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Fire Drill!
Creating a Family Fire Plan for Your Home By Jamie Moore
– Every family member should know at least two ways out of each room. Check the doors and windows needed for escape and ensure they're unobstructed and easy to open. (Breaking out a window is not a safe way to get out of any room, says Kilpeck.) Exit routes that involve an upper story window should lead to a roof, balcony or porch. If they don't, consider purchasing a non-combustible escape ladder and practice setting up the ladder out the window with your children.
3. Decide on a family meeting place outside – Choose a place that's a safe distance from your home, and mark the spot on your escape plan. Practice meeting there during family fire drills. Remind children to get out and stay out.
4. Memorize the local fire department's emergency phone number – Discuss your plan to call the fire department from a neighbor's home or mobile phone once outside.
5. Practice your fire plan twice a year – "The more you practice your escape plan, the more likely you and your family will be able to make proper decisions and escape safely," says Comoletti.
NFPA incorporates many playful and interactive approaches in its educational programs. In one, children use a dollhouse with dolls who find all the escape routes and then practice exiting and meeting outside when they hear a smoke alarm. In a blanket crawl exercise, children crawl low under smoke – a suspended blanket – to get outside. And for computer game fanatics, Sparky the Fire Dog's Web site
