Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 3 4 5 6

Original poster

To beg you all to have a fire evacuation plan

136 replies

WelshMaenad · 31/08/2012 20:51

my friend's house has gone up in flames this evening. Thankfully she and her dd were not home when it happened, but they have list everything. Her neighbours said that it went from a wisp of smoke to a blazing inferno within minutes, had they been home, maybe sleeping, they would have been in a lot of trouble.

I am going out to buy fire escape ladders tomorrow. Please please please review your escape options in your home. Seeing her house in flames has literally petrified me, it was horrific and so frightening.

OP posts:

porcamiseria · 03/09/2012 17:44

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

cozietoesie · 03/09/2012 17:46

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.

cozietoesie · 03/09/2012 17:47

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

TwelveLeggedWalk · 03/09/2012 17:48

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.

ReneandGeorgetteMagritte · 03/09/2012 18:06

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.

hooper02 · 03/09/2012 18:28

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

RumpledTitSkin · 03/09/2012 18:32

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.

DameEnidSpink · 03/09/2012 18:46

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

rogersmellyonthetelly · 03/09/2012 19:14

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!

tara0202 · 03/09/2012 19:50

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.

IwishIwasmoreorganised · 03/09/2012 20:05

Good post op.

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

IwishIwasmoreorganised · 03/09/2012 20:11

South Glamorgan do.

There's an online form to fill in to request a home safety check, then they'll get in touch.

cozietoesie · 03/09/2012 20:16

Yep - that's what I filled in this weekend for mine.

FryOneFatManic · 03/09/2012 20:17

We do have a basic plan, that covers which doors/windows to exit from depending on where the fire is. If we cant get downstairs, we can get out of either DCs windows onto a flat roof and down from there. The DCs know where the keys are for the windows.

Have fire alarms and check batteries regularly, and also 3 doors to the outside downstairs.

DP and I leave the keys in the locks for the downstairs doors, doors are locked but in the event of fire we are not wasting time looking for the keys at night.

FryOneFatManic · 03/09/2012 20:18

I meant to add that I do go round and check non-essential stuff is switched off. good for the bills but mainly because I want to reduce fire risks.

Original poster

WelshMaenad · 03/09/2012 20:23

I hope I haven't panicked anyone! It just really, really made me think about fire safety.

Just to let you all know that my friend is coping AMAZINGLY. She is the strongest woman I have ever encountered! We live in a small closeknit community and dozens of people have stepped up to donate items and we now have a donated storage unit slowly filling up with furniture and household items ready for her to find a new home for herself and her dd. At the end of the month the rugby club is throwing a fundraising 'ball' for her too. I do love my little village.

OP posts:

attheendoftheday · 03/09/2012 20:31

We had a fire safety check done when dd was newborn. We live somewhere rural and use open fires and a stove for our heating and hot water. The fire brigade were excellent, very clear that they would not reach us in time if there was a serious fire, and we would need to get ourselves out. They recommended we keep a large bag and a rope in the bedroom to lower dd down and then lower ourselves as far as we can and jump. I worry about how we would get ddog out, and whether I could bring myself to leave her.

RumpledTitSkin · 03/09/2012 20:34

It's a good thread Maenad. So glad your friend is coping and has lots of help.

The more people that have a plan and a bit of knowledge of fire safety, the better. Smoke alarms are great, but they don't phone 999 or carry you and your family out so you do need a plan as well.

SeventhEverything · 03/09/2012 20:40

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

cozietoesie · 03/09/2012 20:44

Probably. That's going to be a hard one for me also. It's when all my computer scans are carried out.

finduspancakes · 03/09/2012 21:28

Tara, ours said the same thing.

DameEnidSpink · 04/09/2012 13:32

So having been posting on a thread about fire safety, I went into the utility room to iron some uniform for the DCs for tomorrow to find that I had left the iron on, since, umm, Friday when I last ironed something

Ironing - no good can come from it

tara0202 · 04/09/2012 13:48

Pancakes :(

Dame - you are right, though, no good can come of ironing which is why I don't do ironing

Maenad :) I'm really glad you started this thread, its really made me think. I am so glad your friend is doing well after her ordeal and that everyone is pulling together for her - that is so nice.

RumpledTitSkin · 04/09/2012 18:19

Sorry to those in areas where the fire service aren't doing home visits. I thought we all were, it's all about prevention and protection where I am.

Agree with ironing being more dangerous than it's worth.

cozietoesie · 08/09/2012 10:04

Well I have now had my fire safety visit arranged. (They phoned up yesterday evening.)

So thank you, OP.

Flip

1 2 3 4 5 6