Creating an Evacuation Plan

3/15/2022 (Permalink)

Most people know that they should have a home fire escape plan. Few are willing to make the effort to create one. After all, home fires aren’t that common. Fire planning is likely to end up near the bottom of their to-do lists.

There are Three Steps To the Process:

1. Prepare a plan. Involve everyone in the family. Engaging everyone makes the following steps simpler.
   
   
2. Walkthrough the plan. None of this will become real to your family until they experience it. This will also expose flaws or anything you missed.
   
   
3. Run fire drills. At first, schedule them. If that goes well, try some unscheduled ones. Use the test buttons on your fire detectors.
   
   

Following are a few considerations when preparing the plan.

A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words

You see fire escape plans near exit doors and in hotel rooms. It is a simple picture of the floor plan showing where you are and how to exit the building. This concept works as well in homes as it does in commercial establishments.

A Single Exit Is Not Enough

What happens if a home fire blocks your preferred exit? Make sure your plan allows for alternate exits. There should be exits at opposite ends of the home if possible.

A Meeting Place Is the Key to a Successful Evacuation

When it comes to evacuating a burning home, the most important thing is to get out safely. The second most important thing is to know that everyone else is safe. The only reliable way to do this is to establish a common meeting place. Everyone who gets out must go directly to that place and meet up with the others.