to ask if you would survive this..

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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.

The putting kids in duvet cover tip is genius. Thank you. And i guess that if there is a duvet in it too, that helps with soft landing.

Does anyone know how to break double glazing? It worries me that we only have a small opening window in the bedrooms.

We currently have builders on our new house and one of the things that are doing is hard wiring smoke and CO alarms upstairs and down. We are also fitting a stairs fire door.

We only have 2 window keys so will be leaving them all unlocked until we can replace them (DD is old enough now to be trusted) and both doors don't need keys to exit.

DD knows that it is better to break a leg than be trapped in a fire and we've talked about it a lot. She says she will throw all her bedding and toys out the window and then jump on them! In reality her new bedroom is the one with the extension under, so she'll be fine.

Great thread. Too many people don't think about these things.

I'm in a first floor flat with big windows so would be able to drop down outside if need be (rather break something than die). I've just replaced the smoke alarm batteries. Don't need a key to get out front door. And then I can get out of the building through two different routes, one on this level, one down a set of stairs.

I was really worried about fire where I used to live. It was a maisonette so our living room/kitchen were 2nd floor of building, and bedrooms 3rd. Too far to jump, stupid windows, no way out apart from front door (with awkward lock needing key from inside) and then down communal stairs.
A family on the estate died in a fire, there were public meetings complaining about lack of fire safety etc, but nothing was done. I distinctly remember a stupid man from the council telling us we could jump out our bedroom windows - it would be no different from him jumping from the bedroom window of his house. Yeah, right, his window is on 1st floor, ours is on 3rd, he might break a leg, we'd probably die.

Front door keys by the door, back door key left in. All upstairs bedroom windows are fire escape windows and we know for definite (don't ask) that we can throw the mattress out of our window onto the front lawn. Fully charges phones upstairs every night and regularly checked smoke alarms.
Oh, and the fire station is 2 minutes away

We live in an upstairs flat, but are very lucky in that we have a concrete balcony which runs the length of the property and is accessed via windows in every room, apart from two bedrooms which are right next to the balcony door and have smoke alarms throughout. My mother had two house fires (very stupid woman) and although they escaped both times, nothing can prepare you for the speed which fire can take over, and the devastation afterwards. It is always the first thing I thinkabout if staying over at a new place.

I'm pretty sure that to smash a double glaze window you hit a corner with something heavy, it's the weakest point of the window.

I'm in a 1st floor flat so only one way in and ano flat roof but if we couldn't get to the front door all our windows open up fully so could drop out if need be into frot or back garden. DD is only a baby and her room is within 4 step of ours, can't imagine not being able to get to her as long the smoke alarm goes off quickly as no power points etc in the hall.

What terrifies me though is a fire in one of the other flats, I know I unplug everything etc every night but I also know one of my neighbours doesn't have a smoke alarm, she reckoned the fumes from her hair due would set it off all the time. Her and her husband are both smokers and wet heavy drinkers...it's small comfort that they live above me and all that's above them is the attic.

Sorry that's full of typos! Hair dye that should have said!

Good thread, something that has been at the back of my mind for a while. I never leave phones charging overnight anymore. Good shout about deciding in advance who will go for which DC.

Thanks OP. You have reminded me to resume my argument with DH about the way he squirrels window keys away rearranging of the window keys

We are in a new build, about 5 years old. We have wired smoke alarms, two at the end of each landing, in the downstairs hall & in the living room. All doors are fire doors. We also have a get out plan which the kids are aware of. When my eldest was in P4 (7-8), the school had fire safety week, the fire safety officers came in and did loads of activities, classes, homework based "get out, stay out, get the fire brigade out".

They did a whole lot of work around safety in the home - matches, chargers, chip pans etc. They also gave out florescent, glow in the dark stickers, for the kids to put on the back of bedroom doors so they could see the way out.

To add to the experiences here - I had one moment of blissful calm as I sat in my front garden waiting for the fire brigade to arrive at my house, DS had already been taken by a neighbour and I suddenly realised that as we were both out (DH at work) NOTHING. ELSE. MATTERED. When it came down to it, every single thing we had was either replaceable or not worth risking it over compared to human life. Good insurance and offsite backup of digital photos meant that the whole place could have gone up in smoke (it didn't) and I realised it would all turn out ok. Once you've worked out your escape routes have a think about insurance and where your digital photos are stored.

