Fire Prevention Week: Protect Your Household by Practicing Home Fire Escape Plan, Testing Smoke Alarms

During Fire Prevention Week (October 6-12), the American Red Cross reminds everyone home fires claim more lives in a typical year than all natural disasters combined. To help protect your household, test your smoke alarms each month and practice your escape plan until everyone can get out in less than two minutes.

Tips for creating your home fire escape plan and practicing your 2-minute drill:

• Everyone in your household should know two ways to escape from each room in your home.

• Smoke is dangerous. Get low and go!

• Decide where to meet once you get outside. Select a meeting spot at a safe distance away from your home, such as a neighbor’s home or landmark like a specific tree in your front yard, where everyone knows to meet.

• Get out and stay out. Never go back inside for people, pets or things.

• If a fire starts, you may have less than two minutes to get to safety. Time your fire drill and find out: what’s your escape time?

• While practicing your escape plan, teach children what a smoke alarm sounds like. Talk about fire safety and what to do in an emergency.

Smoke alarm safety:

• Place smoke alarms on each level of your home, including inside and outside bedrooms and sleeping areas.

• In addition to testing your alarms once a month, change the batteries at least once a year, if your model requires it.

• Also check the manufacturer’s date of your smoke alarms. If they’re 10 years or older, they need to be replaced because the sensor becomes less sensitive over time. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions.

Visit redcross.org/fire for more information, including a home fire escape plan to create and practice with your household. Download the free Emergency app for instant access to help preparing for emergency situations. Choose whether you want to view the content in English or Spanish with an easy-to-find language selector. The Emergency app is accessible so that people with disabilities can use it and is compatible with Apple Watch and Android Wearable devices. Find all of the Red Cross apps in smartphone app stores by searching for the American Red Cross or going to redcross.org/apps.

HOME FIRE CAMPAIGN SAVE LIVES Since October 2014, the Red Cross Home Fire Campaign, working with community partners, has saved at least 2,169 lives by educating families about fire safety, helping them create escape plans and installing free smoke alarms in high-risk areas across the country. To learn more about the campaign and how you can get involved, visit redcross.org/homefires.