A question for fire fighters?..

arybvtcw0eolkf

I hope this doesn't sounds silly.

But how do I go about putting together a fire evacuation plan for my home.

God forbid there's a fire in the home I'd like to be able to provide my family with more information than jump out a window, ring the emergancy services and don't go back inside - or is that all there really is?.

.

az2wp0sye65487

Get out. Get the Fire Brigade out. And stay out.

Don't you remember the ads?

civdef

That's not a fierce helpful contribution there steviecakes.

Essentially it's not a very complicated process.
You first of all think about who's going to be in the house and will need to evacuate, particularly children or people with sensory / mobility difficulties. Then you look at where they need to evacuate from, how to get out, and alternative ways of getting out in case the first choice is blocked. Also consider where might be a safe place to take refuge if all routes are blocked.
Once that's done, look into the means of giving warning of fire (ie your smoke / heat alarms - you need enough of thm, they need to be kept in good working condition, and ideally they should be interlinked), bearing in mind that research has shown children generally won't be woken by an alarm going off. You also need to let everyone know about how to call the fire brigade etc.
Let everyone in the house know about the plan, and practice it.

You should give at least as much time, if not more to carrying out basic safety precautions to ensure you don't have a fire, or that it's limited in size - plugging out electrics, candle safety, closing doors at night, etc.

Some more info:

http://www.environ.ie/en/LocalGovernment/FireSafety/Evacuation/

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/HomeAndCommunity/InYourHome/Escapingandrecoveringfromafire/DG_071793


If you have any other questions, just ask.

az2wp0sye65487

civdef wrote: »

That's not a fierce helpful contribution there steviecakes.

Essentially it's not a very complicated process.
You first of all think about who's going to be in the house and will need to evacuate, particularly children or people with sensory / mobility difficulties. Then you look at where they need to evacuate from, how to get out, and alternative ways of getting out in case the first choice is blocked. Also consider where might be a safe place to take refuge if all routes are blocked.
Once that's done, look into the means of giving warning of fire (ie your smoke / heat alarms - you need enough of thm, they need to be kept in good working condition, and ideally they should be interlinked), bearing in mind that research has shown children generally won't be woken by an alarm going off. You also need to let everyone know about how to call the fire brigade etc.
Let everyone in the house know about the plan, and practice it.

You should give at least as much time, if not more to carrying out basic safety precautions to ensure you don't have a fire, or that it's limited in size - plugging out electrics, candle safety, closing doors at night, etc.

Some more info:

http://www.environ.ie/en/LocalGovernment/FireSafety/Evacuation/

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/HomeAndCommunity/InYourHome/Escapingandrecoveringfromafire/DG_071793


If you have any other questions, just ask.

Apologies, too used to posting in AH...

Just on the comment about people with sensory difficulties, wouldn't that be everyone, in the case of a fire? ie - smoke causing loss of sight...

civdef

It's a fair point.
If the fire develops to an extent where significant amounts of heat and smoke are produced, even people with perfect sight, hearing and mobility will be very badly affected, there have been cases where people were so disorientated they couldn't find the way out of their own room.

A well functioning fire detection & alarm system, together with closed doors and a well practiced evacuation plan should hopefully mean people are out of the house before it gets to that level. 30 seconds saved can make a huge difference.

Paulzx

The links provided cover most of the basic points.

However, i cannot emphasize enough the importance of working smoke alarms and closing your downstairs doors at night when you go to bed.
The smoke alarms are so sensitive they will activate with very small amounts of smoke giving you a chance to exit before smoke builds up excessively.

If you leave a door open downstairs and a fire starts i would question whether you will be capable of getting downstairs due to smoke clogging in your hallway.

It is impossible to explain the sheer volume and toxicity of smoke that is produced even off a small fire in an enclosed space. Your visibility will be nil and breathing will become impossible. I am aware of fatalities from smoke were the fire extingushed itself and caused very little damage but lives were lost due to lack of smoke alarms

A schools program being run at the moment is targeted at kids in 3rd class and they receive info packs to bring home to their parents.