Another important thing to remember (FIL is a safety officer) is to always check for the escape route in any public building - especially theatres, cinemas, restaurants. Like on aeroplanes, the nearest one may be behind you - I always scan round once I'm in my seat/at my table and know exactly where I would go, and the alternative route if that was blocked.

I live in a top floor flat with only one way out of the building - and much too far to jump. I've actually got an escape ladder which I had from a previous property - but even if I climbed down that and jumped from there it'd probably be too big a jump to survive (or at least to come out without serious injuries). The fire service have advised that, if I can't get down the (one set of) stairs in the building, I should just wait to be rescued.

In some areas the fire service will do a free check of your home and give advice on fire risks, escape routes etc.

Smoke alarms would go off.

We have three doors to the outside downstairs, all with keys within easy reach. Two of these sets of doors are full-length glazed, and we have enough heavy objects around to break a pane if we needed to.

All of our front upstairs windows can be climbed through and give out over a porch. Jump onto porch, dangle and drop. If we had to escape via upstairs back windows (again, all big enough), it's straight dangle and drop onto wooden decking, and might jar the odd ankle but would be unlucky to break a leg.

We have a fire escape window in each room. It used to be you had to have one upstairs, but now the regulations are for one in each room in new builds (in N Ireland). I always tell dc to go to either upstairs bathroom as there is a roof for porch or sunroom under both. The dc all have little torches in bedside tables too,as do dh and I. Another tip for anyone with glasses. I obviously take my lenses out at night but I always make sure my glasses are beside the bed. It would really hamper me even more if I didnt have them.

this could be the best £40 you'd spend?

Thanks OP for reminding me to go through our escape plan with the DC.

Mine is (if upstairs) chuck duvet and pillows out of window to break fall and lower yourself down.

The main point that I remember from our fire safety training is GET DOWN & STAY DOWN remembering this could be the thing that saves your life in a smoke filled room as smoke rises and you'll have a 4 to 6 inch gap of oxygen at floor level.

I keep a spare duvet cover in each upstairs room in case we have to lower the children down to safety. It makes my eyes fill with tears just imagining having to do it though.

Yes.

I have been in a house fire and my dh has training in these situations.

We have a fire escape plan, and always secure our house with thought as to how we might escape.

We have torches in bedrooms and smoke alarms.

Op thank you, great thread. Thanks to you I now have shiny new spare keys taped close to back and front doors where everyone (excluding burglars!) can find/reach them and window lock ones by our escape route windows. Hopefully we will never need them but goodness me I'm glad you made me think of it.

I work with firefighters sometimes. They have scared me sufficiently!

We have smoke detectors, I want to get ones that talk to each other so that is on the list. Internal doors are closed. We live in the attic and have a ladder. We also have a night light plugged in that glows and becomes a torch when either unplugged or the power goes off. Very useful gizmo.

The otherwise very relaxed firefighters I know also say that the one thing they do is check when they are somewhere else; hotels; restaurants; boats etc. Where are the exits, where is the safety equipment?

I always check exits, and always listen to the safety talk on aeroplanes.

If you are trapped upstairs you should keep windows closed for as long as possible and close all doors that you can get to. Push something thick and not too flammable against the bottom of the door, if possible, soaked in water, like wet towels. But anything to block the gaps.

If you can raise the alarm by telephone do that, if there is no way to raise the alarm then you'd have to open a window and shout, but if you don't have to open a window it's safer to keep it closed until the fire brigade arrive.

If you don't want to take your mobile phone to bed, you can keep an old one charged up, switched off but with full battery near your bed - you can always dial 999 even if there is no sim card in the phone.

It's safer to stay in the house and wait for rescue (I thought?) than try to climb or lower people out of windows. Unless the access is really hard or impossible or you can't get hold of the fire brigade.

The fire brigade will happily come to your house, check/fit smoke alarms and go through an emergency plan with you. Just call the station. They even send the fire engine if you're lucky

(Which terrified DH when I booked one and forgot to tell him )