Are you prepared for .... a home Fire????

So after burglary, this is the most eminent threat to you and the people who live in your building. A 1 in ~323 chance that your home will be burnt up this winter. (when most fires happen). The fatalities are almost always pets, the elderly and small children.

A checklist.

-Do all the smoke detectors really work in your home? Are they installed correctly? (useless in a bedroom; you need them in the kitchen, by the breaker box, and parts of the home where people don't loiter--hallways, stairwells, crawlspaces and attics.

-do you have a fire extinguisher for every main source of heat in your home (1 each for kitchen, fireplace, furnace area)

-Does every room have 2 modes of escape that every human in your home can operate?
There's no point in saying "the window in the playroom is an escape" if the kids cannot unlock the window, or "go downstairs to escape the fire," when gramma is in a wheelchair.

-Do you have an evacuation plan, that everyone knows about?

-Do you have an agreed upon meet-up spot, outside the house, that everyone knows about.

-Do you have a plan for that fact that children will SLEEP THROUGH a smoke alarm going off?


I realize this thread won't get a lot of response. My cousin always does Christmas in a HUGE way, lavishing money on all of the rest of the family. She can do this because she is a wealthy executive. She does it because when she was 10 years old, her house burned down. One sibling and her father were killed in the fire, and the family lost absolutely everything. She has no photos or keepsakes from before her tenth Christmas. They had no insurance, and her mother had not worked outside the home. They became poor and homeless; my cousin drove herself to financial success so that her children would never be poor even if their house burned down and they lost everything....

a reply to: Graysen

Thanks for the thread and attempt to enlighten people.

Personally, I know the truth and am prepared for the statistical number one threat to me and my family.

White supremacists, CNN tells me they are growing in numbers and the threat is very real.

But I'm going dual purpose, and intend to use one of the many fire extinguishers to suffocate a racing group of proud boys at my doorstep.

Thanks ive been thinking about these bars blocking access to the kitchen window and basement windows in the backyard, ill remove them tomorrow morning first thing.

a reply to: Graysen
This is a great reminder and might save someone's life if they don't have these things already in their home. Thanks for posting.

Our smoke detectors work all too well. If you let a hickory smoke flavor smelling fart they go off.

a reply to: Graysen


Interesting you mention this. I just got a poster made of a "incase of fire" hung on my wall. Most think it's a joke but it isn't. The idea was to trick those that think it is and read it. Then hopefully practice it when needed.

originally posted by: Graysen
So after burglary, this is the most eminent threat to you and the people who live in your building. A 1 in ~323 chance that your home will be burnt up this winter. (when most fires happen). The fatalities are almost always pets, the elderly and small children.

A checklist.

-Do all the smoke detectors really work in your home? Are they installed correctly? (useless in a bedroom; you need them in the kitchen, by the breaker box, and parts of the home where people don't loiter--hallways, stairwells, crawlspaces and attics.

-do you have a fire extinguisher for every main source of heat in your home (1 each for kitchen, fireplace, furnace area)

-Does every room have 2 modes of escape that every human in your home can operate?
There's no point in saying "the window in the playroom is an escape" if the kids cannot unlock the window, or "go downstairs to escape the fire," when gramma is in a wheelchair.

-Do you have an evacuation plan, that everyone knows about?

-Do you have an agreed upon meet-up spot, outside the house, that everyone knows about.

-Do you have a plan for that fact that children will SLEEP THROUGH a smoke alarm going off?


I realize this thread won't get a lot of response. My cousin always does Christmas in a HUGE way, lavishing money on all of the rest of the family. She can do this because she is a wealthy executive. She does it because when she was 10 years old, her house burned down. One sibling and her father were killed in the fire, and the family lost absolutely everything. She has no photos or keepsakes from before her tenth Christmas. They had no insurance, and her mother had not worked outside the home. They became poor and homeless; my cousin drove herself to financial success so that her children would never be poor even if their house burned down and they lost everything....

Excellent post/reminder. For me...

just replaced batteries in detectors when Daylight Savings Time changed...been doing that for years...but time to actually replace teh detectors themselves as well...

I have one fire extinguisher...in the kitchen...will get more...

I live in the upstairs of my father's two story house...two ways out...downstairs or out a window 25-30 to the ground. two dogs that live with me...I'm screwed...

Great post!

Fire is one of our number one concerns being so far away from civilization.

Great suggestions, all.

S&F

Smoke and carbon monoxide detectors are good to go, but I admit I have no extinguishers to speak of, I will change that with a quickness at least 2.

Just not sure if I should put both upstairs where people sleep or 1 up and 1 down in the kitchen... heck maybe have to get 3 2 up and 1 down.

a reply to: Graysen

I burn wood 6 months out of the year. Always have a plan. A family member of mine has gone through two major fires and each time was someone else waking him up instead of him dying. Always be ready for fire. Or you might die when you're least expecting it.

a reply to: Graysen

Make sure your children know how to get out. Break windows, whatever is necessary. Let them know that. Surviving is more important than glass or anything else. If you burn wood or only have electric space heaters, have a plan.

originally posted by: edaced4


Excellent post/reminder. For me...

just replaced batteries in detectors when Daylight Savings Time changed...been doing that for years...but time to actually replace teh detectors themselves as well...

