Fire Safety: To tell parents of small children to keep a duvet cover in the bedroom

[WorldLeaderPretend]

When my kids were small, I kept a spare duvet cover under the bed in each bedroom. Before I had children, a house 3 doors down lost 2 of their 3 children in a house fire. Parent got into the room but couldn't get the kids out. This haunted me and I decided I could lower a baby or toddler out of a first floor window inside an empty duvet cover. Even if it didn't go right to the ground, it would hugely reduce the distance they would be falling from. I kept one in every child's room until the youngest was 5 or so. Even today we have an agreed escape plan for a fire (and ladders stored on the side of the house for easy access).

Other top tips include using a towel on the pillow for a vomiting child - you just change the towel rather than having to keep changing sheets and pillowcases.

Oh and after a bad dream, you shake the nasty dream off the pillow onto the floor and turn it over to the nice dream on the other side of the pillow. I still do this now I am in my 50s!

For safety or ease, what do you do? Any brilliant ideas?

Don’t leave any tech charging overnight. Use only official chargers not cheapies. And don’t keep old tech and charge it using a completely different charger.

(trust me I’ve been there. Everyone lived, but suddenly losing your home - it was the most stressful and chaotic time of my life).

If you have young children the fire service will come to your home and fit (multiple) smoke alarms for free. They will discuss an escape plan with you and give you tips.

Worth doing.

ONe level house . Plan was to jump out the window after throwing the kid out first. We have smoke alarms in all bedrooms and living areas. Am I missing something?

What? To multiply placed, mains wired smoke alarms?

This still isn't an offensive thread.

That sounds incredibly sad, but unfortunately someone thinking about what they might do in a fire doesn't mean they are being offensive.

Why not do all of it @Cocopogo ?

To
Prevent: - Never smoke indoors.

              Never leave a room with a candle 
              lit in it.

              Never have a candle lit near to 
              curtains, or anything else that is
              flammable and could waft on to it 
              in a draft of air.

              Never have a mirror hung over an
              open fire.  

              Never leave a cooker's hob
              alight if you are leaving the room - 
              especially if it is a gas hob.

              Never leave a box of matches, or 
              a lighter where young children can 
              reach them.

Catch early by -

Always: Having a smoke alarm in,
or just outside of, every room.

               Having one each of water and 
               foam fire extinguishers in the 
               kitchen, and in the hallway - and if
               you live in a large house. Also have    
               at least one pair of fire 
               extinguishers upstairs in an easy 
               to access place.

               Having phones - cellular or wired -
               within easy reach of older children 
               and adults.

To
Escape if there is a

Fire: Have fully opening windows,
with an easy to access (and
see) window key - if necessary in
younger Children's rooms.

               Have a strongly attached rope 
               ladder under every adult's and 
               teenagers bedroom window.

               Have a rope, and something like 
               the OP's good suggestion of a 
               duvet cover, to lower babies and 
               young children out of theirs or 
               someone else's bedroom window.

If you have more than a ground and first floor, get advice from the Fire Brigade on the best ways to prevent, and escape from higher story windows.

Of course, I thought of implementing all of the above suggestions when my children were young, but like many others, I never got around to it - thank goodness I am still getting away with that! These suggestions might sound over the top, but when you think of the people, and of course especially the Children, who die, or are severely maimed in house fires, or by smoke inhalation, they might have been very sensible precautions.

I do not claim that the above list of suggestions is anywhere near exhaustive. The best place for advice is - as always - the Fire Brigade. They are usually happy to advise, and may even provide and erect both smoke and carbon monoxide alarms for you.

Thank you for this thread@WorldLeaderPretend a very sad, but timely reminder 💐

We have electric roller shutters on our bedroom windows. Experience tells me the first thing to go is electric and water - we've had 2 major fires. So I imagine they'd be impossible to open. There are 2 without. I'm going to talk to the kids tonight.

We've moved into a new house recently and the windows don't open enough to get out. I've bought window breakers for each room just in case

@Quincythequince yes there is studies on it. Try and get one that speaks 'there's a fire xyz please leave' usually works better if it's a female voice.

Kidde do one for £24.50

Kids really don't wake up to Standard smoke alarms but a female voice does wake them up

Towel on pillows also works for bad leaky ear infections. Think I used a towel most of my childhood 😂

Don’t stand with the window open if you’re waiting to be rescued, the fresh air draws the fire towards it, oxygen. Open the window to throw or hang something out for attention and then close it.
Stand in the window, be as visible as possible.

if you do have to escape from an upstairs window don’t jump, hang yourself down by your fingertips so your feet have less distance to the ground.

My dc always knew our fire plan.

If you have a plan, why not one that actually gets the baby to the ground like a rope?

The common fire alarms that beep wake adults but don't normally rouse kids. A child fire alarm with an adult's urgent voice repeatedly saying words like "wake up. Get out. There's a fire," are better

Don't always assume your dog is barking at nothing. Not just in house fires, in all types of situations. Whenever my dog barks, I always check that there isn't some danger that she has picked up on before I quieten her. There have been many instances where they have saved their owners' lives. Sometimes by barking, or by pawing at them or jumping on them to wake them up.

Honestly I really hope they are trolling because if not that is just ridiculous. I hope they go touch grass.

Having a fire escape plan that is misinformed is not offensive because their neighbour died of smoke inhalation.

Silliness all around!

A go bag, under your bed - " bag packed with survival supplies and kept ready for use in case of an emergency that requires rapid evacuation : bug-out bag. I could stow away some bottled water and canned food, assemble a go bag—practical preparations that could come in handy in the event of a long electrical outage or the like."

Rather than use the duvet cover to lower the child to the floor it would be better to use it to block up any gaps in the door to prevent smoke coming in.

Or using the duvet to cover yourself and get out a more conventional way. Though a fire blanket would be better for this and take up less space in a child’s bedroom. If possible wet a towel and wrap that over your mouth as well.

As said upthread, smoke is the immediate threat so plan for that first.

We’ve always had a fire escape plan. When we were kids my parents had a long rope tied to the bed to get out of the window.

We have got an emergency escape ladder under ours that you hook over the window.

Fuck knows how some of you would have coped in the 80s. Wasn't there an advert with a girl in a nightie going up in flames? And another for smoke alarms where a house burned down?

I really can't believe someone sharing a tip that may possibly help in a fire - who cares if it doesn't, it doesn't hurt to have another option - gets called offensive

Some people need to take a long look at themselves.

Good point.

The whatiffery is quite something.

Having an escape plan is a good idea and it makes sense that you know the best routes before you might need them.
My DC know what to do (best escape routes), are aware of blocking the bottom of the doors and crawling low to the ground to avoid the effects of smoke. It makes sense to just as much as using car seats and seat belts. Of course you hope to never need it but its better to plan ahead than panic on the moment.
After checking into a hotel I always check the escape routes, count the doors to the exit etc. I have been in zero visibility smoke situations as part fire training for my job. I can assure you it is very disorienting before the added pressure of finding kids and exits.
A small bit of planning and preparation are not to be dismissed.

Ridiculous, and strikes me as contrary for contraries sake.

Our front door is by the stairs and the kids rooms are right at the top of the stairs. So they have been taught how to unlock the door if a fire occurred and we didn't get to them. We close the dining room door that leads to the stairs as if there is a fire it will most likely start down stairs. We figured if the door is closed it will buy a bit more time to get down and out the door.

If we can't get down the stairs then we would have to go to the girls room and shimmy down the front of the house. Apart from that not much else we can do. We live in rented so we can't change anything about the house .