To beg you all to have a fire evacuation plan

Any recommendations on where to buy escape ladders?

Im in a flat with one exit. I am screwed. The windows are safety windows and only open 2 inches. Even if i broke them we have metal guards over the windows (bit like a juliet balcony without the doors) so i would have to climb over them through a broken window that is a foot high. Outside is a 10ft drop to the ground.

Does anyone know if you can re-use fire escape ladders?
I thought they could only be used once and couldn't be folded away again.

It is a really good idea to practise using them.

Britta, mine are 4 and 2 and I tell them the same. If they wake up to hear the alarms going off they stay in bed and wait for me or dh to come and get them. Failing that, get down low and head to the front door. Eldest can work the key and then they shout fire, run next door and ring the bell over and over.

If we were trapped upstairs we would head to a front bedroom, close the door, block the gaps while one of us is ringing 999 from one of 3 mobiles which are dotted sound strategically.

I have a hammer and an iron in there that I would use to break the glass, we're only a stones throw from the fire station so we'd wait to be rescued rather than jumping.

That's the theory anyway, have no idea how I would react in practice!

Do I tell the 5yo to help the 2yo out?

What should she do if she can't work the front door?

If she gets out of the house alone, does she just s tand and shout, or is it better to knock on neighbours doors?

Can I tell a 2yo anything of use?

PS - what most people don't appreciate is the sheer speed at which fires develop. If you've never seen a bad one in the flesh that's understandable but in many cases, you only have a matter of minutes before fumes might start to affect you.

LittleWhiteWolf - that's true. If you wake up and your windows open easily and properly for egress. (Many people have double glazing and keep ground floor windows locked in winter a la insurance company requirements. They can be smashed/opened but you've got to remember that you might be doing things when you're half asleep, perhaps a little dopey from some fume seepage and might have indifferent hearing or a disability which hampers escape.)

I mention this only because an acquaintance of mine had older parents in a bungalow and they were only awoken by one of their cats caterwauling in panic. (Sadly it didn't survive the fire.) They got out in their PJs but their whole place was gutted.

We went to our local fire station open day yesterday and booked a home visit. They did a demonstration with a chip pan fire and water, very scary stuff!

Great thread op.

I work for the fire service and carry out home visits every day.

I would urge everyone to either ring the local, manned, fire station or go online and ask for a free home fire safety check.
As they are tailored to YOU and YOUR house and YOUR family, you will get the best relevant advice.

This is one of my biggest fears. Like a lot of Italian houses we have fixed bars on the windows.

I'm more afriad of us being trapped behind them in the case of a fire, than of a thief getting in.

I'll get my neighbour to come round with his industrial whizzy cutter thing and get them all off.

I really like the look of those fire ladders, why are they considered dangerous ?

Yes, please someone tell me how to get a baby out of a second floor window. I can't see how I could climb out of a window one handed! And what about the toddler as well?

This thread has me worried sick (guess who has spotlights in the bathroom?!) though I suppose that's a good thing

This thread has been an eye opener, thank you op.
I have always thought, it would never happen to me, but I am defenitly going to take some steps to be ready for fire.

One of the perks of living in a bungalow is the fact that it's a very short drop to safety!

The advice for getting babies and toddlers out of a upstairs window used to be...

Stick them inside your double duvet cover and lower them out of the window to a neighbour down below.

Is this still classed as good advice? Corner to corner it would reduce the drop by 7 feet ish.

Someone commented earlier about new build being built to high fire standard s. we moved into a new build; we were the first people to live there. It was essentially a flat with no downstairs and a flight of stairs leading from the front door. I kept smelling a funny smell and told dh who didn't smell it. Turns out our fuse box, located by front door and our only point of egress, was smouldering. I was absolutely furious.

Ah right - makes sense. Particularly the earthquake one.

We're in New Zealand. Relatively safe where we are (Auckland), but still theoretically possible. I got an awful shock when DD1's kindergarten enrolment pack had details of their tsunami warning escape route & dates of their earthquake drills.

Better prepared and never have to use it than the opposite I suppose...

Blimey - where do you live, vvviola ? (I'm assuming that was serious about the tsunami plan.)

I thought I had a great plan - balcony in our bedroom, window in DC's both not v high off ground. Until I realised that the DC bedroom windows have special hinges that mean they only open a few cm.

Must have a rethink.

And must get on to DH to start doing our general emergency/earthquake/tsunami plan too. Especially as DD1 will be doing a big practice in school at the end of the month & will probably interrogate us on it

(When they practiced at kindergarten she got quite bothered that DD2 was too little to "be turtle safe" i.e. duck & cover herself. She thinks about everything that one...)

Well this thread has kicked me into contacting the local fire brigade to arrange a free fire safety inspection. Easy peasy. Found their website and there's a section on it for doing just that - quick email from the website (took all of 30 seconds) and they'll contact me - would even fit a fire alarm free if I hadn't got one. (I have.)

Good post op.

Damn. Pressed post by mistake!

The factory behind my house went up. So quick. Whole street was evacuated at 2am.

couthy that is awful about your friends child.

I do have a plan. Basically get dd and out window onto flat roof. Keys always in doors.

I am moving in 2 weeks and this has made me think about what I'll do there. I think escape ladders sound a good idea? I'd rather break a bone than die in a fire. Good advice though to actually practice using them to ensure you're able to.

Last year the factory jst

Meant to add:

If you have a fire escape ladder, you should practice using it regularly so it becomes second nature in an emergency.

Most people don't. They have it in a corner of an upstairs room and a lot of them don't even set it up once. Add an emergency and panic and that's why the fire brigade don't recommend them.

To underline the need for a plan. I had a tradesman in last month and while we were talking he told me about a recent fire he'd had - the deep freeze went up. (And what's the one thing you always leave on overnight?) Luckily, it happened at teatime so family and pets were all OK although the house was a mess. If it had happened in the early hours, it would have been a lot more problematic.