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Home
Safety: Fire
...continued
Fire
Drills
Probably the single most important thing you can do to ensure the
safety of your family in a fire is to have a good fire escape plan.
Here are the elements to include:
- Map
two escape routes from each room and make sure that each member
of the family knows what they are.
- Provide
emergency rope ladders for upstairs rooms.
- Establish
a meeting spot outside the house.
- Make
sure every member of the family knows what to do in case of fire.
- Hold
a surprise fire drill for the entire family twice a year.
In
Case of Fire
- Get
out, call the fire department from outside the home, and go
to your meeting spot.
- Do
not spend time in the house looking for pets or mementos. Do
not go back into the house, not for any reason.
- Always
feel a door for heat before opening it. If it's hot, don't open
it. If it's cool, open it cautiously and be ready to slam it
shut if flames or smoke billow in.
- If
the house is really smoky, get down and crawl—there's less smoke
at floor level.
- Although
it was once taught in school, do not stop for a wet rag—that's
a waste of precious time. While a wet rag may make it more comfortable
to breathe, it does nothing to filter out the gases that can
kill you.
- If
you are trapped, head for a room with a window, close all doors
behind you, and jam a rug or bedding under the door and over
all vents. Open the window—be ready to close it if smoke from
outside is coming in—and signal with a sheet or flashlight to
let the firefighters know where you are.
Home
Fire Sprinklers
Home fire sprinklers are being required for new homes in more
cities across the country, particularly for remote locations
and for communities in fire-prone areas. Here are some facts
you may not have known about residential sprinkler systems:
- Fire
sprinklers save lives, reduce property loss, and may reduce
homeowner insurance premiums.
- Home
fire sprinklers can contain and may even extinguish a fire
in less time than it would take the fire department to arrive
on the scene.
- Only
the sprinkler closest to the fire will activate, spraying
water directly on the fire. 90 percent of fires are contained
by the operation of just one sprinkler.
- Nationally,
on average, home fire sprinkler systems add 1 to 1.5 percent
to the total building cost in new construction.
- Home
fire sprinklers use only a fraction of the water used by fire
department hoses.
- The
odds of accidental sprinkler discharge due to manufacturing
defect are 1 in 16 million.
- Modern
residential sprinklers are inconspicuous and can be mounted
flush with walls or ceilings.
Source:
Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition
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