How to Make Your Home Accessible to Firefighters in Case of a Fire

In the event of a fire, you want firefighters to be able to access your home easily, without the hindrances of locked gates, bars on windows and unreadable home address numbers. Take the following steps to make your home accessible to an emergency crew.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Lithium Batteries
• Standard 9-volt Batteries
• Carbon Monoxide Detector
• Smoke Detectors
• Smoke Detectors
• Fireproof Safes
• Fire Extinguishers
• Fire Extinguishers
• Combination Smoke/carbon Monoxide Detectors

1. Keep back fences shut, but avoid putting heavy locks on them, which can make it difficult for firefighters to access the backyard in an emergency.

2. Avoid putting Tot finder and Pet finder stickers on windows. Contrary to popular belief, these stickers can cause firefighters to enter a burning home unnecessarily. Sometimes people forget to remove stickers in a new home purchase, or forget to take stickers off when a pet dies. Firefighters don't want to risk their lives unnecessarily. It's better to alert firefighters about trapped children or pets through verbal notification.

3. Make sure home address numbers are visible and readable from the street. Numbers should be painted on your curb, as well as placed on your home.

4. Keep doors to the garage, laundry room and kitchen shut at night. Should a fire break out, the smoke detectors should go off, but a shut door can save the house and people from fire. Likewise, sleep with bedroom doors closed, but make sure each family member knows how to test the door before opening it, in case of a fire (see Tips).

5. Forego installing security bars on bedroom windows unless they have releases from the inside.

Tips & Warnings

• If a smoke detector goes off, teach your family members to test closed doors before opening them: Place the back of a hand on the door to check for heat, starting at the bottom of the door and working it up as high as possible. Then place the back of a hand on the doorknob (metal conducts heat better than wood - if there's any heat outside the door, you should be able to feel it).
• If you can't feel heat, crack open the door, stay low, and check for smoke. If smoke is present, use another way out.
• If a detector goes off, you literally have seconds to respond. There is absolutely no time to gather possessions, pets and possibly even each other. Your best response is to leave the home immediately, gather at your prearranged meeting place and call 911 from a neighbor's home.
• Never go back into the house once you've escaped from the fire.

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[pirate7]

on 11/1/2007 i meant tip 2

[pirate7]

on 11/1/2007 i am only 35% sure about tip @, can you explain it better?