CaptainSkidmark

if you have a smoke alarm in all the appropriate areas: Heat detector in cooking part of kitchen, smoke in the dining area, hall, sitting room, upstairs landing and attic,

and you maintain them properly, i have no doubt that in the event of a fire everyone will get out safely.

Smoke alarms buy you serious time!

Also: Best smoke alarms are one's that work of the mains with battery back up in the event of a power outage. If one go's off they all go off and you only need re-set one.

Prenderb

Civdef mentioned refuge points, if you can't make it out down the stairs or out the hall. If you aren't able to make it down the stairs, the advice then is to close the door in a bedroom with a window (furthest away from a fire if you know where it is), stuff the gap in the door with a damp blanket, sheet, whatever you can get. Stay by the window for fresh air, and make some noise to attract the attention of the emergency services/neighbours etc.

Front doors are a bit of a nuisance these days - we're all worried about security and sometimes forget that our own exit can be important too. Make sure that front, back and side doors are easily opened (from the inside!) in case of an emergency. A lot of new homes are coming with key locks on front and back doors (i.e. not a Yale type night latch) so you need to make sure that you're not fumbling in the dark and smoke for the key.

+1 on the smoke alarms, closing doors, extinguishing candles etc...

arybvtcw0eolkf

Guys thanks for all the info.

I've got the smoke alarms covered & their connected to the house alarm too.

Tbh I never thought of locking doors, although all appliances are disconnected from the mains at night.

The exit door's have always been a concern of mine and I've never locked them from inside.

I remember years ago when I was a child RTE ran lots of add's on what to do in both the home and work place in the event of fire with some of the suggestions above re. blankets down at the door, staying low & away from the smoke etc.

Thanks again guys.

CaptainSkidmark

Ailani Mammoth Spectroscope wrote: »

Guys thanks for all the info.

I've got the smoke alarms covered & their connected to the house alarm too.

Tbh I never thought of locking doors, although all appliances are disconnected from the mains at night.

The exit door's have always been a concern of mine and I've never locked them from inside.

I remember years ago when I was a child RTE ran lots of add's on what to do in both the home and work place in the event of fire with some of the suggestions above re. blankets down at the door, staying low & away from the smoke etc.

Thanks again guys.

except the fridge? lol

wreckless

Paulzx wrote: »

A schools program being run at the moment is targeted at kids in 3rd class and they receive info packs to bring home to their parents.

Indeed it is, here in our area, 22 out of 23 (one short ) were visited by 3 of colleagues and myself. Altogether, 720 kids received the School Fire safety visit talk. Each primary school in the country should be visited by their local fire station every school year. if you have children either going into in 3rd class, or have been in 3rd class and did not receive the visit/ talk, get on to your local co. council/authority fire services deopartment and ask why not? They are all issued with these packs. Even ask the Station Officer in the station about it

JuliusCaesar

I worked in a hospital in the UK with brilliant fire training. The guy who ran it - exFS- was a showman. He gave a long talk about fires in hospitals and after talking about chemicals, he left stuff down on the table behind him and carried on with the next bit. eventually smoke started coming from the table, and we're all 'eh, behind you'. Then they had converted a ward in an out-of-use hospital and got us to play roles: Dr, nurse, patient, plumber come to fix something etc and a few extra dummies as patients. Then filled the place with smoke and all 'staff' had to evacuate patients whether paralysed, on drips, whatever. Brilliant. Tugging a dead weight on a blanket along the floor makes you realise how not strong you are! And I'll never forget what to do with the drip bag.

Then we all tried all the different fire extinguishers, including putting out a chip pan fire with a blanket.

In Ireland - fire training: 20 staff freezing in a car park while the fire officer showed us different fire extinguishers.

Anyway, due to the UK fire training, I woke my kids one night - they were small 5 or 6 ish - yelling "fire drill" and made us all crawl to the front door in the dark. They still talk about it. (Usually to tell me I'm mad as a hen, being teenagers now.)