarms.
• In new homes:The National Fire Alarm Code (NFPA 72) requires hard-wired, interconnected smoke alarms with battery back-up on every level of the home, outside each sleeping area, and inside each bedroom. Alarms must be wired together so that if one sounds, they all sound.
• In existing homes: If smoke alarms are not already in place, at a minimum install them on every level of the home and outside each sleeping area.If a fire occurs inside a bedroom, dangerous gases can cause heavier sleep. For the best protection, install interconnected smoke alarms in each bedroom and throughout the home. When one sounds, they all sound.
• Test them once a month and replace the batteries at least once a year.

• Teach children what a smoke alarm sounds like, and what to do when they hear one. 

• Ensure that all household members know two ways to escape from every room of your home and know the family meeting spot outside of your home.

• Establish a family emergency communications plan and ensure that all household members know who to contact if they cannot find one another.

• Practice escaping from your home at least twice a year. Press the smoke alarm test button or yell “Fire “to alert everyone that they must get out.

• 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.