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Know when to Go! If your smoke alarm goes off, do you know what to do? Get Out, Stay Out!
Know two ways out -- see the Escape Plans page and develop working escape plans for each room in your home and determine a meeting place to regroup outside the house. Get out fast! -- Don't stop to take things with you, collect pets or let anything but closing doors slow your progress out of the house. As you leave a room on your escape path, close the door behind you. This will prevent smoke and fire from traveling, reduce the air it has available, and allow you a safer environment if you have to backtrack to take an alternate path out of the house. If you have to open a door on your path, feel the door with the back of your hand low on the door, in the middle and higher on the door to see if it feels hot. If it does, most likely there is fire somewhere on the other side; try an alternate route. Crawl under the smoke -- Smoke and gases that are produced by fires are warmer than normal household air so, like a hot air balloon, they rise. To avoid the toxic gases, smoke and heat crawl as low a possible when moving on your path out of the house. If you must travel through a smoky area, the coolest, clearest air will be closest to the floor -- one to two feet from the floor -- so stay low! Go to your meeting place -- Gather your family at a neighbor's house or at a safe place away from the house and out of the street, but where the fire department can find you. Designate one person to call the fire department (our number is 911), tell them your emergency and if everyone is out of the house while the others wait at the meeting place. If you can't get out -- Close doors between you and the fire to slow its progress and keep heat and smoke away from you. Stuff clothes or towels in the cracks around the doors and in vents to keep the smoke out. Wait at a window if you can and signal with a flashlight or light-colored piece of cloth. If you have a phone available, call 911 and tell them exactly where you are.
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