The Importance of a House Fire Evacuation Plan for Your Family | SERVPRO® of East Mecklenburg/Matthews

8/8/2023 (Permalink)

Be prepared with a Family Fire Escape Plan

We can all say that we would like never to experience the traumatic event of a house fire. Not only can they damage your property due to how quickly they can tear through a home, but they can also put your family in harm’s way and cause injuries and fatalities.

You can help mitigate the damage a house fire causes to your family by ensuring you have a solid house fire evacuation plan in place that everyone in the household is educated on. Simply getting out of the house and to safety can dramatically reduce the fire-related injuries your family may endure. Here are some tips as you plan:

Planning Your House Fire Evacuation as a Family

Make sure every room has two exits. First and foremost, ensuring your family members have a way to get out of the house if a fire starts is key. Every room should be equipped with at least two exits so that no matter where a fire starts, someone will be able to get out. If you have rooms upstairs, consider purchasing an emergency ladder for each one and storing it in the closet, just in case.

Get out in under two minutes. Executing your fire evacuation plan should take two minutes or less to avoid the dangers of smoke inhalation. This is why it is important to rehearse the drill regularly—in a real fire, there will be no time to hesitate, so ensuring everyone knows what to do is vital.

Install smoke alarms. As soon as your smoke alarm sounds, that is when your fire evacuation plan should kick into gear. Make sure you have an adequate number of smoke alarms in your home and that you are testing them every month to ensure they are still operational. Your manufacturer will have instructions based on how often they should be replaced, but generally, every ten years is what is recommended.

SERVPRO® of East Mecklenburg/Matthews are the experts when it comes to fire restoration. If a house fire damages your home, our restoration technicians are always "Here to help." You can get in touch with us 24/7 to report your damages, and we will always respond quickly.