National Fire Prevention Week (FPW) is just ahead – October 6 – 12 – and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) wants you to take small but important actions to keep you and your family safe.
The theme for this year’s FPW is, “Not Every Hero Wears a Cape. Plan and Practice Your Escape!”
It’s easy to dismiss the possibility of a fire in your home as an unlikely occurrence. However, according to the NFPA, more than 1.3 million fires were reported by fire departments in the U.S. in 2018, resulting in an estimated 3,655 civilian deaths and 15,200 injuries
In a typical home fire, you may have as little as one to two minutes to escape safely from the time the smoke alarm sounds (assuming you’ve got working batteries in it). Today’s homes burn faster than ever. You may have as little as two minutes to escape safely from the time the smoke alarm sounds.
Escape planning and practice ensure that everyone knows what to do in a fire and is prepared to escape quickly and safely.
Don’t procrastinate. Make your home escape plan and practice today. Make sure everyone in the family knows about the plan or is included in it in some way. Your plan should include:
- Mapping out a floor plan and identifying exits
- Making sure smoke alarms are strategically placed throughout the house
- Choosing a meeting place outside of your home where everyone will meet after exiting, and
- Calling 9-1-1-.
