In Case of a Fire
CALL 911 IMMEDIATELY
DO NOT ENTER A BURNING STRUCTURE
DO NOT ENTER A BURNING STRUCTURE
- Feel for heat coming off of closed doors. If closed doors or handles are warm or smoke blocks your primary escape route, use your second way out. Never open doors that are warm to the touch.
- Get low and go under the smoke to your exit and close doors behind you.
- If smoke, heat or flames block your exit routes, stay in the room with doors closed. Place a wet towel under the door and call the fire department or 9-1-1. Open a window and wave a brightly colored cloth or flashlight to signal for help.
- Once you are outside, go to your meeting place. If you cannot get to your meeting place, follow your family emergency communication plan.
What if your clothes catch on fire
STOP - DROP - ROLL
- STOP what you’re doing.
- DROP to the ground and cover your face if you can.
- ROLL over and over or back and forth until the flames go out. Running will only make the fire burn faster.
Fire Safety and Prevention
A house fire is devastating yet many fires in a home are preventable.
- Keep a watchful eye over your cooking
Do not leave your stove unattended while frying, grilling, or broiling food. If you must leave, even for a short time, turn off the stove. - Give space heaters space
Keep fixed and portable space heaters at least three feet from anything that can burn. Turn off heaters when you leave the room or go to sleep. - Smoke outside
Ask smokers to smoke outside and not to leave their burning cigarettes or cigars unattended. Have sturdy, deep ashtrays available. NEVER smoke in bed. - Keep matches and lighters out of reach
Keep matches and lighters up high, out of the reach of children. - Regularly Inspect electrical cords
Replace cords that are cracked, damaged, have broken plugs, or have loose connections. - Exercise caution when using candles
Keep candles away from curtains and other hanging materials. Never leave a candle burning unattended and never place near objects that can catch fire easily. Always extiguish candles when you leave the room or go to sleep. - Have a home fire escape plan
Make a home fire escape plan with your household members and practice it at least twice a year. Come up with a meeting place to account for family members in case of a fire. - Install smoke alarms
Install smoke alarms on every level of your home, inside bedrooms and outside sleeping areas. Interconnect smoke alarms throughout the home. When one sounds, they all sound. Make it a habit to change your smoke alarm batteries twice a year to prevent failure. - Test smoke alarms
Test smoke alarms at least once a month and replace batteries when the alarm “chirps” to tell you the battery is low. Replace any smoke alarm that is more than 10 years old. - Install sprinklers
If you are building or remodeling your home, install residential fire sprinklers. Sprinklers can contain and may even extinguish a fire in less time than it would take the fire department to arrive.
Be Fire Wise
During fire season, many homes are lost due to the fast spread of wildfire. Protect your home and surrounding outbuilding with wildfire risk reduction steps. Maintain the Immediate, Intermediate, and Extended Zones of your home and property. Create DEFENSIBLE SPACE.
- Immediate Zone (0-5 feet around a home/structure)
Implement fire resistive construction by using class A fire rated roofing products. Inspect roofing material for lifting shingles or areas where embers can penetrate and catch the structure on fire. Prevent ember entry by screening roof and attic vents. Limit the amount of flammable vegetation in this zone and trim overhanging branches away from structures, porches, and decks. For larger trees trim the branches up 6 to 10 feet from the ground to remove a possible fire ladder into the canopy of the tree. - Intermediate Zone (5-30 feet around a structure)
Maintain your landscape to prevent overgrowth that embers can ignite. Remove dead vegetation from under decks and porches and never store flammable material underneath them. - Extended Zone (30-100 feet around structures)
Make sure that your address is posted clearly and facing in a visible direction from the road at the access of your driveway or roadway. Your driveway will need to be at least 12 feet wide and have a vertical clearance of 15 feet to accommodate emergency vehicles in case of a fire or medical emergency.