to ask if you would survive this..

[AElfgifu]

Imagine that in this instant your power fails, its pitch black, and the house immediately fills with choking smoke.

Would you and your family get out? Would your smoke alarms warn you first? Can you find a key in the dark? do your children know where to go? Is there an alternative exit if the route to your front door is on fire? How about a phone (not electric?) a torch? could you put your hands on them instantly without wasting time feeling around?

We do have a plan. There is an emergency key taped to the bottom of a cabinet near the front door, which could be found my touch. My children know to leave mediately and meet at a tree near the front of the house. If they can't get out down the stairs, they know where the fire escape is, and that cupboard has emergency lighting. They know to leave the animals to me ( in practice I would leave the animals, most likely, but wouldn't ever tell DC that in advance, in case they try to reach them)

It isn't perfect, and still things could go wrong, but it is the best and simplist plan I can come up with. DC have known this escape plan since they sere preschool.

We have smoke detectors. Our front door doesn't need a key to be opened from the inside, and the back door key stays in the lock (enclosed garden). There's a torch by my side of bed, and thinking about it, there's 2 because the baby monitor has a torch button, plus DS has a torch next to his bed. If we couldn't get downstairs, we could climb out of DS's bedroom window onto the kitchen extension, or DD's window onto the porch roof at a push, although I'm not sure that would take much weight...

DH's mobile phone is next to his side of the bed (on call often).

Haven't discussed a fire escape plan with DS, (DD is just a baby), but now thinking about it, he's probably old enough to be discussed with him...

I have a fire escape in the cupboard on the landing, and the cupboard has a battery operated light. The fire escape is a sort of cortsortinaed
( no idea how to spell that!) ladder with huge hooks to go over the window sill. I got it from B and Q originally, don't know if they still do them, but other places will.

Also fire blankets in bedrooms, for people to use as cloaks in case of heat / flames.

That's a good idea revenant

Yes. The front door has a chain and snip - never, ever locked from the inside. If we can get downstairs we can get to the front door. If we can't do that, we have upstairs windows to open/break until fire brigade arrive. We have no flat roofs to escape to. If we can't get out the front way, we can get out of the back but that would be difficult if we can't reach the front.

We do, however, have smoke alarms and well tested electrics and it's quite big house and if we ran to the first floor and closed doors I think we would buy time. Remembers the day when some papers were balanced on the scales next to the hob and the draught from the boiling pan and raising lid wafted them towards the hob and they caught fire. We just smelled it and caught it before something serious happened.

We have provided similar to AElgifu description - almost like flatpack extendable ladders, very lightweight with huge hooks. they are designed for use up to 2 storeys and are stored under the beds in each bedroom. I'm reasonably sure they cost less than £100 each - we bought them in bulk from an online retailer.

Wow this thread has really made me think. We have no plan at all, apart from telling the children to stay where they are and we will find them. Thanks for the thread, OP, and will sit down with DH and spend some time on it.

I did a fire safety course as a Nursery Nurse a good tip I was given by a Fireman was if having to take children and lead them hold one by the hand put the smallest down your top and tuck in top so you have a free hand to feel your way if need be.

I used to be terrified of a fire when we lived in our flat as we were on the 14th floor of a high rise with one way in and out :(

Now we are in a house. We all sleep upstairs, we have a smoke alarm down stairs and one upstairs. The doors arent locked with keys on the inside, rather the knobs you turn which is easier. Our girls rooms are opposite ours. I even have a plan to get the cat out (he sleeps with me and my laundry basket has a lid.

Either we can get out of the front door (at the bottom of the stairs) or we all pile into our room which has the biggest windows and shut the door etc. I always take my phone to bed.

We live in a top floor flat, 2nd story house. DS's room leads out onto a porch bit so I guess we'd climb into there and down onto the floor.

This is a good thread. Thank you OP.
I can confirm our smoke alarm works at least. DP was very surprised it went off the other day when lighting the barbecue in the hall as it was a bit windy outside.
Another tip is to feel your way using the back of your hand as if you get an electric shock or something, you won't grip, which is the natural instinct apparently.

