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How to Stay Safe During a House Fire
While you may not think you'll be the victim of a house fire, it's better to be prepared and know what to do to stay safe.
There's no time to stop to retrieve your valuables, or even to rescue your beloved pet. When it comes to house fires, timing is everything. If you want to know how to stay safe during a house fire to increase your chances of survival, follow these steps.
How to Stay Safe During a House Fire
1.
React as soon as you hear the smoke alarm go off. If you hear a smoke detector or alarm going off and see fire, try to get out of the house as safely as possible. Don't try to take your phone, valuables, or other important possessions. Your only concern is getting out of there as quickly as possible. Nothing else is as important as this. You should get yourself and your family members out safely. If it's night time, shout loudly to wake everyone up. You may have less than a minute left to escape safely, so ignore all secondary worries that have nothing to do with surviving. If you have escaped a house fire, remember when you get out and dial 115.
2.
Exit safely through the door. If you see smoke under a door, then you cannot go out of that door, because the smoke is poisonous and fire will certainly follow. If you don't see smoke, place the back of your hand on the door to make sure it doesn't feel hot. If the door feels cool, open it slowly and go through the door. If your door is open and there is a fire preventing you from leaving the room, close the door to protect yourself from the fire.
  • If the door is hot or there is smoke underneath and there is no other door to go through, you will have to try to escape through a window. Be careful!
  • DO NOT break windows unless as an absolute last resort. In addition to the risk of injury, this can actually make the fire much worse by providing an additional burst of oxygen that cannot then be stopped.
3.
Protects you from inhaling fumes. Get low to the floor and crouch or crawl on your hands and knees to avoid the smoke. Although you may think running is faster, you should also encourage family members to crouch or crawl. Smoke inhalation causes disorientation and can even cause a person to lose consciousness. Knowing this, you should cover your nose and mouth if you have to walk past or through a room with a lot of smoke.
  • You can also put a wet shirt or rag over your nose and mouth, but only if you have time. This will only take you a minute or so, which isn't a lot of time, but it will help filter out the products of combustion that lead to smoke inhalation.
4.
Stop, drop and roll if your clothes catch fire. If your clothing catches fire, stop what you are doing, drop it flat on the ground, and roll around until the fire is extinguished. Rolling around will extinguish the fire quickly. Use your hands to cover your face when rolling to protect yourself.
  • Avoid wearing synthetic fabrics because they can melt and stick to the skin, causing severe burns.
5.
Avoid smoke if you cannot go outside. If you can't escape the house and are waiting for help, don't panic. You may not be able to escape, but you can still take some steps to avoid the smoke and stay safe. Close your door and cover all vents and surrounding cracks with cloth or tape to keep smoke out for as long as possible. Whatever you do, don't panic. You can always regain some measure of control, even if you feel trapped.
6.
Call for help from the second story window. If you are trapped in a second room in the event of a fire, do what you can to get yourself to an area where people can hear you or see you. You can take a piece of paper or something else - preferably white - and hang it out the window to indicate that you need help when first responders get there. Be sure to close the window - leaving it open will draw the fire towards fresh oxygen. Put something down, such as a towel (or whatever you can find), to stop the smoke from seeping out underneath the door.
7.
Exit the second story window if you can. If you have a two-story house, you should have an escape ladder that you can throw out in case a fire or other incident occurs. If you really have to get out the window, find a ledge and if there is one, you can get off the ledge facing the building. Always face the building structure when exiting an upper story window. From the second story, if you have to hang yourself, you can get closer to the ground and you can let go and fall to safety.
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