What to do in a house fire
The mere prospect of waking up to a house fire in the middle of the night sends a shiver down the spine. How would you cope if you were faced with this type of emergency and you didn’t have a sprinkler system installed in your home? This article looks at steps to take to keep everyone safe.
Don’t Panic!
Make everyone aware: Shout and make everyone in the property aware of the blaze, get all the people in the house together and head to your pre-arranged escape route.
Call for help: Ring 999 if you can and alert the fire service.
Don’t fight the fire: If the blaze has already taken hold you need to exit the property as soon as you can, leave the blaze to the experts, your safety is the most important thing.
Get the family out: Have an escape plan in place, work this out in advance and make sure everyone knows what to do in the event of a fire. Stick to the plan and crawl on the floor to avoid poisonous fumes.
Check doors carefully: Only open doors if you need to, feel the back of the door, if it’s hot the fire is waiting for you on the other side. Look around for windows to escape from if doors are blocked, think about the fastest and safest route out of the property.
Take care breaking windows: If you are trapped in a room block the bottom of the door with a towel or some bedding to prevent smoke from getting into the room. Open the window if possible, break it if you have to, try to remove jagged edges without cutting yourself or place something over the sharp edges like a duvet or a rug.
Watch the drop: Gently lower children as far as you can before you let them drop from a window, see if anyone at ground level on the outside can come to your assistance and help to catch the child or break their fall. Lower yourself gradually from the window until you are at arm’s length, then drop to the ground below.
Stay calm! Hopefully the neighbours will be there to help and the fire brigade will soon be with you, try not to panic and remain as calm as you can.
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