Smoke alarms in all rooms except kitchen and dining room. The hall and stairs has four as we have three floors.
There is a fire escape on the top floor and three exits on ground floor. If no other exit from middle floor I would put matress out of window, hang and drop depending on where fire was.
Dcs all know how to leave. Might do a 2am drill next week or is that too sheldonesc.
Doors all have keys in the locks, Im more afraid of fire than prison(which is potentially what could happen if someone unwanted tries to break in.)
Even as a dc I worked out exit plans, and when I was pregnant I dreamt I was escaping from a fire in the hospital.

Not that it scares me or anything.

Practise, practise and practise.

Check smoke alarms weekly.

I know it's Ott but I have even done practise in the middle of the night.

Back and front door both openable without keys and regularly tested smoke alarms in the futility room (back of house) and hall, in the centre.

Our fire service did a home check - the thing about getting out of upstairs windows if there is no flat roof was to throw out anything that would make a safe landing - so mattresses etc, then put little children in a duvet cover and lower down gently, climb out, but don't jump, grip the sill with your fingers and drop down.

We have smoke alarms in the hall and landing and in the utility room where the washer and dryer are. The DCs know to meet at the top of the stairs where we can escape onto a flat roof.

If you have n porch or flat roof, dangle yourself out of the window, facing the wall, and drop as carefully as you can while pushing yourself away from dangerous objects on the floor. You're not actually that far off the ground when you're dangling.

Oh, and try not to worry too much. Husband is a firefighter and in 18 years in the service he's never once had to carry anyone out of a burning building. The vast majority of people get out, and those that don't are usually drunk (left cooking on stove then passed out) or are very old with no means of moving themselves.

When buying new doors, pay for fire doors.

I leave my back door key in the key hole. The door is locked but the key is there ready. A friend is a part time fire fighter and says very often people are found by the back door huddled on the floor when they have not been able to find the key. When it's pitch dark, full of smoke and u can't see and ur terrified its much much harder to find 'that key that hangs just by the door'. Ever since he told me that iv never taken my key out the back door and my front door is just a simple pull down handle. I still worry though as the back bedroom only had a tiny opener up high which no way u could get out of.
Biggest dear is fire shouldn't have read this at this time of the evening!

We sadly experienced a house fire last year and thank goodness I was 'fire escape obsessed' beforehand..... We got out, so did the animals......

We have phones by our bed, smoke alarms checked weekly and escape routes in place.... The kids know exactly what to do if they become trapped and we can't get to them...... It's worth the chat to the family..... Trust me I know.

Thanks OP. I needed reminding of this. We have fire alarms, but not an escape plan. And DDs are old enough at 10 and 11 to understand said plan.

Smoke alarms wired into mains.
Keys and phone kept with me at all times and got on bedside table at night. (Due to a couple of overnight break ins whilst we slept)
I know the front door key by feel.
We have 2 windows on the first floor we could dangle and drop from.
If anything forced us to the next floor the fall would kill us anyway.

We have a loft conversion, so have fire doors and mains wired smoke detectors. I leave the fire doors open at night, as I figure I'd want any fire to trigger the smoke detector to warn me to get our, rather than the fire to have made its way through a fire door. However, in the day time when the house is empty, I close the fire doors to contain the fire.

I've thought it through but is this the right approach?

We're single story. We have 5 exit points and a letter box at the end of a very long drive. My dc (5 & 3) know to "get down, keep low, get out" and meet us by the letterbox at end of drive.

Although we have just moved to this house and although very similar to last house we could go through it all again just in case.

There is always a charges phone kept next to the keys in easy reach. And the smoke alarms get checked regularly.

If you don't have a plan phone your local Fire Station & ask them to come out. They'll come out do an assessment and give you all the advice you need - not to mention the kids get the excitement of a fire engine showing up

Heat and smoke detectors wired to mains, lots of available exits depending on which floor we're on (3 storeys). Rope ladder with hooks stored in easy access spot in main bedroom - if the stairs were cut off by fire, we'd climb out of our bedroom window & down to ground (not a drop you could dangle from!).

Plus fire blankets in kitchens, fire extinguisher on each floor, axe under DH's side of the bed for chopping through walls or doors to get to children if needed.

However, we haven't done a drill for a while. If the rain lets up this weekend I think we'll have one or two, plus make sure the boys know where to meet up.