Make a plan now to escape house fires

Bill Wilson

Thursday, Oct. 16, 2008 | midnight

Fires in American homes claim more than 4,000 lives each year. A serious home fire is a deadly combination of heat, blinding smoke and toxic gases.

Fire can produce temperatures of more than 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit, causing a flashover, which is an instantaneous ignition of an entire room. In a very short period of time, a whole house can be engulfed, blocking exits and leaving no time to escape.

How can you save you and your loved ones from this terrible fate? The Boulder City Fire Department suggests you devise an escape plan. Once this is done — and this is the important part — everyone in the home needs to practice the plan.

Follow these steps to make your family safer:

• Check your warning system. Do you have operating smoke detectors in key areas of the house — near sleeping areas where they can be heard by everyone?
• Draw a diagram of your house, showing every room. Then walk through each escape route, check for barriers. Make sure everyone can unlock all locks and open all windows and doors quickly, even in the dark. Make arrangements for children and people with disabilities.
• Make sure everyone in your family knows that once they are out, they must not go back in for any reason. If people are trapped, firefighters have the best chance of rescuing them.
• Explain to children that they must not hide under beds or in closets. If they are unable to escape, they should stay low and out in the open yelling as loud as they can.
• Everyone should gather at one meeting place outside, preferably at the front, where the Fire Department will arrive. Each family member should know how to call the Fire Department from a neighbor's house.

Practice this plan twice a year. The Fire Department will come to your home (as a free service) and show your family how to run a fire escape drill. Call for an appointment at 293-9228.

Bill Wilson, a firefighter-paramedic for the Boulder City Fire Department, can be reached at 293-9228.