To beg you all to have a fire evacuation plan

Good post op.

I'm off to see if our fire service will come out to offer advice.

Seems to be a postcode lottery then re fire checks. Great! I agree, it is short sighted. I do know someone who used to be a fire officer. I might ask him to pop round and give him a some beers cup of tea.

We have one, but it jnvolves me or dh getting everyone out. Now kids are old enough to unlock the door themselves I will revise it!

Very good point about being able to locate keys.

DDs friend's Dad works for the Fire Service and he told us of a sad case where they went in to do an investigation after a fire and there were fingerprints all round the area in which the keys were hanging up, but due to the intensity of the smoke / darkness / confusion the householder could not locate them and were found unconscious on the floor nearby

Hooper, that's just awful.

I didn't realise they didn't do home safety checks all over, I guess it would be down to finances.

Have always drilled in my 2 dd not to hide if there was a fire. A friend of my mums lost her two young children in a fire, they had hidden in a wardrobe and the fire brigade didn't find them in time

We have a fire escape ladder, smoke alarms and a plan. The children know what to do, but practicing is really the only way I think they remember it and we don't do this enough.

DH laughs at me, but I switch off all the plugs other than the fridge at night.

Sometimes the eldest likes to have his fan on all night and I wake back up and sneak in to turn it off!

When I work nights I fret that they haven't switched everything off or shut the doors between rooms...

I am uptight about it and it does mean that I struggle if the children are offered 'sleepovers'.

So far I have refused, but I can't always do that- I will have to start asking parents what fire precautions they have in place.

There is no way I can see to do this without seeming utterly deranged.

Fab thread. When dh left me alone with the Dts on overnights I used to hook the slings over the top bannister so I could carry both out at once if necessary.

It's a balance of risks porcamiseria. There's rarely going to be an absolute.

I just had a look at their website - very different in attitude from my own fire service. In my view, shortsighted - although they'll doubtless have come up with some officialese for their Management Board about 'ownership' and so on.

this has made me think

i made DP take child lock off window in case of fire
then I locked it as DC were climbng!

I think I need to scitch tape lock to just on top of window where kids cant reach

fuck

cozietoezie I know I was surprised too. From what I read on here I thought I'd be able to get one so went on to their website (Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue) find out how I would do it.

Fire doors must be installed in 3 floor properties too. All our doors bar bathroom ones are fire doors.

Sassybeast - DH's keys are kept at the bottom of the stairs. We would have to walk over them to get to either door. Mine are in my bag which is always on the stair banister - again wed have to go by it and could feel it with my hands too.

If I had a full wood door or limited glass I could consider leaving it in the door, but not really with the door we have.

At school when we do evactuation drills we have a target of getting everyone out of the school within 3 minutes max. We also set up diversions and blocked routes during drills to build in emergency strategies, etc. but agan the 3 minute evaucation time is expected.

I would think that such a time target might be useful when thinking of home plans.

We have a difficult one as we are on three floors and the only exits are on the bottom floor. Our bedrooms on the top floor. We do have fire alarms on each floor, each is linked to the other so if one goes off their all do. And they are linked to the electrics too. It is very loud too. We also have a carbon monoxide alarm.

But depending on where a fire started would be an issue as there is just the one way up and down. The kitchen is currently on the middle floor and right next to the stairs down.

DD knows that if she hears the alarm at night she is to come straight to our bedroom asap. We have an ensuite so could do the wet towels thing easier. But it does mean we are at the back of the house.

Although we have a telephone in our room I worry about it not working in a fire. I need to start implementing a system where a mobile phone is plugged in to charge upstairs too.

For those people who say they keep door keys in a 'safe' place, what does that mean exactly ?
I was caught in a fire in our student halls - the speed and intensity of the smoke was unbelievable. Had the key not been IN the door, I'm not sure I would have been able to locate it to get out - my eyes were burning out and in the panic, I lost all my bearings. I would strongly urge people to keep their keys IN the door - I balance the risks of burglars v fires.

When we had our fire safety check a couple of years ago they said to chuck anything out of the window to soften the landing, mattresses, pillows, cushions, duvets etc; put babies / toddlers in a duvet cover to lower to anyone outside that you could.

But do not jump. You are more likely to injure yourself.

Hold on to window ledge etc with fingertips and then drop, you may break a leg / arm etc but will be safe.

You really surprise me tara0202. That's so short sighted given the devastation a fire can cause potentially to lives and property.

Good link though.

I've just looked at the website for my local fire station. They give a guide about home safety but won't carry out checks unless you are vulnerable (e.g. disabled or elderly). Its a pity there's not enough to go round for everyone although I clearly understand people with disabilities should take priority in this regard. I would feel a lot better having a fire officer look at my house as I have 2 under 3's :(

My local service did give this link which might be helpful

www.direct.gov.uk/en/HomeandCommunity/InYourHome/FireSafety/index.htm

Fire doors have to be installed if there is a particular number of rooms / occupants in a building. Threr's some regulation about it but I'm not sure regarding numbers.
It tends to be multiple occupancy e.g. bedsits / shared student houses etc. rather than ordinary sized family homes though.

We live in a council property, should they install fire doors?

I Hadn't thought of fire doors.

Well done you for getting a fire safety visit.

My electrics aren't the most modern although I've just had the fuse box replaced and I'm working my way through such things as slightly questionable light switches and so on. I think my biggest difficulties would be closing all doors at night and leaving appliances plugged in. We'll see what the fire safety people say when they come round.

We had the fire brigade round and they checked all our alarms and heat detectors. They also told us to close all internal doors at night, don't dry washing infront of the fire, don't leave appliances on at night, and make a plan for the event of fire. If upstairs, we should all go into one room and call them, they didn't mention ladders. We have child locks on windows, so I think I should double check every week the keys are nearby.

MyDogShitsMoney, that reminds me though, we have antiquated electrics which need some remedial work, and we keep putting it off. Definitely going to book another sparky, as the last chap let us down and didn't turn up.

I'm so sorry for you friend OP so glad they are ok.

Terribly sorry for your friend too Couthy.

My fuse box went on fire 18 months ago. For no reason at all, it just developed a fault. Unfortunately the fault was the wrong side of the main RCD switch so nothing tripped out.

Luckily I was in the room at the time so was able to call 999 straight away so everything was fine bar a little smoke damage. It terrified the life out of me though.

If I hadn't been in it would have been a very different story. I live in a terraced house, one side was empty and the other were out so it could have spread horrifically before anyone would have noticed.

I now have smoke alarms in every room plus one in the actual meter cupboard where the fuse box is.

I also leave the keys in every door. I've been burgled before so I know the risks but it's one I'm willing to take.