I have one fire extinguisher...in the kitchen...will get more...

I live in the upstairs of my father's two story house...two ways out...downstairs or out a window 25-30 to the ground. two dogs that live with me...I'm screwed...

You can buy a collapsible folding ladder in a cardboard briefcase. It clamps to the window sill, and you throw the box out the window. The ladder unfurls on the way down. I have one for the boys who sleep upstairs. My little guy was afraid of heights, so I bought an extra ladder ($30) and let him practice climbing down. The sides are flexible material like a seat-belt, so the ladder moves a bit. But we practiced at night, in the dark and he's comfortable with it now.

I would say the single most important thing you can do is actually practice getting out.

More than ladders or fire extinguishers. Even more than smoke detectors (which a lot of people sleep through). The most important thing is to make an ass of yourself and FORCE your family to actually go through the physical motions of fleeing a fire. Like they do in school. Like you may do at work.

Probably your family will mock you. Until they see the youngest child trying to practice crawling to safety. That sight makes anyone take the exercise seriously.

When you suddenly realize how vulnerable are the people you love.

a reply to: Graysen

I like this post - the fire drill. Not that any of this will do much good. People tend to not take fire seriously until they have been in one. I can only hope that somewhere down the line, one of these ideas will help someone.

Any recommendation on when to start teaching kids to get out of the house themselves vs going to get them? We have one in a crib who obviously wouldn't be able to leave on her own, and a toddler who's more capable but still too young to remember instructions for something like this or break/open a window. They have both also slept through the alarm going off, so I'm thinking they need to be a lot older before they have their own escape plan that we trust to work.

a reply to: Graysen

I like your thread.
Where I work there are unscheduled fire drills every month and on every shift in the homes.
When a new staff person is brought on board they are gone through a "mock" fire drill checklist.

The group homes must be evacuated in under 3 minutes, that is a difficult if not impossible task for some of them but maintains the license and is probably the best practice.

I am always amazed at the people that we support, who when questioned about fire drills, act as if I am speaking another language or say that "we haven't done one in a long time".

Makes me very upset and nervous, especially at this time of the year when it is getting colder.

originally posted by: Weagle
Any recommendation on when to start teaching kids to get out of the house themselves vs going to get them? We have one in a crib who obviously wouldn't be able to leave on her own, and a toddler who's more capable but still too young to remember instructions for something like this or break/open a window. They have both also slept through the alarm going off, so I'm thinking they need to be a lot older before they have their own escape plan that we trust to work.

I worked with a girl a few years back and the home that she was staying in caught fire, late at night with everyone sleeping except for her. She was not there at the moment but, her baby was. She was about 2 or 3 if I recall correctly. Everyone in the home panicked and everyone else thought the other person had the baby until they were all outside and realized that they didn't. I believe it was reported that the baby had hidden in a cupboard or a closet, unable to escape on her own.
Tragic for sure and just heartbreaking for everyone involved.

My two cents would be for you to be certain that you and your partner wake up and that you are not too far away from the children's rooms so that you don't get lost in the smoke or overtaken, there are more expensive alarms that you can buy with extremely loud alarms and lights that strobe etc.

They can be a little pricey but, in the event that they are ever needed I would imagine a worthy investment. I've thought about getting one or two for my sister who is nearly deaf and has Alzheimers.

I'm "the MAN of the house," so I will be the one who is expendable/expended to make sure everyone gets out. I wouldn't have it any other way.

If my kids were too young to help themselves, I'd still practice the drill, and do it with them in my arms. Likewise with the disabled who live with us.

That way they grow up with the "muscle memory" that every member has; that "daddy carries me out the side door and we all meet by the mail box." You never know where a fire will spread or not spread in a house; so them watching big bro or sis work their own respective routes shows them where other people will be. You'd be surprised how much a little person may be able to remember on their own in a crisis.

Because of other family history, my wife slept with our babies in our room / in our bed (against strong medical advice, I must point out). This naturally affected fire drills. (best friend had a child the same age as ours. That other baby was a victim of SIDS, and my spouse would wake up with night terrors and begin searching frantically for our kids. She still has it some times, nearly two decades later....)

I posted this whole thing because the fire plan/drill is a requirement for the Bobcat patch in cub scouts (BSA). they make it a requirement for every scout to come up with a family plan and practice it. Enough families have no exposure to scouting that I thought it was worth posting here.

I can say from first hand experience, a house fire is one of the most horrible things a person can go through. Everything you own in the world literally up in flames. It's not even the valuables, like you said about your cousin. Photos, keepsakes, stupid knickknacks you never even thought about until they were gone. Everyone should have a plan, just in case.