Staying safe when there is a fire in the house

Content

To step
Method 1 of 3: Staying safe during a house fire
Method 2 of 3: What to do after you leave the house
Method 3 of 3: Prevent fire in the house from now on
Tips
Warnings
Necessities

You may not think you will ever fall victim to a house fire, but it is better to be prepared for it and know what to do so that you don't panic when it does happen. If there is a fire in your house, your first priority is to get yourself and your family out as soon as possible. There is no time to grab your valuables or even rescue your beloved pet. Time is everything when there is a fire in the house. Follow the steps below if you want to know how to stay safe during a fire to increase your chances of survival.

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Method 1 of 3: Staying safe during a house fire

Respond immediately when you hear the fire alarm go off. If you hear your smoke detector or fire alarm go off and see a fire, try to get out of your home as safely as possible. Try not to grab your phone, your valuables and other important belongings. Your only concern is to get out of your house as soon as possible. That's the only thing that matters. Make sure you and your family members get out of the house safely. When it's night, shout to wake the others. You may only have seconds to escape safely, so ignore anything less important that has nothing to do with trying to stay alive.
Go out safely through a door. If you see smoke coming out from under a door, you cannot safely go out through that door, because smoke is poisonous and where there is smoke there is certainly fire. If you don't see any smoke, then lay the back of your hand against the door to see if it is warm to the touch. If the door feels cold, open it slowly and go through. If the 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 feels hot or smoke is coming from underneath and there are no other doors to enter, then you should try to escape through a window.
Prevent smoke poisoning. Lower yourself to the ground and crawl on all fours to escape the smoke. You may think running is faster, but encourage your family members to crouch or crawl on the ground as well. If you inhale smoke, you can become disoriented and even unconscious. So keep that in mind and cover your nose and mouth if you have to walk through or past a room with dense smoke.
- You can also put a shirt or a wet cloth over your nose and mouth, but only if you have time. This will give you an extra minute, which is not much time but will help filter out burnt particles that cause smoke poisoning.
Stop, drop and roll on the ground as your clothes catch fire. If your clothes catch fire, immediately stop what you are doing, drop flat on the floor, and roll back and forth until you put out the fire. Rolling on the ground will quickly extinguish the fire. Cover your face with your hands to protect yourself while rolling.
- Do not wear synthetic fiber clothing, as these can melt and stick to the skin, causing severe burns.
If you fail to escape, keep the smoke away. If you can't escape your house and wait for help, don't panic. You may not be able to get out, but you can still take some measures to keep the smoke away from you and stay safe. Close the door and cover all openings and cracks around the door with cloth or tape to keep the smoke out as long as possible. Whatever you do, don't panic. You can always try to take some control of the situation, even if you are trapped.
Call for help from a first or second floor window. If you are trapped in a first or second floor room during a fire, do what you can to get to a place where people can hear or see you. You can take a sheet or something white and hang it out the window to show you need help when the fire brigade arrives. Don't forget to close the window. If you leave it open, the fresh oxygen attracts the fire. Place something on the floor to prevent smoke from coming out from under the door, such as a towel or anything else you can find.
Escape through a first or second floor window, if you can. If you have a two-story house, you should have an escape ladder that you can throw out the window when there is a fire or other problem. If you do need to escape through a window, look for a ledge. If there is a ledge you can stand on it facing the wall. Care always that your face points towards the house when you exit through an upstairs window. If you have to hang you can get closer to the ground and drop so you are safe.
- The truth is, it is probably a lot safer to stay where you are and lock the room you are in by closing the doors between you and the fire, preventing smoke from entering the room, something about doing your nose and mouth to filter the air and hope for the best.

