Should I not try to prevent a fire?

[hdjdjehhdhdvsv]

I have always been scared of dying in a fire. It's my main fear and to mitigate this fear and help me feel safe (also because its something I was told to do by the fireman who visited our school) I keep a towel and bottles of water in the bedrooms so if a fire does break out, I can soak the towel and put it against the door to stop the smoke coming in.

fire extinguishers wouldn't be able to stop smoke coming into the bedrooms so that's not an option.

DH has said he's sick of seeing bottles of water everywhere, it's 2 under our bed hardly loads. I haven't got any in the children's room for obvious reasons but I feel bad and might stick some on top of the wardrobe just incase. They mostly sleep in my room anyway though so it's not a big deal.

I have said I'm not getting rid of them because it's hardly an invasion of space sat under the bed, and it could save our lives if a fire broke out.

Aibu to keep water under the bed?

Yabu - you don't need water and towels
yanbu - better safe than sorry

But He works away and we have small children and a baby so I couldn't safely get them out the window alone

I don't think the bottles of water are the problem here, but tbh I'm confused how you have this major fear but haven't figured out how to lower your baby down in a sheet or something? We did a full-on plan for getting out of the house when I was in Brownies, in involved pushing the mattress out of the window, lowering the smallest out the window and dropping them.

Come on @hdjdjehhdhdvsv call this a phobia?!

I have planned escape routes and extending ladders. I leave things under windows outside to drop on to if we have to climb out of windows.
Obsessively turn if plugs and check smoke alarms daily.
Have fire extinguishers in the house and DCs know how to use them too

I didn't say you needed therapy I said It is sensible to have a plan but if you feel your anxiety is affecting you too much consider CBT.

I honestly think this is a great idea and will be doing this tomorrow. I don't see any difference in doing this to having a fire extinguisher or having a baseball bat under the bed which a lot of people do.

Most people do not have any of these extra fire safety measures OP. You are over obsessing. It's not normal. Clearly this fire safety visit was at a formative point in your childhood and has embedded a phobia.

@ouch12345

I honestly think this is a great idea and will be doing this tomorrow. I don't see any difference in doing this to having a fire extinguisher or having a baseball bat under the bed which a lot of people do.

Well thanks ouch. I am very pleased

An advantage of having an en suite I never considered!

These fire / police safety talks had a massive impact on DS too. He’s an adult now and still terrified that after one drink someone will get liver failure or alcohol addiction. After the fire safety talk we lost a few freezers worth of food as he would turn every socket in the house off.

Although it’s a seemingly small thing it does seem a bit OTT if you’ve got the usual smoke alarms etc already.

Have you considered fire doors? FD60 I think that are supposed to withstand fire for up to an hour by forming a seal around the door.

@rattlemehearties

Most people do not have any of these extra fire safety measures OP. You are over obsessing. It's not normal. Clearly this fire safety visit was at a formative point in your childhood and has embedded a phobia.

Two bottles of water and a towel? She doesn't have a fire crew installed in her bedroom, she doesn't employ fire watchmen!

Not being funny but I don’t think a couple of bottles of water are going to help. Really good interlinked smoke alarms, an exit strategy and a fire extinguisher are far better.

Thanks hell it hurts

I don't actually have any fire extinguishers, just one alarm in the kitchen and the water bottles.
I might go out and get another one for the upstairs tomorrow actually 🤔

It’s usually the smoke that kills you before the fire even gets to you, you need the early warning system not the water.

The alarms should link, interlinked wireless battery alarms are fine (they don’t have to be wired into the electrics). So if one smoke alarm sounds in one room, all the alarms are then triggered and you hear the sound wherever you are in the house, especially if you’re sleeping at night with all the doors shut.

We’ve had a bad house fire. I agree with everything @Summerfun54321 has said. Invest in a mains interlinked smoke alarm system installed by an electrician, buy fire extinguishers of different types (water, foam etc) and learn the difference. Have an escape and rendezvous plan, and have keys by each window and door. You don’t want water and bottles as you don’t want a main plan that involves staying in the property.

It’s the smoke that’s the bastard. Reaches everywhere far quicker than the flames.

We now turn everything off at the sockets each night and every time there’s no one at home. Wouldn’t say that’s paranoid. The fire officer called it gold standard.

You can pm me if you want to know any more.

So you’re paranoid about a house fire but you don’t actually have any fire extinguishers?

You cannot throw water on an electrical fire. Are you being this daft on purpose?

And at least have a smoke alarm upstairs as well as downstairs. No wonder your DH is getting fed up with your irrational behaviour.

Op in the kindest possible way, you're being irrational.

Invest in fire exstinquishers, fire blankets and smoke alarms. Maybe a sprinkler system.

Instead of towels and plastic bottles.

*plastic bottles of water

It doesnt sound unreasonable but i think its odd behaviour so maybe ite a host of things? Equally i dont close the stair gate over night in case there is a fire so maybe its not odd!

I think your title is a little misleading and it does suggest that you are not approaching this from a logical POV. Having bottles of water in the bedroom is not going to prevent a fire - it's just one small way to tackle one potential issue should a fire break out to the extent that you cannot escape.

Equipping your house with more effective alarms would be a much more practical way to keep safe, so I can sort of see your husband's point of view that you have chosen a fairly unusual and specific way to tackle your fear of fire.

I had a fire safety home check quite recently and he advised blocking the gap under the door but NOT to climb/jump out the window if it was above the ground floor. He said more people are injured doing this than they would be by the fire. The best thing is to open the window and stick your head out while you wait for them to come. I should mention that we do live within a few minutes drive of a fire station though!

@KatyRebecca84

It’s doing no harm but makes you feel better. Your husband is a dick

Exactly this.

Some pretty insulting and disparaging replies here...Don't take it to heart, op.

Keeping a couple of bottles of water under your bed isn't much different from keeping windows closed at night for a couple of months of the year to keep out spiders.

Plenty of people on here with phobias, most of which are probably unreasonable and not rooted in the fear of dying.

I feel there ought to be a third voting option. I dont think you need the water and towels as a safety precaution and I wonder if you are feeling very anxious. But given that you are feeling so anxious, I don't think keeping a couple of bottles under your bed is a big deal.

I say this as a woman who kept a bag and rope in the wardrobe in case I needed to lower my babies out of a window in case of fire!

I think a number of people are imagining the water is to tackle the fire, whereas I understand it to be used to soak the towel and block the bottom of the door to prevent smoke coming in.