Method 2 of 3: What to do after you leave the house

Count if everyone is there. If someone is missing, go back into the house alone if that's safe to do. When the fire brigade arrives, tell them immediately that you are afraid that someone is missing. Also, tell them when everyone is there so they don't risk their lives looking for others.
Call 112. Use your mobile phone or call the neighbors.
See if you are hurt. After you have called 911 and the fire brigade is on its way, it is time to check yourself and your family to see if anyone has been injured. If someone is injured, do what you can and ask the fire brigade for help when it arrives.
Walk away from your house. Keep a safe distance between yourself and the fire. After the fire, take the necessary measures to stay safe.

Method 3 of 3: Prevent fire in the house from now on

Create and practice an escape plan for your family. The best way to prevent a fire in the house is to have an escape plan when there is a fire. Create a plan and practice with it at least twice a year to get to know the routine and make sure you are balanced enough to execute the plan when needed. When coming up with a plan, keep the following things in mind:
- Think of two ways to escape from each room. Always look for a second exit if the first exit is blocked. For example, if you cannot get through a door, try to escape through another door or a window.
- Practice escaping by crawling, doing this in the dark, and closing your eyes.
Make sure your home is prepared. To make sure your home is ready for a fire, check that the smoke detectors are working and you always have new batteries at home. Also make sure that the windows can be opened easily and that any mosquito nets can be easily removed. If you have bars on your windows for safety, they should have a lock that can be opened immediately and quickly. Everyone in your family should know how to open and close these windows. If you have prepared your house for a fire, you are much more likely to remain safe in the event of a fire.
- Buy certified retractable ladders in case you need them to escape from the roof.
Behave in a safe manner. To prevent your house from catching fire, take the following measures:
- Teach your children that fire is a resource and not for play.
- Make sure you are always in the kitchen when you are cooking. Never leave your food unattended on the stove to cook.
- Do not smoke indoors. Make sure to stub out cigarettes completely.
- Discard electrical appliances with fraying wires as they can cause fires.
- Don't light candles unless you can see them. Let no burning candle standing in a room where no one is.
- Always make sure you've turned off the gas before leaving the kitchen.
- Try using a lighter instead of matches.

Tips

Make sure your safety equipment is well maintained, kept in an easy-to-find place, and you know how to use it. This applies to fire extinguishers and safety ladders. Have all fire extinguishers checked annually and get new ones if the old ones no longer work.
Make sure your smoke alarms are working. A good tip is to replace the batteries when you change your clocks due to winter and summer time.
Practice your escape plan with all of your family. You may never get a fire in your house, but you know it never certainly. Prevention is better than cure in this case.
Clean your household appliances regularly to prevent fires.
Don't forget to test your smoke alarms regularly. Replace them every five years. Do not return to your house in the event of a fire.
If you're on fire, stop, drop, and roll on the ground with your hands in front of your face.
Use the back of your hand and not your palm or fingers to feel if a door is warm. The back of your hand has more nerve endings than your palm, so you can accurately determine the temperature of an object without actually touching it. A door can get hot enough to burn you on without the door looking hot. You may need your palms and fingers later to escape.
Wear a hooded sweatshirt or jacket to avoid catching your hair on fire.
Don't go back into your house. If you are trapped in your bedroom and the room has a window, open the window and throw out soft things like mattresses and stuffed animals. Lower yourself and try to land on all the soft stuff.

Warnings

The most important rule is to stay low to the ground. Hot smoke, whether poisonous or burning you, rises, so staying close to the floor will not inhale or burn the smoke that has already entered the room. If there is no smoke in the room you can stand, but be careful when entering another room to avoid the same danger.
Make sure everyone knows where to go after escaping. Pick a spot that is far enough from the house to be safe, but close enough to get there easily and quickly. Make sure everyone knows to go straight to that assembly point and stay there until everyone arrives.
Don't go back your house is burning. Forget what you've seen in movies and TV shows where the hero runs into flames to save someone. That only happens in movies. In the real world, people going back into a burning house usually die a few feet away from the entrance. By walking back into your house, the fire brigade has an extra victim to look for.
In the event of a fire, it is often impossible to walk from one side of the house to the other. So make sure that every family member old enough knows how to get out of every room in the house, even if the doors cannot be used.